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Three MHLN Bills
Thursday, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard three MHLN bills, bills that NAMI is the lead on. First up was SF 1682, which makes clear that families should not be screened in for child protection when they cannot safely bring children home due to lack of available services. NAMI’s Executive Director, Sue Abderholden, introduced the bill, sharing information from this handout. two parents told their stories. Many thanks to Michelle Woods and Argie Manolis for sharing their personal experiences as parents who have been threatened with child protection cases after exhausting all available avenues to care for their children.
“Shockingly, even with all the begging for help we did, the only discharge advice from the hospital was, ‘If she gets aggressive and hurts someone, call 911 and press charges,’” said Wood describing her daughter who was boarding in the emergency room waiting for a residential placement. Argie Manolis shared her experience working with case managers to find an alternative to juvenile detention where their 15 year-old son is boarding, “So far, between them, they have contacted 102 different options for placement, all of which have turned him down.” Lisa Harrison-Hadley from the Ombudsman Office also testified strongly in support of the bill. Testimony closed with representatives from the Minnesota Hospital Association and the counties sharing some concerns about changing the current process.
Thanks to Chair Wiklund and Senators Abeler, Boldon, and Kupec for their supportive comments during the hearing. “The system is letting them down, and then to have the system come after you and say ‘You’re not a good parent?’ – thank you for bringing this bill forward, we have to fix this now,” said Sen. Kupec. “We set the standards,” said Sen Abeler in support of the bill, “This is the bar we need to establish… this is that safe line.” Sen. Boldon said, “I have no doubt that this is complicated and maybe there’s no easy answers, but this seems like definitely something we should do.” Thanks to Sen. Erin Maye Quade for carrying the bill and her closing comments, “Like Sen. Kupec said, sending the system after you, when the system has already failed you is just wrong.” The bill passed unanimously to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Next, the committee heard SF 1953, the MHLN’s adult mental health bill authored by Sen. Mann. This bill would increase the rate for protected transport, fund early episode bipolar and psychosis programs, increase education for providers on tardive dyskinesia, extend audio-only telehealth coverage and expand eligibility for case management. NAMI has been working with DHS and Tribes to include PTSD and complex PTSD as qualifying conditions for case management. President Robert Larson of the Lower Sioux Indian Community testified in favor of the bill, “Intergenerational trauma, racial trauma, and unresolved historical grief continues to affect many of our people to this day,” President Larson said, recalling many historical acts of oppression committed against Indigenous people on this land. Thanks also to Anna Solem a nurse from St. Luke’s Hospital who testified in favor of raising protected transport rates. Jewels Lindholm, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker at the M Health Fairview Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Minnesota testified to the impact of First Episode of Psychosis Programs and the hope to truly start one for Early Episode of Bipolar Disorder. Matt Freeman from the Minnesota Association of County Social Service Administrators (MACSSA) testified sharing concerns about counties bearing the cost of expanded case management populations. NAMI does not think the expansion will induce overwhelming costs. The bill passed and was rereferred to the Human Services Committee.
Finally, the committee quickly heard SF 2134 authored by Sen. Mohamed, which replaces the terms “emotional disturbance” and “serious emotional disturbance” with “mental illness” in statute and changes “out of home placement” to “residential treatment” in the Children’s Mental Health Act. Sue Abderholden testified sharing how families confuse the current terms with special education and how the term “out of home placement” holds the connotation of abuse or neglect when in reality, families are voluntarily seeking help for their children. The bill was laid over.
NAMI's Crisis Bill
Members of the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee convened on Wednesday morning to hear HF 973 (Backer) prohibiting clients from being charged for mobile crisis intervention services, updating language and increasing funding.
Testimony began with NAMI Minnesota’s Executive Director, Sue Aberholden, explaining the statewide crisis response system has been advocated for over 20 years but funding is needed for crisis teams as they are receiving far less funding than police departments across the state. She continued to echo Rep. Backer's points about the bill ultimately decreasing interactions with police and incarcerations, preventing people from being charged for these services, and increasing 988’s connection with crisis teams to receive appropriate responses.
Eric Sievers from Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center also testified in support of the bill. Sievers explained the work that they do in five rural counties in Southeastern Minnesota. He revealed that as the rates of suicide continue to rise across Minnesota, there has been a significant increase in calls and assessments in the first 2 months of the year, already equaling a quarter of the assessment numbers completed in 2024.
Rep. Keeler agreed that people should not be charged for mobile crisis services and appreciated the promotion of 988 while encouraging the committee to use their platforms to further promote the use and benefits of 988. The bill was laid over for inclusion in an omnibus bill. Read more here.
Formulary Changes
On Tuesday the Senate Commerce Committee heard SF 1806 authored by Sen. Mann. The bill would require a health plan to continue to cover a medication a person was on at the beginning of the plan year, even if the health plan changes the medication mid-year. NAMI's Sue Abderholden testified in favor of the bill noting how difficult it is to find the right medication to treat mental illnesses and forcing someone to change their medication midway through the plan year was unfair and could be difficult. The bill was spearheaded by the MN Medical Association and doctors testified in support as well.
Protected Transport
Monday, the Senate Human Services Committee heard SF 2125 which raises the rates for Non-Emergency Medical Transport (NEMT), but does not include protected transport. NAMI submitted a letter to the committee asking that protected transport be included in any increases to NEMT rates. Testifiers shared the importance of NEMT especially in rural Minnesota for taking pressure off of already stretched ambulance services. Protected transport can be an important piece in relieving that pressure as people in crisis can use an alternative to ambulance and police transport. The bill was laid over.
Department of Human Services Budget Forecast
On Tuesday, the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee heard an overview of the new budget forecast from the Department of Human Services (DHS). The state put out an estimated budget in November, and a revised version in February. The updated budget shows DHS spending 1.9% more than previously thought in fiscal years 24-25 and 26-27.
DHS Budget Director Elyse Bailey shared that Medical Assistance (MA) makes up 89% of DHS’ budget, with the next-largest expense being the Housing Support program. Changes in the budget estimate were particularly large in Medical Assistance and the Behavioral Health Fund. Increases in both the rates and use of disability waivers are a large piece of the rising MA cost, as is higher than expected fee-for-service payments.
The increase in expected costs in the Behavioral Health Fund is mostly due to an error DHS made in claiming federal reimbursement a few residential substance use disorder programs that were not actually qualified for federal reimbursement from 2015 to 2024. DHS will now have to pay that money ($113 million) back to the federal government using the state’s Behavioral Health Fund.
DHS CFO Dave Greeman also spoke about the significant uncertainty they face in budgeting at the federal level. He said that if the cuts proposed by congress were spread proportionally across all states, that would result in a loss of $1.6 billion dollars to Minnesota in fiscal year 2027. He added we are still receiving annual mental health block grants from SAMHSA, but DHS does not know whether we will continue to receive that funding if there is a government shutdown or if the Trump administration pauses payments again.
Department of Human Services Policy Bill
On Thursday, the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee heard several bills, including the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) policy bill (HF2115), the future Human Services Committee vehicle bill, and a bill to allow in-home staff to bill for time they spent providing indirect services.
The DHS policy bill includes many technical updates and putting existing DHS requirements into law, as well as the following provisions:
- Aligns requirements for who can be a children’s targeted case managers with adult targeted case managers and federal policies
- Requires children’s mental health case managers to complete functional assessments
- Codifies the intermediate school district school-linked behavioral health grant program in law and requires evaluation of the program
- Extends the change in the 48-hour law, which says individuals who are incarcerated and meet the criteria for priority admissions to state-operated treatment programs must be admitted within 48 hours of when a medically appropriate bed is available (rather than when the person who is deemed ineligible to stand trial is commited), to 2027.
- Moves some of the duties and powers that once belonged to DHS to the new Direct Care and Treatment Department
- Removes requirement for Commerce Commissioner to publicly post information about prior authorization activity in MA and MNCare
- Expands the health care bill of rights to apply to clients in withdrawal management, children’s residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, and outpatient SUD treatment
- Adds timeframes to require staff to complete alcohol and drug policy and overdose medication administration training before providing services
- Expands LADC counselor’s ability to use previously completed comprehensive assessments
- Adds minimal documentation requirements when guest speakers are used as a part of SUD treatment
- Reduces Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP) paperwork for client transfers and eases OTP client identification requirements.
- Allows SUD treatment programs to determine their own system for medication counts
- Removes redundant orientation and paperwork when a client transfers to another program operated by the same provider
- Reduces barriers to qualify as a drug counselor for adolescents
- Exempts SUD treatment programs from needing a childcare license to provide child care for short periods
Opioids and SUD
The members of the House Health Finance and Policy committee convened on Monday to discuss HF1379, which is the “nonopioid directive” bill. Representative Baker described it as a tool for patients who are in recovery that automatically lets their doctors know they do not consent to being given or prescribed opioids.
Alicia House, Executive Director of the Steve Rummler HOPE Network, testified in support of the bill and described the bill as “a much-needed step towards empowering patients in making informed decisions about their own care, especially those at risk” She went on to say that sometimes patients are prescribed opioids without their full knowledge, which can lead to setbacks in recovery or lead to overdose. This bill hopes to reduce these unintended exposures, which can lead to relapse and overdose risk.
Rep. Carroll questioned the need for a formal nonopioid directive when a patient can just tell the doctor they don’t want any opioids. In response, Rep. Baker shared a personal story describing how his late son, Dan, was still administered opioids after a condescending doctor dismissed their pleas to avoid opioids during a surgical procedure. Baker said this directive removes provider bias, and allows for patients in SUD recovery to have more control over their care. HF 1379 was unanimously referred to the Judicial, Finance, and Civil Law Committee.
Public Safety Council
The House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee met on Tuesday to hear HF 1257 (Novotny) which would eliminate the legislatively established Public Safety Advisory Council in the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST). NAMI Minnesota serves on this council and wrote a letter asking the committee to oppose this bill. Rep. Novotny first presented the bill to the committee, explaining that although originally the council had a purpose and was established in an environment in ‘’high need of fixing,’’ regarding the 2020 murder of George Floyd, the council has now outlived its purpose and is obsolete. Rep. Novotny completed his introduction by explaining that the POST Board remains and that, ‘’The sky will not fall,’’ with the elimination of the Public Safety Advisory Council as citizens will still have access to the POST board to address concerns.
The Committee opened up for testimony and former Representative and Chair of the House Public Safety and Finance and Policy Committee, Carlos Mariani, gave testimony opposing the bill. Mariani explained that a key feature of the 2020 Police Accountability Act was to create the Public Safety Advisory Council to ensure the protection of civil and human rights. He continued that the state has a duty to promote interactions between peace officers and the community, and the council is critically important to have those perspectives at the state level.
Vice Chair Witte allowed the committee to ask questions or give any comments, to which Rep. Moller stated that the council is not ready to be eliminated mentioning NAMI Minnesota’s letter as one of the ‘’compelling letters,’’ sent to the committee. The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs, Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, and Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, as well as the organization Violence Free MN also submitted letters in opposition. However, the bill prevailed on a motion to be sent to the general register (house floor) on a party line voice vote.
Community Corrections
Members of the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee convened on Monday afternoon to hear a presentation by the Minnesota Community Corrections Act Counties (MACCAC). The documents accompanying this hearing included MACCAC’s legislative goals mentioning expanding programs dedicated to mental health services throughout the state, especially in rural communities, and also expressing a need for therapeutic placement programs for juveniles in detention centers. Dr. Tami Jo Lieber, Emilio Lamba, and Molly Bruner from MACCAC led the presentation.
Dr. Tami Jo Lieberg started the presentation by explaining how the Community Corrections Act (CCA) works within Minnesotan counties to deliver high-quality, evidence-based supervision that enhances public safety. She compared CCA to other probation delivery systems in Minnesota. She explained how funding and design of programs with CCA counties target local needs and interventions that keep communities and citizens safe.
Emilio Lamba from the Association of Minnesota Counties delved into funding for CCA, showing that $5.62 is allocated per day for felony supervision, but the current shortfall of $10 million will subsequently result in losses of agents. Molly Bruner closed the presentation by explaining the need for increased funding, as it will assist with cognitive behavioral programs, risk assessments, family reunification, and more attention for high-risk individuals. She continued to say that mental health and substance use are common issues for people reintegrating into society, so expanding access is ‘’critical for public safety in Minnesota,’’ and reduces the need for expensive incarceration which ultimately saves taxpayer dollars.
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