Resource: Life-sharing matching process and ongoing support options
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Page updated: 1/20/22
Life sharing is a relationship-based living arrangement that carefully matches an adult age 18 or older who has a disability with an individual or family who will share their life and experiences and support the person using person-centered practices.
“Host home,” “shared living” and “life sharing” are all terms that refer to relationship-based living arrangements. These terms are interchangeable, but DHS has chosen to use the term “life sharing” to describe the matching process and living arrangement.
Currently, life sharing is not a formal waiver service. This page includes information about how lead agencies, providers and interested individuals/families can use existing disability waiver services to create life-sharing arrangements.
This page provides information about:
How is life sharing different from similar arrangements and services?
Life sharing matches an adult age 18 or older who has a disability with an individual or family who will share their life, experiences, relationships and home, and also support the person using person-centered practices. In this arrangement, the individual/family owns or rents the home, and the county/tribal nation licenses the physical home.
The individual/family does not need to enroll as a Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) provider with a 245D license. Instead, the individual/family works with a life-sharing agency that offers consistent quality oversight of the arrangement and manages all 245D license compliance matters specific to the person’s support plan.
If the individual/family chooses to enroll as an MHCP provider with a 245D license, the arrangement is not considered a life-sharing arrangement. Instead, the arrangement is considered family foster care. For information about 245D licensing requirements, refer to DHS – Licensing for 245D providers.
A life-sharing arrangement can include up to two adults who use disability waiver services and choose to live together with an unrelated individual/family. The life-sharing arrangement cannot include more than two adults living in the same home. The lead agency must monitor the home to ensure it does not exceed the two-adult limit. For more information, refer to the eligibility section.
Who is eligible for life sharing?
Adults age 18 or older are eligible to be part of a life-sharing arrangement if they use one of the following waivers:
A life-sharing arrangement can include up to two adults receiving support who choose to live together with an unrelated individual/family. This can include:
If more than two people are involved in an arrangement, or if the two people are not related, partners or friends, they cannot use a life-sharing arrangement. Other services can support more than two people who choose to live together (e.g., family residential services or community residential services).
Who provides life sharing?
Life-sharing arrangements include three main people/entities with complementary roles, responsibilities and functions:
Life-sharing agency requirements
The individual/family chooses the life-sharing agency at the beginning of the matching process, in partnership with the person who receives services. Together, they negotiate an agreement or contract about the support they need from the life-sharing agency. If desired, the individual/family can choose two different life-sharing agencies: one for the matching process and one for ongoing support.
A life-sharing agency must meet all of the following requirements:
Note: Evidence of completion is required before billing for services. As person-centered trainings become available, DHS will send information through DSD eList announcements. For additional information, refer to DHS – Person-centered practices.
Note: Most life-sharing arrangements match one person with an individual/family.
The life-sharing agency provides support through family training and counseling (for matching) and family residential services (for ongoing support). These services are DHS enrollment-required services. For more information about enrollment-required services, refer to CBSM – Waiver/AC service provider overview.
The payment the life-sharing agency receives for ongoing support through family residential services depends on the needs of the person and individual/family.
Individual/family requirements
An individual/family who shares their home must be ready to understand and learn things that are important to and for the person and support them using positive and strength-based practices. They must share living space and responsibilities with the person in a supportive, healing environment, especially if the person has experienced trauma or has a disability or personality characteristics that require additional attention and time.
A living situation is not a life-sharing arrangement if the person is separated from family activities, such as shared living space, meals, vacations, friendships or contact with other family members or neighbors. The individual/family should support the person to maintain or expand their group of friends who provide meaningful relationships to the person.
The individual/family must meet all of the following minimum requirements:
Note: The individual/family does not need a 245D license, but they still must complete these trainings, with support from the life-sharing agency.
Note: As person-centered trainings become available, DHS will send information through DSD eList announcements. For additional information, refer to DHS – Person-centered practices.
To qualify for a life-sharing arrangement, the individual/family must contract with a life-sharing agency, which can be either of the following:
For more information, refer to the choosing and contracting with a life-sharing agency section.
What does life sharing include?
All life-sharing arrangements are driven by the person’s support plan that is person-centered.
Life sharing includes three phases:
Matching and planning the move
The life-sharing agency and lead agency facilitate a process to match the person with an individual/family based on shared preferences, interests, personality styles, responsibilities, mutual agreements, relationships, etc.
The matching process includes face-to-face meetings between the person and individual/family. The meetings should happen in a variety of places and be based on the person’s interests (e.g., attending a sporting event or community event, preparing meals together, spending a weekend at the family home). Alternative methods (e.g., video calls) can be used for the matching process during the pandemic, as needed and deemed appropriate by all parties. For additional information about matching, refer to Roommate matching – Derrick Dufresne (video).
During the matching process, the life-sharing agency must use person-centered practices to develop a robust, person-centered plan to support both the person and individual/family. For more information, refer to CBSM – Person-centered practices.
In some situations, the matching process is not necessary. If all parties already know each other and agree they are a good fit, the lead agency does not need to authorize the matching process.
After a match is made, the life-sharing agency:
For instructions on how the lead agency should authorize this phase, refer to the family training and counseling authorization for matching and planning the move section.
Ongoing support from the life-sharing agency
The life-sharing agency must provide ongoing support to the person and individual/family. All aspects of Minn. Stat. §245D.081 apply to life-sharing arrangements.
The individual/family contracts with a life-sharing agency to ensure proper support and oversight of the person receiving services. These supports can include, but are not limited to:
For instructions on how the lead agency should authorize this phase, refer to the family residential services authorization for ongoing support from the life-sharing agency section.
Support from the individual/family
The individual/family who shares their home:
For instructions on how the lead agency should authorize this phase, refer to the family residential services authorization for support from the individual/family section.
How is life sharing authorized?
The lead agency can authorize each phase of life sharing on the person’s service agreement as follows:
Long-Term Services and Supports Service Rate Limits, DHS-3945 (PDF) includes rates and coding for the life sharing matching phase and life sharing family residential services. Reference DHS-3945 for the following codes:
The lead agency can authorize other services for the person, as needed (e.g., positive support services, respite, employment services).
Family training and counseling authorization for matching and planning the move
The lead agency authorizes matching services from the life-sharing agency through family training and counseling.
The timeline of the matching phase depends on the specific situation. It typically takes 3-6 months for people to get to know each other, according to other states that authorize payments for a similar matching process. The matching phase typically is 50 hours (200 units). Family training and counseling services are limited to a maximum of 500 15-minute units per year.
Family training and counseling is a market rate service. Rates for this service should reflect the market costs and guidance on CBSM – Market rate services. To authorize this service, the lead agency should follow the instructions on CBSM – Family training and counseling.
The lead agency also can authorize family training and counseling to help match people who choose a different living situation. For more information, refer to the other ongoing support and housing options section.
Family residential services authorization for ongoing support from the life-sharing agency
The lead agency authorizes ongoing support from the life-sharing agency through family residential services.
Typically, the life-sharing agency provides 6-12 hours of support per month, depending on the person’s assessed needs. During the initial transition (i.e., 1-6 months), this amount of support may be higher to ensure the person has a successful transition. The lead agency should monitor these services. As support needs change, the individual/family can negotiate for more or less support from the life-sharing agency.
Family residential services authorization for support from the individual/family
The lead agency authorizes support from the individual/family through family residential services. The life-sharing agency receives the full family residential services rate. Then, the life-sharing agency keeps the portion of the rate for the ongoing support it provides (as negotiated with the individual/family) and distributes the remaining amount to the individual/family for the support they provide.
Everyone involved in a life-sharing arrangement must follow the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) rules, including:
Note: The guidance related to asleep overnight staffing in rule 7 does not apply to life sharing.
The lead agency enters this information in the RMS in the MnCHOICES Support Plan to calculate a daily rate. The lead agency should follow the processes on CBSM – Adult foster care, CBSM – Family residential services or CBSM – Residential habilitation – SLS in a provider-controlled setting.
Choosing and contracting with a life-sharing agency
The individual/family chooses a life-sharing agency to provide support and assistance to ensure the person’s support plan is monitored closely and implemented correctly. The individual/family purchases services from the life-sharing agency with funds from family residential services.
The individual/family must create an agreement with the life-sharing agency. DHS recommends consulting with legal counsel when creating the agreement. Components of this agreement can include, but are not limited to:
The life-sharing agreement begins when the person moves into the home.
Other ongoing support and housing options after the matching process
The matching process can be useful for people who choose a variety of living arrangements (i.e., not just life-sharing arrangements). The lead agency can authorize the matching process through family training and counseling for people interested in receiving support to find a roommate or caregiver. This includes people who want to live in their own home, use the caregiver living expenses service or live in a family foster care setting.
Own home
A person can use the matching process to find a roommate for their own home. A person’s own home is a single-family home or unit in a multi-family home (e.g., apartment) where a person lives, and the person or their family owns/rents and maintains control over the individual unit, demonstrated by a lease agreement (if applicable). This means a service provider does not own, operate or lease the home/unit or have direct or indirect financial interest in the person's housing. For more information about this policy, refer to CBSM – Requirements for a person's own home.
Caregiver living expenses
A person can use the matching process to find a live-in caregiver who provides them with ongoing support through caregiver living expenses. The caregiver living expenses service funds certain expenses incurred by an unrelated caregiver who lives in the same household as a person age 18 or older who receives waiver services if the caregiver provides an approved service. For more information about this service, refer to CBSM – Caregiver living expenses.
Family foster care
A person can use the matching process to find a family foster care provider. Family foster care is an arrangement in which an individual/family owns or rents the home, lives in the home and has a license for the physical home from the county/tribal nation. The individual/family is an enrolled MHCP provider with a 245D license to provide family residential services. Family foster care can include up to four unrelated adults receiving support from a family foster care provider. For more information, refer to CBSM – Adult foster care and CBSM – Family residential services.
Examples of life-sharing arrangements
CBSM – Life-sharing scenarios provides examples of how a life-sharing arrangement can work and what to anticipate in the planning process. The information can be helpful for people with disabilities, families, case managers and providers.
Additional resources
The Arc of Minnesota – Housing access services
CBSM – Housing resources
CBSM – Life-sharing scenarios
CBSM – My Move Plan Summary
CBSM – Person-Centered, Informed Choice and Transition Protocol
CBSM – Transitional services (BI, CAC, CADI, DD)
CBSM – Waiver/AC reimbursement for unforeseen circumstances
Matching support – Michael Smull (video)
Minnesota Department of Health – Health care provider directory
Moving Home Minnesota Program Manual
Rate management worksheets, DHS-6790 (PDF)
RMS User Manual – Family residential services: Quick reference guide on business rules for residential staffing
Roommate matching – Derrick Dufresne (video)
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