Bill Text: MN HF844 | 2013-2014 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce Council created, and individual providers of direct support services regulated.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 33-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-13 - Committee report, to pass and re-refer to Labor, Workplace and Regulated Industries [HF844 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2013-HF844-Engrossed.html
1.2relating to home and community-based long-term care services; creating the
1.3Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce Council; regulating individual
1.4providers of direct support services;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
1.5Statutes, chapters 179A; 256B.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7 Section 1. [179A.54] INDIVIDUAL PROVIDERS OF DIRECT SUPPORT
1.8SERVICES.
1.9 Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section:
1.10(b) "Direct support services" has the meaning given to it under section 256B.0711,
1.11subdivision 2, paragraph (d).
1.12(c) "Individual provider" has the meaning given to it under section 256B.0711,
1.13subdivision 2, paragraph (e).
1.14(d) "Participant" has the meaning given to it under section 256B.0711, subdivision 2,
1.15paragraph (f).
1.16(e) "Participant's representative" has the meaning given to it under section
1.17256B.0711, subdivision 2, paragraph (g).
1.18 Subd. 2. Rights of individual providers and participants. (a) Only for the
1.19purposes of meeting and negotiating on topics specified in paragraph (c) individual
1.20providers shall be considered, by virtue of this section, executive branch state employees
1.21employed by the commissioner of management and budget or the commissioner's
1.22representative. This section does not require the treatment of individual providers
1.23as public employees for any other purpose. Chapter 179A shall apply to individual
1.24providers except as otherwise provided in this section. Notwithstanding section 179A.03,
2.1subdivision 14, paragraph (a), clause (5), chapter 179A shall apply to individual providers
2.2regardless of part-time or full-time employment status.
2.3(b) With regard to the application of chapter 179A to individual providers:
2.4(1) if an exclusive representative is certified pursuant to this subdivision, the mutual
2.5rights and obligations of the state and an exclusive representative of individual providers
2.6to meet and negotiate regarding terms and conditions shall extend only to the subjects
2.7covered under paragraph (c);
2.8(2) no provision of any agreement reached between the state and any exclusive
2.9representative of individual providers, nor any arbitration award, shall interfere with the
2.10rights of participants or participants' representatives to select, hire, direct, supervise, and
2.11terminate the employment of their individual providers; to manage an individual service
2.12budget regarding the amounts and types of authorized goods or services received; or to
2.13receive direct support services from individual providers not referred to them through a
2.14state registry;
2.15(3) any interest arbitration award or agreement reached between the state and the
2.16exclusive representative of individual providers under chapter 179A shall be submitted to
2.17the legislature to be accepted or rejected in accordance with sections 3.855 and 179A.22,
2.18and is subject to section 179A.20, subdivisions 2 and 5;
2.19(4) individual providers shall be subject to the prohibition on strikes applied to
2.20essential employees under section 179A.18, and to the interest arbitration procedures
2.21applied to essential employees under section 179A.16;
2.22(5) the only appropriate unit for individual providers shall be a statewide unit of all
2.23individual providers. Individual providers who are related to their participant or their
2.24participant's representative shall not for such reason be excluded from the appropriate unit;
2.25(6) beginning July 1, 2013, upon a showing made to the commissioner of the
2.26Bureau of Mediation Services by any employee organization wishing to represent the
2.27appropriate unit of individual providers that at least 500 individual providers support such
2.28representation, the commissioner of human services shall provide to such organization
2.29within seven days the most recent list of individual providers compiled under section
2.30256B.0711, subdivision 6, paragraph (g), and subsequent monthly lists upon request
2.31for an additional three months;
2.32(7) beginning August 1, 2013, any employee organization wishing to represent
2.33the appropriate unit of individual providers may seek exclusive representative status
2.34pursuant to section 179A.12. Representation elections for individual providers shall
2.35be conducted by mail ballot, and such election shall be conducted upon an appropriate
2.36petition stating that at least ten percent of the unit wishes to be represented by the
3.1petitioner. The individual providers eligible to vote in any such election shall be those
3.2individual providers on the monthly list of individual providers compiled under section
3.3256B.0711, subdivision 6, paragraph (g), most recently preceding the filing of the election
3.4petition. Except as otherwise provided, elections under this clause shall be conducted
3.5in accordance with section 179A.12; and
3.6(8) any fees otherwise required under section 179A.06, subdivision 3, shall not
3.7commence prior to ratification of an agreement under section 179A.22. This clause does
3.8not limit the availability of voluntary dues checkoff under section 179A.06, subdivision 6.
3.9(c) The state shall meet and negotiate with the exclusive representative on the
3.10following issues:
3.11(1) compensation rates and payment terms and practices;
3.12(2) fringe benefits, including severance payments, but not retirement contributions
3.13or benefits and not other benefits to be paid by the state when a person no longer intends to
3.14be an individual provider;
3.15(3) grievance procedures regarding matters in clauses (1) and (2);
3.16(4) establishing a system for funding training; and
3.17(5) required orientation programs for all newly hired individual providers regarding
3.18their employment within the covered programs through which they provide services.
3.19 Sec. 2. [256B.0711] QUALITY SELF-DIRECTED SERVICES WORKFORCE.
3.20 Subdivision 1. Findings and purpose. (a) The state of Minnesota has long been a
3.21leader in providing cost-effective and participant-preferred home and community-based
3.22services as an alternative to skilled nursing facility care for seniors and people with
3.23disabilities, and has a history of making improvements to strengthen this system. The
3.24state faces increasing demand for such services and a workforce able to provide them,
3.25due to changing demographics.
3.26(b) The state of Minnesota faces numerous obstacles to meeting this demand,
3.27namely the staffing shortages and high turnover rates that characterize the workforce
3.28available to provide such services, a growing issue throughout the country. For these
3.29reasons, expanding access to such services, including opportunities for participants to
3.30select and direct individual providers of such services, will require the state to develop
3.31the infrastructure for recruiting and retaining a workforce of qualified individual service
3.32providers sufficient to meet the growing demand for such participant-directed services.
3.33(c) The legislature enacts this section to address these issues by ensuring the
3.34development and maintenance of a stable, reliable, and experienced workforce of
3.35sufficient size to provide high-quality services to all seniors and people with disabilities
4.1who are authorized to receive such in-home services within state-financed programs, and
4.2by ensuring that such persons have the opportunity to select and direct members of that
4.3workforce as individual providers of such services.
4.4 Subd. 2. Definitions. (a) For purposes of this section:
4.5(b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of human services unless the context
4.6indicates otherwise.
4.7(c) "Covered program" means a program to provide direct support services funded in
4.8whole or in part by the state of Minnesota, including the Community First Services and
4.9Supports program; Consumer Directed Community Supports services and extended state
4.10plan personal care assistance services available under programs established pursuant to
4.11home and community-based service waivers authorized under section 1915(c) of the
4.12Social Security Act, and under the alternative care program, as offered pursuant to section
4.13256B.0913, as modified by subdivision 5; the personal care assistance choice program, as
4.14established pursuant to section 256B.0659, subdivisions 18 to 20, and as modified by this
4.15section; and any similar program that may provide such services.
4.16(d) "Direct support services" means personal care assistance services covered by
4.17medical assistance under section 256B.0625, subdivisions 19a and 19c; assistance with
4.18activities of daily living as defined in section 256B.0659, subdivision 1, paragraph (b),
4.19and instrumental activities of daily living as defined in section 256B.0659, subdivision 1,
4.20paragraph (i); and other similar, in-home, nonprofessional long-term services and supports
4.21provided to an elderly person or person with a disability to meet such person's daily
4.22living needs and ensure that such person may adequately function in the person's home
4.23and have safe access to the community.
4.24(e) "Individual provider" means an individual selected by and working under the
4.25direction of a participant in a covered program, or a participant's representative, to provide
4.26direct support services to the participant, and does not include an individual from an
4.27employee workforce assembled, directed, and controlled by a provider agency.
4.28(f) "Participant" means a person who receives direct support services through
4.29a covered program.
4.30(g) "Participant's representative" means a participant's legal guardian or an individual
4.31having the authority and responsibility to act on behalf of a participant with respect to the
4.32provision of direct support services through a covered program.
4.33 Subd. 3. Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce Council established. (a)
4.34There is established the Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce Council to ensure the
4.35quality and availability of individual providers to be selected by and work under the
4.36direction of participants to provide direct support services.
5.1(b) The council shall be composed of the commissioner of human services or
5.2designee, who shall serve as chair, and the following members, who shall be appointed by
5.3the governor:
5.4(1) six current or former recipients of direct support services;
5.5(2) one legal guardian or legal representative of a current or former recipient of
5.6direct support services; and
5.7(3) one member of the State Council on Disability, under section 256.482, one
5.8member of the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities, and one member of the
5.9Minnesota Board on Aging, under section 256.975.
5.10(c) All appointments to the council shall be made as provided in section 15.0597.
5.11Membership terms, compensation and removal of members, and filling of vacancies are
5.12as provided in section 15.0575. A majority of the members appointed and serving shall
5.13constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business.
5.14 Subd. 4. Duties of council. The council, in consultation with the commissioner, has
5.15the following ongoing advisory duties and responsibilities relating to ensuring the quality,
5.16stability, and availability of the individual provider workforce:
5.17(1) assess the size, quality, and stability of the individual provider workforce in
5.18Minnesota and the ability of the existing workforce to meet the growing and changing
5.19needs of both elderly participants and participants with disabilities;
5.20(2) assess and propose strategies to identify, recruit, and retain prospective individual
5.21providers to be available for employment by participants or participants' representatives;
5.22(3) advise the commissioner regarding the development of orientation programs,
5.23training and educational opportunities, and the maintenance of one or more public
5.24registries as described in subdivision 6;
5.25(4) advise the commissioner and other relevant state agencies in assessing existing
5.26mechanisms for preventing abuse and neglect of participants and recommending
5.27improvements to those protections;
5.28(5) advise the commissioner in determining standards for compensation, including
5.29benefits, and other conditions of employment for individual providers sufficient to attract
5.30and maintain a qualified workforce; and
5.31(6) otherwise advise and advocate regarding appropriate means of expanding access
5.32to quality, self-directed direct support services.
5.33 Subd. 5. Operation of covered programs. (a) All covered programs shall operate
5.34consistent with this section, including by providing such services through individual
5.35providers as defined in subdivision 2, paragraph (e), notwithstanding any inconsistent
5.36provisions of section 256B.0659 or section 256B.04, subdivision 16.
6.1(b) This requirement shall not restrict the state's ability to offer to those participants
6.2who choose not to self-direct a direct support worker or are unable to do so the alternative
6.3of receiving similar services from the employee workforce assembled, directed, and
6.4controlled by a provider agency.
6.5 Subd. 6. Duties of the Department of Human Services. (a) The commissioner
6.6shall afford to all participants within a covered program the option of employing an
6.7individual provider to provide direct support services.
6.8(b) The commissioner shall ensure that all employment of individual providers is
6.9in conformity with this section.
6.10(c) The commissioner shall, in consultation with the council:
6.11(1) establish compensation rates, payment terms and practices, and any benefit
6.12terms, for all individual providers;
6.13(2) provide for required orientation programs for all newly hired individual providers
6.14regarding their employment within the covered programs through which they provide
6.15services;
6.16(3) provide for relevant training and educational opportunities for individual
6.17providers, as well as for participants and participants' representatives who receive services
6.18from individual providers, including opportunities for individual providers to obtain
6.19certification documenting additional training and experience in areas of specialization;
6.20(4) provide for the maintenance of one or more public registries to:
6.21(i) provide routine, emergency, and respite referrals of qualified individual providers
6.22to participants and participants' representatives;
6.23(ii) enable participants and participants' representatives to gain improved access
6.24to, and choice among, prospective individual providers, including by having access
6.25to information about individual providers' training, educational background, work
6.26experience, and availability for hire; and
6.27(iii) provide for appropriate employment opportunities for individual providers and a
6.28means by which they may more easily remain available to provide services to participants
6.29within covered programs; and
6.30(5) establish other appropriate terms and conditions of employment governing the
6.31workforce of individual providers.
6.32(d) The commissioner shall ensure that appropriate background checks are performed
6.33on all individual providers included on any registry as described in paragraph (c), clause (4).
6.34(e) The commissioner's authority regarding topics specified in section 179A.54,
6.35subdivision 2, paragraph (c), is subject to the duty to meet and negotiate with an exclusive
7.1representative over those topics, and is subject to any contracts entered into covering
7.2topics specified in section 179A.54, subdivision 2, paragraph (c).
7.3(f) The commissioner shall cooperate in the implementation of this act with the
7.4commissioner of management and budget in the same manner as would be required of
7.5an appointing authority under section 179A.22 with respect to any negotiations between
7.6the executive branch of the state and the exclusive representative of individual providers,
7.7as authorized under sections 179A.22 and 179A.54, regarding topics specified in section
7.8179A.54, subdivision 2, paragraph (c). Any entity, including financial management
7.9entities, contracting with the state to provide support to participants or participants'
7.10representatives with regard to the employment of individual providers, shall assist and
7.11cooperate with the council and commissioner of human services in the operations of this
7.12section, including with respect to the commissioner's compiling and maintaining the list of
7.13individual providers required under paragraph (g).
7.14(g) The commissioner shall, not later than July 1, 2013, and then monthly thereafter,
7.15compile and maintain a list of the names and addresses of all individual providers who
7.16have been paid for providing direct support services to participants within the previous
7.17six months. The list shall not include the name of any participant, or indicate that an
7.18individual provider is a relative of a participant or has the same address as a participant.
7.19The commissioner shall share the lists with the Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce
7.20Council and with others as needed for the state to meet its obligations under chapter 179A
7.21as modified and made applicable to individual providers under section 179A.54, and to
7.22facilitate the representational processes under section 179A.54, subdivision 2, paragraph
7.23(b), clauses (6) and (7).
7.24(h) The commissioner shall immediately commence all necessary steps to ensure
7.25that services offered under all covered programs are offered in conformity with this
7.26section to complete any required modifications to currently operating covered programs
7.27by September 1, 2013.
7.28 Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
7.29This act is effective the day following final enactment.
1.3Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce Council; regulating individual
1.4providers of direct support services;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
1.5Statutes, chapters 179A; 256B.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7 Section 1. [179A.54] INDIVIDUAL PROVIDERS OF DIRECT SUPPORT
1.8SERVICES.
1.9 Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section:
1.10(b) "Direct support services" has the meaning given to it under section 256B.0711,
1.11subdivision 2, paragraph (d).
1.12(c) "Individual provider" has the meaning given to it under section 256B.0711,
1.13subdivision 2, paragraph (e).
1.14(d) "Participant" has the meaning given to it under section 256B.0711, subdivision 2,
1.15paragraph (f).
1.16(e) "Participant's representative" has the meaning given to it under section
1.17256B.0711, subdivision 2, paragraph (g).
1.18 Subd. 2. Rights of individual providers and participants. (a) Only for the
1.19purposes of meeting and negotiating on topics specified in paragraph (c) individual
1.20providers shall be considered, by virtue of this section, executive branch state employees
1.21employed by the commissioner of management and budget or the commissioner's
1.22representative. This section does not require the treatment of individual providers
1.23as public employees for any other purpose. Chapter 179A shall apply to individual
1.24providers except as otherwise provided in this section. Notwithstanding section 179A.03,
2.1subdivision 14, paragraph (a), clause (5), chapter 179A shall apply to individual providers
2.2regardless of part-time or full-time employment status.
2.3(b) With regard to the application of chapter 179A to individual providers:
2.4(1) if an exclusive representative is certified pursuant to this subdivision, the mutual
2.5rights and obligations of the state and an exclusive representative of individual providers
2.6to meet and negotiate regarding terms and conditions shall extend only to the subjects
2.7covered under paragraph (c);
2.8(2) no provision of any agreement reached between the state and any exclusive
2.9representative of individual providers, nor any arbitration award, shall interfere with the
2.10rights of participants or participants' representatives to select, hire, direct, supervise, and
2.11terminate the employment of their individual providers; to manage an individual service
2.12budget regarding the amounts and types of authorized goods or services received; or to
2.13receive direct support services from individual providers not referred to them through a
2.14state registry;
2.15(3) any interest arbitration award or agreement reached between the state and the
2.16exclusive representative of individual providers under chapter 179A shall be submitted to
2.17the legislature to be accepted or rejected in accordance with sections 3.855 and 179A.22,
2.18and is subject to section 179A.20, subdivisions 2 and 5;
2.19(4) individual providers shall be subject to the prohibition on strikes applied to
2.20essential employees under section 179A.18, and to the interest arbitration procedures
2.21applied to essential employees under section 179A.16;
2.22(5) the only appropriate unit for individual providers shall be a statewide unit of all
2.23individual providers. Individual providers who are related to their participant or their
2.24participant's representative shall not for such reason be excluded from the appropriate unit;
2.25(6) beginning July 1, 2013, upon a showing made to the commissioner of the
2.26Bureau of Mediation Services by any employee organization wishing to represent the
2.27appropriate unit of individual providers that at least 500 individual providers support such
2.28representation, the commissioner of human services shall provide to such organization
2.29within seven days the most recent list of individual providers compiled under section
2.30256B.0711, subdivision 6, paragraph (g), and subsequent monthly lists upon request
2.31for an additional three months;
2.32(7) beginning August 1, 2013, any employee organization wishing to represent
2.33the appropriate unit of individual providers may seek exclusive representative status
2.34pursuant to section 179A.12. Representation elections for individual providers shall
2.35be conducted by mail ballot, and such election shall be conducted upon an appropriate
2.36petition stating that at least ten percent of the unit wishes to be represented by the
3.1petitioner. The individual providers eligible to vote in any such election shall be those
3.2individual providers on the monthly list of individual providers compiled under section
3.3256B.0711, subdivision 6, paragraph (g), most recently preceding the filing of the election
3.4petition. Except as otherwise provided, elections under this clause shall be conducted
3.5in accordance with section 179A.12; and
3.6(8) any fees otherwise required under section 179A.06, subdivision 3, shall not
3.7commence prior to ratification of an agreement under section 179A.22. This clause does
3.8not limit the availability of voluntary dues checkoff under section 179A.06, subdivision 6.
3.9(c) The state shall meet and negotiate with the exclusive representative on the
3.10following issues:
3.11(1) compensation rates and payment terms and practices;
3.12(2) fringe benefits, including severance payments, but not retirement contributions
3.13or benefits and not other benefits to be paid by the state when a person no longer intends to
3.14be an individual provider;
3.15(3) grievance procedures regarding matters in clauses (1) and (2);
3.16(4) establishing a system for funding training; and
3.17(5) required orientation programs for all newly hired individual providers regarding
3.18their employment within the covered programs through which they provide services.
3.19 Sec. 2. [256B.0711] QUALITY SELF-DIRECTED SERVICES WORKFORCE.
3.20 Subdivision 1. Findings and purpose. (a) The state of Minnesota has long been a
3.21leader in providing cost-effective and participant-preferred home and community-based
3.22services as an alternative to skilled nursing facility care for seniors and people with
3.23disabilities, and has a history of making improvements to strengthen this system. The
3.24state faces increasing demand for such services and a workforce able to provide them,
3.25due to changing demographics.
3.26(b) The state of Minnesota faces numerous obstacles to meeting this demand,
3.27namely the staffing shortages and high turnover rates that characterize the workforce
3.28available to provide such services, a growing issue throughout the country. For these
3.29reasons, expanding access to such services, including opportunities for participants to
3.30select and direct individual providers of such services, will require the state to develop
3.31the infrastructure for recruiting and retaining a workforce of qualified individual service
3.32providers sufficient to meet the growing demand for such participant-directed services.
3.33(c) The legislature enacts this section to address these issues by ensuring the
3.34development and maintenance of a stable, reliable, and experienced workforce of
3.35sufficient size to provide high-quality services to all seniors and people with disabilities
4.1who are authorized to receive such in-home services within state-financed programs, and
4.2by ensuring that such persons have the opportunity to select and direct members of that
4.3workforce as individual providers of such services.
4.4 Subd. 2. Definitions. (a) For purposes of this section:
4.5(b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of human services unless the context
4.6indicates otherwise.
4.7(c) "Covered program" means a program to provide direct support services funded in
4.8whole or in part by the state of Minnesota, including the Community First Services and
4.9Supports program; Consumer Directed Community Supports services and extended state
4.10plan personal care assistance services available under programs established pursuant to
4.11home and community-based service waivers authorized under section 1915(c) of the
4.12Social Security Act, and under the alternative care program, as offered pursuant to section
4.13256B.0913, as modified by subdivision 5; the personal care assistance choice program, as
4.14established pursuant to section 256B.0659, subdivisions 18 to 20, and as modified by this
4.15section; and any similar program that may provide such services.
4.16(d) "Direct support services" means personal care assistance services covered by
4.17medical assistance under section 256B.0625, subdivisions 19a and 19c; assistance with
4.18activities of daily living as defined in section 256B.0659, subdivision 1, paragraph (b),
4.19and instrumental activities of daily living as defined in section 256B.0659, subdivision 1,
4.20paragraph (i); and other similar, in-home, nonprofessional long-term services and supports
4.21provided to an elderly person or person with a disability to meet such person's daily
4.22living needs and ensure that such person may adequately function in the person's home
4.23and have safe access to the community.
4.24(e) "Individual provider" means an individual selected by and working under the
4.25direction of a participant in a covered program, or a participant's representative, to provide
4.26direct support services to the participant, and does not include an individual from an
4.27employee workforce assembled, directed, and controlled by a provider agency.
4.28(f) "Participant" means a person who receives direct support services through
4.29a covered program.
4.30(g) "Participant's representative" means a participant's legal guardian or an individual
4.31having the authority and responsibility to act on behalf of a participant with respect to the
4.32provision of direct support services through a covered program.
4.33 Subd. 3. Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce Council established. (a)
4.34There is established the Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce Council to ensure the
4.35quality and availability of individual providers to be selected by and work under the
4.36direction of participants to provide direct support services.
5.1(b) The council shall be composed of the commissioner of human services or
5.2designee, who shall serve as chair, and the following members, who shall be appointed by
5.3the governor:
5.4(1) six current or former recipients of direct support services;
5.5(2) one legal guardian or legal representative of a current or former recipient of
5.6direct support services; and
5.7(3) one member of the State Council on Disability, under section 256.482, one
5.8member of the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities, and one member of the
5.9Minnesota Board on Aging, under section 256.975.
5.10(c) All appointments to the council shall be made as provided in section 15.0597.
5.11Membership terms, compensation and removal of members, and filling of vacancies are
5.12as provided in section 15.0575. A majority of the members appointed and serving shall
5.13constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business.
5.14 Subd. 4. Duties of council. The council, in consultation with the commissioner, has
5.15the following ongoing advisory duties and responsibilities relating to ensuring the quality,
5.16stability, and availability of the individual provider workforce:
5.17(1) assess the size, quality, and stability of the individual provider workforce in
5.18Minnesota and the ability of the existing workforce to meet the growing and changing
5.19needs of both elderly participants and participants with disabilities;
5.20(2) assess and propose strategies to identify, recruit, and retain prospective individual
5.21providers to be available for employment by participants or participants' representatives;
5.22(3) advise the commissioner regarding the development of orientation programs,
5.23training and educational opportunities, and the maintenance of one or more public
5.24registries as described in subdivision 6;
5.25(4) advise the commissioner and other relevant state agencies in assessing existing
5.26mechanisms for preventing abuse and neglect of participants and recommending
5.27improvements to those protections;
5.28(5) advise the commissioner in determining standards for compensation, including
5.29benefits, and other conditions of employment for individual providers sufficient to attract
5.30and maintain a qualified workforce; and
5.31(6) otherwise advise and advocate regarding appropriate means of expanding access
5.32to quality, self-directed direct support services.
5.33 Subd. 5. Operation of covered programs. (a) All covered programs shall operate
5.34consistent with this section, including by providing such services through individual
5.35providers as defined in subdivision 2, paragraph (e), notwithstanding any inconsistent
5.36provisions of section 256B.0659 or section 256B.04, subdivision 16.
6.1(b) This requirement shall not restrict the state's ability to offer to those participants
6.2who choose not to self-direct a direct support worker or are unable to do so the alternative
6.3of receiving similar services from the employee workforce assembled, directed, and
6.4controlled by a provider agency.
6.5 Subd. 6. Duties of the Department of Human Services. (a) The commissioner
6.6shall afford to all participants within a covered program the option of employing an
6.7individual provider to provide direct support services.
6.8(b) The commissioner shall ensure that all employment of individual providers is
6.9in conformity with this section.
6.10(c) The commissioner shall, in consultation with the council:
6.11(1) establish compensation rates, payment terms and practices, and any benefit
6.12terms, for all individual providers;
6.13(2) provide for required orientation programs for all newly hired individual providers
6.14regarding their employment within the covered programs through which they provide
6.15services;
6.16(3) provide for relevant training and educational opportunities for individual
6.17providers, as well as for participants and participants' representatives who receive services
6.18from individual providers, including opportunities for individual providers to obtain
6.19certification documenting additional training and experience in areas of specialization;
6.20(4) provide for the maintenance of one or more public registries to:
6.21(i) provide routine, emergency, and respite referrals of qualified individual providers
6.22to participants and participants' representatives;
6.23(ii) enable participants and participants' representatives to gain improved access
6.24to, and choice among, prospective individual providers, including by having access
6.25to information about individual providers' training, educational background, work
6.26experience, and availability for hire; and
6.27(iii) provide for appropriate employment opportunities for individual providers and a
6.28means by which they may more easily remain available to provide services to participants
6.29within covered programs; and
6.30(5) establish other appropriate terms and conditions of employment governing the
6.31workforce of individual providers.
6.32(d) The commissioner shall ensure that appropriate background checks are performed
6.33on all individual providers included on any registry as described in paragraph (c), clause (4).
6.34(e) The commissioner's authority regarding topics specified in section 179A.54,
6.35subdivision 2, paragraph (c), is subject to the duty to meet and negotiate with an exclusive
7.1representative over those topics, and is subject to any contracts entered into covering
7.2topics specified in section 179A.54, subdivision 2, paragraph (c).
7.3(f) The commissioner shall cooperate in the implementation of this act with the
7.4commissioner of management and budget in the same manner as would be required of
7.5an appointing authority under section 179A.22 with respect to any negotiations between
7.6the executive branch of the state and the exclusive representative of individual providers,
7.7as authorized under sections 179A.22 and 179A.54, regarding topics specified in section
7.8179A.54, subdivision 2, paragraph (c). Any entity, including financial management
7.9entities, contracting with the state to provide support to participants or participants'
7.10representatives with regard to the employment of individual providers, shall assist and
7.11cooperate with the council and commissioner of human services in the operations of this
7.12section, including with respect to the commissioner's compiling and maintaining the list of
7.13individual providers required under paragraph (g).
7.14(g) The commissioner shall, not later than July 1, 2013, and then monthly thereafter,
7.15compile and maintain a list of the names and addresses of all individual providers who
7.16have been paid for providing direct support services to participants within the previous
7.17six months. The list shall not include the name of any participant, or indicate that an
7.18individual provider is a relative of a participant or has the same address as a participant.
7.19The commissioner shall share the lists with the Quality Self-Directed Services Workforce
7.20Council and with others as needed for the state to meet its obligations under chapter 179A
7.21as modified and made applicable to individual providers under section 179A.54, and to
7.22facilitate the representational processes under section 179A.54, subdivision 2, paragraph
7.23(b), clauses (6) and (7).
7.24(h) The commissioner shall immediately commence all necessary steps to ensure
7.25that services offered under all covered programs are offered in conformity with this
7.26section to complete any required modifications to currently operating covered programs
7.27by September 1, 2013.
7.28 Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
7.29This act is effective the day following final enactment.
