SS Update - September 2017

Key Highlights This Month:  

Child Support:

1. Upcoming      Events
1. Community       Outreach

                                                               i.      CSD staff are attending the Region V and VII Intergovernmental meeting in Kansas City from September 14 - 15

                                                              ii.      The next CSD All-Staff meeting is September 18

                                                            iii.      The Child Support Task Force public comment meeting is September 19 at NorthPoint in Minneapolis

                                                            iv.      The next Child Support Advisory Board meeting is September 20

                                                             v.      CSD staff are speaking at the Western Interstate Child Support Enforcement Council in Alaska from September 24 - 28

                                                            vi.      The next regular Child Support Task Force meeting is September 27 in Brainerd, MN

                                                          vii.      CSD staff are attending and presenting at the annual Minnesota Family Support and Recovery Council conference from October 1 – 4 in St. Cloud

2. Highlights/New      Initiatives
1. KMOJ Outreach – CSD will       develop an outreach campaign with KMOJ radio in Minneapolis. The purpose       of the campaign is to reach underserved communities and educate the       community on the importance of the child support program through on-air       interviews, informational announcements, and other tactics.
2. Operational       Annual Planning Document Update (OAPDU) – CSD just completed its OAPDU       process documenting the joint work with MN.IT for the PRISM system       improvements and related funding. For the first time, CSD worked in       conjunction with the (Business Systems Office) BSO to centralize and       align the preparation of the growing number of planning documents,       especially due to Systems Modernization.
3. Ongoing      Program Work
1. Child Support       Payment Center (CSPC) Request for Information -  The       Child Support Payment Center and the DHS Financial Operations Division’s       Automatic Receipt Center (ARC) are two DHS agencies who receipt and       process payments. The center currently uses a vendor to process payments       with ARC does not. The center and ARC collaborated to issue a joint       request for information (RFI) to gather information about different       vendors who may be able to process payments for both agencies.
2. Child Support       Task Force Meetings – The task force scheduled two meetings this       month; one on September 19 dedicated to public comment and its regularly       scheduled meeting on September 27 in Brainerd, MN. www.mn.gov/dhs/child-support-task-force
4. Website changes
1. Child Support Task Force website – CSD added content relevant to previous       and future meetings including agendas, minutes, presentations and       additional resources.
2. Child Support – Partners and Providers       website –       CSD is working with other CFS divisions to update and migrate content       from the DHS Partners and Providers section to a new content management       system.
3. Child Support – People We Serve website – CSD added content to its News and       Events page with information about Child Support Awareness Month and a       recap of survey results regarding an online web calendar tool.

Other: Child Support Cooperative Agreements and Arrangements will be 2 years in duration and are due by February 28, 2018 to DHS/CSD.

HSPM: Based on input from a threshold review workgroup, the Human Services Performance Management Team

recommends changing the threshold for the Child Support Paid measure. The recommended change includes

two components:

�‚� The DHS Child Support division, in partnership with the Performance Management team, will develop a

Regression Adjusted Performance Model (Regression Adjusted Model) to use statistical regression

analysis to predict what a county’s performance should be. The regression model will require one to two

years to develop and will be implemented when complete.

�‚� While the Regression Adjusted Model is created, a modified version of the historical threshold—an

increasing five-year average—will be used. The new threshold requires a positive change in a county’s

five-year average of year-over-year performance. The threshold will include a cap on expected

performance of 80%; regardless of year-over-year change, counties with performance of 80% or above

will not receive a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). The modified historical threshold will be used

for all future Child Support report until the Regression Adjusted Model is complete

Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT)

Message received from DHS:

We are finalizing any updates needed to the provider manual but wanted to share an update with you.

 As we discussed during our last call, DHS was moving to exempt NEMT from the spenddown as it is an access service and access services are already exempt from other cost sharing (deductibles and co-pays). The systems change to do this has been completed and all NEMT claims should now be bypassing the spenddown. Based on our last discussion, I think we were all in agreement that this would address the issue that was occurring related to collecting the spenddown from the recipient.

Child Care Assistance Program/CCAP

• Bulletin # 17-68-19 Federal and State Changes to the Child Care Assistance Program – Phase 1 was published. An email was sent to counties on September 7^th, 2017 announcing the bulletin and a memo with MEC² changes to redetermination and the school window. 
• An announcement for the County and Tribal Child Care Fund Plan https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-5107-ENG was sent to counties on July 28^th, and again on August 9, 2017. A video conference was done on August 15^th, 2017, the video is available here: http://stream5.video.state.mn.us:8080/dhsplay.html?/DHS/mp4:ccpr081517.mp4. The plan is due September 18, 2017.
• There will be a video conference on Authorizing Care with a Legal Nonlicensed (LNL) Provider on September 20^th, 2017. A memo was sent to counties about this on September 8^th, 2017.
• A CCAP training memo was sent to each agency on August 9, 2017. It outline the various efforts planned for training local agency staff on all of the legislative changes occurring in 2017 and early 2018.

Requested Actions Needed From MACSSA:  

New Trends in This Area:  

Issues/Concerns Regarding This Topic:  

Legislative Impacts: 

Child Care

See Bulletin # 17-68-19 for changes that take effect September 25, 2017:  Federal and State Changes to the Child Care Assistance Program – Phase 1

A memo was also sent to county contacts about Redetermination and School Window updates made in MEC².

Supporting Materials:  See links above.

Contacts(s):