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After unprecedented growth in new applications from home and community-based human services providers, the Minnesota Department of Human Services will implement a 2-year pause on new licenses to focus on improving oversight of existing licensed providers.
Licensed home and community-based services provide person-centered support to older adults and people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, allowing recipients to receive services in their own homes or communities. This includes individual community living supports, 24-hour emergency assistance and respite care services, as well as more intensive support services including crisis respite, day training and habilitation and integrated community supports.
The pause on new home and community-based services licenses will start Jan. 1, 2026, and is anticipated to last through Dec. 31, 2027.
“The unprecedented increase in provider applications over the past five years far outpaces the increase in people receiving services,” said temporary Human Services Commissioner Shireen Gandhi. “This has stretched our resources and created frustrating backlogs for people applying for licenses. Pausing will allow us to provide necessary oversight of existing providers and better protect the health and safety of people receiving services.”
During the pause, DHS will:
- Stop accepting new applications for home and community-based services licenses,
- Stop adding new service lines to currently licensed providers, and
- Cancel all pending applications and pending requests for new service lines.
The Minnesota Legislature gave the Department of Human Services the authority to pause licensing temporarily, beginning in July. The agency provided information about this new authority to all license holders and provider organizations over the summer.
The actions also align with Governor Walz’s Executive Order 25-10 directing state agencies to take additional steps to continue combatting fraud.
The change will strengthen the department’s ability to monitor and review existing licensed home and community-based services providers and give DHS licensors more capacity to contribute to effective program integrity oversight.
Licensing efforts will focus on visiting existing providers to review for compliance with state and federal rules.
To ensure people across Minnesota can access the services they need, the department will work with counties, Tribal Nations and managed care organizations on exceptions for new licenses.
New program integrity website
The Human Services Department also launched a new tool to support transparency in its Medicaid program integrity work. A new public webpage shows how DHS is strengthening program integrity and oversight, preventing fraud and safeguarding services for Minnesota’s most vulnerable communities.
The Medicaid program integrity webpage details the department’s commitment to a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and provides:
- Clear definitions for fraud, waste and abuse.
- A timeline of actions taken.
- Key decisions made that support transparency, prevention, detection and enforcement.
- Information on preliminary investigations, cases opened, law enforcement referrals and administrative actions taken.
Learn more by visiting: https://mn.gov/dhs/program-integrity/
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