Funds proposed to help day training, habilitation programs weather impending rate changes

When the state’s federally compliant disability waiver rate system goes into full effect in January 2020 some service providers could see significant revenue reductions.

HF1099, sponsored by Rep. Laurie Halverson (DFL-Eagan), would provide grants for day training and habilitation programs to get them through this transition period.

“It’s a small grant program to get some providers over the hiccup with regard to the recalculation of rates,” she told the House Long-Term Care Division Monday.

The division held it over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill. Sen. Paul Utke (R-Park Rapids) sponsors a companion, SF1221, which awaits action by the Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee.

Rep. Laurie Halverson

Day training and habilitation programs help adults with developmental disabilities and related conditions to engage in their communities and develop life skills. 

One such program, Achieve Services in Blaine, has been in operation since 1964 and serves more than 190 people, with a 100-person-long waiting list. But, when the new wavier rate system is implemented, the program will see a 20 percent decrease in revenue, expected to total between $800,000 and $900,000, CEO Tom Weaver said.

Despite a range of initiatives to make up for the loss – cutting costs, tripling fundraising, establishing an endowment and transition reserve, and launching a laundry detergent business – Achieve hasn’t been able to make up for the projected differences, he said.

A grant would help the program through the transition and find sustainable financial solutions for the future, Weaver said.

To be eligible for grant funding, programs would need to serve at least 100 people and be projected to see funding decreases of at least 15 percent and $300,000 due to the system changes. Grant recipients would also be required to develop sustainability plans and demonstrate attempts to close revenue gaps.

Preliminary information indicates that the program would require a $3.64 million appropriation in the 2020-21 biennium and $5.62 million in the 2022-23 biennium, said Doug Berg from the nonpartisan House Fiscal Analysis Department. Funding would sunset in June 2023.