Week of March 12, 2024





Minnesota Department of Human Services





Aging & Disability
Weekly Updates



*Week of March 12, 2024*






This weekly digest is a method to communicate updates, initiatives and policy changes from the Aging and Adult Services Division (AASD) and Disability Services Division (DSD) in a simplified way. We send this announcement every week on Tuesdays.

In this edition





Joint AASD/DSD messages

* AASD and DSD will no longer accept questions through PolicyQuest [ #PolicyQuest ]
* Reminder: Apply for the personal care assistance (PCA) training stipend by June 15, 2024 [ #PCA_stipend ]
* New manual to support people who take psychotropic medications [ #Psychotropic_meds ]
* Lead agency business process review and recommendations reports [ #LA_business_process_reports ]
* Recent Community-Based Services Manual (CBSM) updates [ #CBSM_Updates ]
* MnCHOICES benchmarks annual report posted [ #MnCHOICES ]

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DSD messages

* Supervisor responsibilities for disability waiver case manager training [ #Supervisor_CM_Training ]

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Training and event information

* Webinar announcement: Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) Quarterly Updates [ #EVV ]
* Reminder: Webinar announcement: Advancing Your Skills: Enhancing Support Plans [ #Advancing_Skills ]
* Webinar announcement: 245D licensing and disability services roundtable series [ #Licensing_Roundtable ]





Joint AASD/DSD messages

AASD and DSD will no longer accept questions through PolicyQuest [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Lead agencies that use PolicyQuest
* *Effective date:* March 13, 2024
* *Summary:* Effective March 13, 2024, lead agencies will no longer be able to submit questions to AASD and DSD through PolicyQuest. Other DHS divisions will continue to use PolicyQuest.

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Reminder: Apply for the PCA training stipend by June 15, 2024 [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Home and community-based services (HCBS) direct care workers, traditional PCA workers, service providers, lead agency staff, people who receive services and other interested parties
* *Summary:* The deadline for traditional PCA workers to receive the one-time PCA training stipend of $500 is June 15, 2024.

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*New manual to support people who take psychotropic medications [ [link removed] ]*

* *Audience:* 245D-licensed service providers and other interested parties
* *Summary:* DHS created the Psychotropic Medication Manual to help 245D-licensed service providers support people who take psychotropic medications.

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Lead agency business process review and recommendations reports [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Lead agency staff, service providers and other interested parties
* *Summary:* DHS conducted a lead agency business process review with 16 lead agencies, including one tribal nation, and reviewed both state and lead agency processes related to MnCHOICES eligibility determination, assessment and support planning.

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Recent CBSM updates [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Lead agency staff and all interested parties
* *Summary:* This announcement provides a summary of updates DHS made to the CBSM in February 2024.

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MnCHOICES benchmarks annual report posted [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Lead agency staff and other interested parties
* *Summary:* DHS posted the 2023 MnCHOICES benchmarks annual data report, which includes data from calendar year 2022.





DSD messages

Supervisor responsibilities for disability waiver case manager training [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Supervisors of disability waiver case managers
* *Summary:* Supervisors must ensure all disability waiver case managers complete the required employment training ?Getting to Work: A Case Manager?s Guide to Supporting Employment? by Aug. 1, 2024.





Training and event information

Webinar announcement: EVV Quarterly Updates [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Any interested party, including providers of personal care services, PCA, home health care and some waiver services
* *Event date:* March 25, 2024
* *Summary:* The EVV team will host quarterly sessions for people affected by EVV to provide clarification on roles and responsibilities, updates and next steps. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about authorizations in HHAeXchange (HHAX) and ask general questions.

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Reminder: Webinar announcement: Advancing Your Skills: Enhancing Support Plans [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Lead agency staff who use the MnCHOICES Support Plan, including waiver case managers, care coordinators and certified assessors
* *Event dates:* March 27, June 26, Sept. 25 and Dec. 18, 2024
* *Summary:* DHS plans to hold quarterly webinars that focus on advanced topics related to support planning.

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Webinar announcement: 245D licensing and disability services virtual roundtable series [ [link removed] ]

* *Audience:* Lead agency staff, case managers, residential supports and services providers, day service providers, basic, intensive, in-home and employment support service providers and all interested parties
* *Event dates:* April 24, Aug. 21 and Dec. 11, 2024
* *Summary:* The DHS Licensing and Disability Services divisions will host a virtual roundtable series about issues providers face when implementing specific 245D requirements.





Other messages

Occasionally, AASD/DSD needs to send more timely messages. We sent the following announcement in the past week:


* March 8, 2024: Phase 3 of the MnCHOICES revision launch will begin on April 1, 2024 (joint AASD/DSD message) [ [link removed] ]





AASD ARCHIVE [ [link removed] ] | DSD LEAD AGENCY ARCHIVE [ [link removed] ] | DSD STAKEHOLDER ARCHIVE [ [link removed] ]

Visit CBSM ? What?s new [ [link removed] ] often for a list of policies/pages we?ve recently updated
in the Community-Based Services Manual [ [link removed] ].








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