SF No. 1055 modifies employment-related services available under the home and community-based services waivers by eliminating supported employment and replacing it with three distinct employment-related services: employment exploration services, employment development services, and employment support services.

Section 1 (245D.03, subdivision 1) adds employment exploration services, employment development services, and employment support services to the range of services governed by the home and community-based licensing standards under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245D.

Section 2 (252.41, subdivision 3) removes supported employment from the definition of day training and habilitation and clarifies that work-related activities included in the definition are only center-based activities and not employment exploration services, employment development services, or employment support services.

Section 3 (252.42) clarifies that the principles governing the design and delivery of day training and habilitation work-related activities apply to center-based work-related activities.

Sections 4 to 6 modify the statutory provisions governing both payments and business agreements related to the provision of employment-related services.

Section 4 (252.451, subdivision 2) eliminates the ability of day training and habilitation providers to enter into written agreements with businesses to provide additional training and supervision of individuals receiving employment-related services, and instead permits only providers of employment support services to enter into such written agreements.

Section 5 (252.451, subdivision 3) authorizes providers of employment support services to make payments to businesses for the business’s additional expenses for providing additional training to and supervision of any person with a disability receiving employment support services, not just persons with developmental disabilities.

Section 6 (252.451, subdivision 5) specifies that employment support service providers will be reimbursed according to a newly created payment rate for employment support services under the unit services with programming calculation of the disability waiver rate system, and not at the full-day or partial-day rate as day training and habilitation providers had been paid for supported employment services.

Section 7 (256B.4913, subdivisions 7) exempts from the banding provisions any new services added to the disability waiver rate system after January 1, 2014, including employment exploration services, employment development services, and employment support services.

Section 8 (256B.4914, subdivision 3) eliminates supported employment from and adds employment exploration services, employment development services, and employment support services to the disability waiver rate system.

Section 9 (256B.4914, subdivision 5) eliminates the base wage calculation for staff providing supported employment services and creates base wage calculations for staff providing employment exploration services, employment development services, and employment support services.  Section 9 also increases the values of the following component values for unit-based services with programming, which include employment exploration services, employment development services, and employment support services: the program plan support ratio from 3.1 to 15.5; the client programming and support ratio from 8.6 to 4.7; and the absence and utilization factor ratio from 3.9 to 8.0.

Section 10 (256B.4914, subdivision 8) adds employment exploration services, employment development services, and employment support services to the rate calculation of payments for unit-based services with programming and specifies which wage data shall be used to set the initial personnel wage rate upon implementation of the new services.

Section 11 (256B.4914, subdivision 16) eliminates the budget neutrality factor for unit-based services with programming.

Section 12 is an instruction to the commissioner of human services to apply for any waivers required to implement the changes to employment-related services under the disability waivers and the day training and habilitation program.

Section 13 repeals the definition of support employment from the statutes governing day training and habilitation services.