Legal authority

Federally approved BI, CAC, CADI, DD and EW waiver plans, Alternative Care program (Minn. Stat. §256B.0913)

Unbundling project

This page includes CDCS unbundled service category policy. When a person transitions to the unbundled CDCS service categories, they will use the policy on this page.

For information about who must use this new policy, refer to the Dec. 10, 2024, eList announcement.

Definitions

CDCS personal assistance: Direct assistance provided in a person’s home or community to help them with their activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and caregiver relief. Workers may provide:

1. Caregiver relief.

2. ADL and IADL support, including:

ADLs: Activities that include bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, positioning, transferring, mobility and eating.

IADLs: Activities that include meal planning and preparation; paying bills; shopping for food, clothing and other essential items; and performing household tasks integral to the personal assistance services.

Caregiver relief: A break for a primary caregiver while the person receives support from another worker.

Covered services

Services must meet the criteria on CDCS Manual – Allowable and unallowable goods and services under CDCS.

The person must follow guidelines for out-of-state-services to use CDCS workers when they temporarily travel out of state or attend an out-of-state post-secondary school. For more information, refer to CBSM – Waiver, AC and ECS general processes and procedures.

Direct support

The following are covered under CDCS personal assistance:

For guidelines for workers who are spouses or parents of minors, refer to CDCS Manual – Paying a spouse or parent of a minor for personal assistance (unbundled).

Employer-related costs

Employer-related costs include fees, taxes and benefits.

Fees and taxes

The person must consult with their financial management services (FMS) provider about fees and taxes (e.g., FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers’ compensation, unemployment).

Benefits

Benefits include paid time off, holiday pay, employer share of health insurance and bonuses to workers directly employed by the person.

Paid time off and holiday pay: The person must comply with the collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the state of Minnesota and the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa (SEIU).

Employer share of health insurance: The person can provide this optional benefit to their workers.

Bonuses to workers directly employed by the person: The person can incorporate an optional worker bonus into their CDCS community support plan (CSP) to help them recruit, reward and retain their workers. The person’s CSP must describe the bonus in detail, including:

Non-covered services

The person or representative cannot pay workers to provide:

The person or representative cannot reimburse themselves to:

Worker ratio

CDCS workers provide services on a 1:1 basis unless both the following are true:

Note: The person’s CDCS CSP must identify and summarize the person’s assessed need and describe why they need additional worker support. The lead agency must approve additional worker support before implementation. Examples of assessed needs that may require more than one worker to provide personal assistance at the same time include, but are not limited to:

Remote support service delivery option

Workers can deliver CDCS personal assistance through remote support. Services delivered through remote support must meet all of the requirements listed on CBSM – Remote support.

Provider qualifications

The person or their representative (if applicable) directly hires their workers. As the employer of the workers, the person or their representative are responsible to recruit, select, employ, train and manage their worker(s).

Workers must meet the following qualifications:

Workers are excluded from licensure under Minn. Stat. §245A.03, subd. 2 (1) and (2) but must meet the requirements of both:

Examples of additional provider qualifications

In addition to the above provider qualifications, a person who uses CDCS or their representative can determine other qualifications for their workers. They must document the additional qualifications in the person’s CDCS CSP.

For example, a person hires their neighbor to provide hands-on assistance with ADLs and IADLs in the morning and at night. In the person’s CDCS CSP, the person documents the needed worker qualifications, which may include:

Verification of provider qualifications

The FMS provider is responsible to verify that the worker’s background study meets qualifications:

In addition, MHCP will process an individual provider agreement with each worker on behalf of the person.

The person is responsible to verify that the worker meets the qualifications outlined in their CDCS CSP.

Wage rates

A person who uses CDCS or their representative determines the hourly wage rate for the CDCS worker. A person can pay a worker an hourly wage rate that aligns with the:

A person should consider the following when determining their worker’s hourly wage rates:

Note: Wages for workers with similar job duties may vary across the state. In addition, a worker supporting a person with higher needs (e.g., behavior, physically demanding care), could receive higher wage rates in all areas of the state.

Paying a spouse or parent of a minor for personal assistance

Personal assistance services are the only services for which a legal guardian or conservator, spouse or parent of a minor may be paid with CDCS funds. For more information, refer to CDCS Manual – Paying a spouse or parent of a minor for personal assistance (unbundled).