Upcoming DHS Service Improvements

MnCHOICES is an assessment and support planning tool that will help you identify your support needs, available services and/or programs that meet those needs, eligibility for services and how to access those services and/or programs.

Staff use the MnCHOICES system to:

• Interview you about our need for services and supports, provide a referral to services and a summary of what was learned in the assessment interview.
• When an assessment shows that an individual is eligible for certain long-term services and supports (LTSS) services, staff will use the application to support people using waiver services and other state plan programs.
  • Create a plan with the person that outlines services and supports based upon the person’s needs and preferences
  • Calculate service payment rates
  • Provide a person with a copy of their support plan

A person of any age with a disability or in need of long-term services and supports can ask for a MnCHOICES assessment. This is available to you at no cost. You do not need to be eligible for Medical Assistance or any other publicly funded program to receive an assessment.

Call your county, tribal nation or managed care organization to request an assessment.

For more detailed information on receiving an assessment and how to prepare for an assessment,

• Review the MnCHOICES Assessment: Steps to get help
• MnCHOICES Ntawv Ntsuas:Kuaj ruam mus cuag kev pab
• Оценка по MnCHOICES: Этапы получения помощи
• Qiimaynta MnCHOICES: Talaabooyinka loo maro caawimada
• Evaluación MnCHOICES: Pasos para obtener ayuda
• Đánh giá MnCHOICES: Những điều cần làm để được giúp đỡ

For more information contact one of the following resources:

• Disability Hub MN – www.disabilityhubmn.org or 866-333-2466
• Senior Linkage Line – www.seniorlinkageline.com or 800-333-2433
• LinkVet – www.linkvet.org or 1-888-546-5838

You can find the latest news and updates on MnCHOICES go to the DHS, People we serve MnCHOICES page.

Waiver Reimagine redefines the four disability waivers (Brain Injury, Community Alternative Care, Community Access for Disability Inclusion, and Developmental Disabilities) so that they accommodate where individuals choose to live, and not just their diagnoses. 

The names of the waivers will change, but the scope and definition of the waiver resources will stay the same. The goal is to increase people’s choice and control in their services and supports.

Waiver Reimagine will not be fully released until 2024, so until then there will be no direct impact to your services. For details on what to expect, you can read more on the Waiver Reimagine page.

In order to expand people’s choices about how they receive their services, the Minnesota Department of Human Services is preparing to transition from personal care assistance (PCA) and the Consumer Support Grant (CSG) to community first services and supports (CFSS). Like PCA and CSG, CFSS provides supports to people to help them remain independent in the community. 

CFSS will continue provide supports already covered in PCA and CSG:

• activities of daily living,
• instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs),
• health-related procedures and tasks (IADLs)and
• observation and redirection of behaviors.

CFSS will offer new options to increase a person’s independence. In CFSS people will be able to:

• Have a consultation services provider who will educate them about CFSS, support them in writing their service delivery plan if desired and approve their service delivery plan
• Choose from two models, an agency model and a budget model
• Purchase goods and services
• Purchase a personal emergency response system (PERS)
• Have their spouse serve as their worker
• For minors using CFSS, have their parent serve as their worker (parents of adults could already serve as their worker)
• Serve as the worker for another person using CFSS
• Have a worker training development budget for training their workers.

The eligibility requirements for CFSS will be the same as PCA and CSG. The person must:

• Live in their own home
• Be able to direct care or have someone direct care on their behalf
• Be on one of Minnesota’s health care programs
• Have an assessment that determines they are eligible

If you have any questions or comments about CFSS, please send them via email to Dhs.cfss@state.mn.us. 

DHS expects to launch Community First Services and Supports (CFSS) on or after August 1, 2022

When DHS launches CFSS, people using PCA and CSG will transition to CFSS when they have their annual reassessment. Their lead agency will tell them about the change and show them a list of consultation services providers. Consultation services is a new type of provider that will educate them about CFSS and their options, help them write their service delivery plan (if desired) and approve their plan. For more information, including short videos about the new features of CFSS, visit DHS - People we serve - Community First Services and Supports.

The 21st Century Cures Act federally mandates that all US states implement Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) for all personal care services and home health services.

The EVV system must collect and verify the following six data elements:

• Type of service performed
• Who received the service
• Date of service
• Location of service delivery
• Who provided the service
• When the service begins and ends

For more detailed information, including a list of affected services, head to the Electronic visit verification page on the Minnesota DHS website.

EVV won’t get in the way of how your services are delivered or your selection of caregivers. You will use EVV to briefly confirm that you received your services as planned. The EVV system used will be decided by the provider agency. After your service provider collects their data about the service, they will show you how to verify that services were delivered as planned.

• The end of June 2022 is the expected date for Consumer Support Grant & Consumer Directed Community Supports services to launch EVV
• Before the end of 2022, the remaining personal care services will launch EVV
• By the end of 2023 home health services will launch EVV
• EVV for people with MCO funding will be launched on a yet to be determined timeline