Page updated: 4/27/26

Legal authority

Federally approved Brain Injury (BI), Community Alternative Care (CAC), Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI), Developmental Disabilities (DD) and Elderly Waiver (EW) waiver plans, federally approved Alternative Care (AC) 1115 demonstration, Minn. Stat. §256B.0913

Definitions

Enhanced budget for consumer directed community supports (CDCS): Effective Jan. 1, 2026, there is a 12.5% enhanced budget for a person who:

Before Jan. 1, 2026, the enhanced budget was 7.5%.

Enhanced budget for PCA, CFSS and Consumer Support Grant (CSG): Refer to CFSS Manual – PCA, CFSS and CSG enhanced rate/budget.

Overview

The page describes the process the person, lead agency and financial management services (FMS) provider must follow to implement an enhanced budget for CDCS.

Completing and documenting qualifying training

To access the enhanced budget, the person must have a worker they hired directly who completed qualifying training.

The following activities must happen before the lead agency reviews the request:

1. The worker completes qualifying training listed on DHS – Qualifying for the enhanced rate.

2. The worker submits documentation to the Minnesota direct support worker (DSW) training website for validation.

3. The DSW training administrator confirms the worker met requirements and emails a confirmation letter to the worker.

4. The worker gives the administrator’s confirmation letter to the person.

5. The person (or their authorized representative) contacts the lead agency case manager/care coordinator and gives them the worker’s confirmation letter.

Note: Regardless of the number of workers who have completed the qualifying training, the lead agency can only enhance the person’s budget once during the service plan year.

BI, CAC, CADI and DD enhanced budget process

This section includes instructions for people on BI, CAC, CADI and DD waivers.

Approval and submission

After the county/Tribal Nation case manager receives the worker’s confirmation letter:

1. The county/Tribal Nation case manager verifies the person has a qualifying worker by reviewing the DSW training administrator’s confirmation letter the person provided to them.

2. The county/Tribal Nation case manager calculates the enhancement to the person’s CDCS budget (refer to the how to calculate the increase section lower on this page).

3. The county/Tribal Nation case manager completes the top portion of CDCS Enhanced Budget Request & Community Support Plan Addendum, DHS-6633B and sends it via secure email to dsdconsumer.directed@state.mn.us by following instructions on CBSM – How to exchange private and protected information via email with DHS.

4. DHS sends the county/Tribal Nation case manager confirmation that DHS received DHS-6633B.

5. The county/Tribal Nation case manager gives DHS-6633B to the person (or their authorized representative) to inform them of the enhanced budget amount and asks them to complete the bottom portion of the form.

6. The person (or their authorized representative) completes the bottom portion of DHS-6633B and sends it to the county/Tribal Nation case manager to indicate how they will apply the additional funds. For more information, refer to the applying the additional funds section lower on this page.

7. The county/Tribal Nation case manager reviews and approves the person’s changes to DHS-6633B, puts it in their file and directs the person to keep the addendum with their CDCS community support plan.

8. The county/Tribal Nation case manager gives the approved DHS-6633B to the FMS provider and the person (or their authorized representative) to implement.

9. The county/Tribal Nation case manager enters a updated service agreement or service authorization into MMIS to reflect the budget change and enters a Y indicator in the PCA COMPLEX field on the ASA2 screen in the service agreement.

10. The FMS provider applies the funds in the personal assistance or community integration category in the FMS provider’s worksheet, as directed by the person.

The enhanced budget is effective through the end of the person’s service plan year. At the end of that year, the county/Tribal Nation must follow the process in the reassessments section lower on this page.

Confirmation

The county/Tribal Nation does not receive formal approval or confirmation from DHS when DHS processes the enhanced budget request.

To confirm DHS processed the request, the county/Tribal Nation case manager verifies the person’s new budget generated in the Waiver Management System (WMS). This happens after the next WMS download.

The WMS indicates it has enhanced the person’s budget by adding an E** or E*** next to the budget amount on the CDCS budget detail page.

AC and EW enhanced budget process

This section includes instructions for people on AC and EW.

Approval and submission

After receiving the worker’s confirmation letter, the lead agency must:

1. Verify the person has a qualifying worker by reviewing the DSW training administrator’s confirmation letter the person provided to them.

2. Calculate the enhancement to the person’s CDCS budget (refer to the how to calculate the increase section lower on this page).

3. Follow the applicable steps below.

If the person is not enrolled in a managed care organization (MCO)

The county/Tribal Nation case manager must:

1. Enter the enhanced monthly CDCS budget limit in the CDCS amount field on the MMIS ALT4 screen of the long-term care (LTC) screening document and confirm the entry in the PCA COMPLEX field is Y. MMIS will post exception code 784 (AC/EW budget amount requires approval) and keep the screening document in suspended status.

2. Resolve all suspending or denying exception codes, other than exception code 784. MMIS will automatically route the screening document to DHS staff for review the following business day.

3. Complete the top portion of CDCS Enhanced Budget Request & Community Support Plan Addendum, DHS-6633B and send it via secure email to dhs.aasd.hcbs@state.mn.us by following instructions on CBSM – How to exchange private and protected information via email with DHS.

DHS staff will approve the enhanced budget request and send an email confirmation or request further information from the county/Tribal Nation case manager.

After receiving approval, the county/Tribal Nation case manager continues with the steps in the implementation section below.

If the person is on EW and enrolled in MCO

The care coordinator must:

1. Contact the MCO for instructions to request approval of higher monthly CDCS budget limit.

2. Add a Y to the PCA COMPLEX field on the LTC screening document. Do not add the enhanced budget amount in the CDCS amount field.

3. Continue with the steps in the implementation section below.

Implementation

After DHS or the MCO approves the enhanced budget amount:

1. The case manager/care coordinator gives CDCS Enhanced Budget Request & Community Support Plan Addendum, DHS-6633B to the person.

2. The person (or their authorized representative) completes and submits the bottom portion of DHS-6633B to indicate how they will apply the additional funds. For more information, refer to the applying the additional funds section below.

3. The case manager/care coordinator reviews and approves DHS-6633B.

4. The case manager/care coordinator gives DHS-6633B to the FMS provider and the person (or their authorized representative) to implement.

5. The case manager/care coordinator reviews and approves the person’s changes to DHS-6633B, puts it in their file and directs the person to keep the addendum with their CDCS community support plan.

6. The FMS provider applies the funds in the personal assistance or community integration category in the FMS provider’s worksheet, as directed by the person.

The enhanced budget is effective through the end of the person’s service span. At the end of that service span, the lead agency must follow the process in the reassessment section lower on this page.

Applying the additional funds

The person must apply the additional funds in the personal assistance or community integration category. The funds must go toward the wages and wage-related costs of directly hired worker(s), which includes but is not limited to:

The person cannot use the additional funds toward:

Reassessments

At the time of the person’s annual reassessment, the lead agency must determine if the person continues to be eligible for the enhanced budget by verifying that the person both:

Then, the lead agency follows the applicable instructions.

If the person remains eligible

If the person remains eligible for the enhanced budget, the lead agency must follow the instructions in the enhanced budget process section above, according to the person’s program.

If the person is not eligible

If the person is not eligible for the enhanced budget, the lead agency must:

1. Enter an N indicator in the PCA COMPLEX field on the ALT4 screen of the LTC screening document.

2. Enter an N indicator in the PCA COMPLEX field on the ASA2 screen on the service agreement (if the person is not enrolled in an MCO).

How to calculate the budget increase

The lead agency must enhance the budget effective the first day of the month both of the following criteria are met:

To calculate the total increase to the person’s CDCS budget, use the following example:

The person has a $60,000 budget for a service agreement/service authorization period that goes from May 1, 2026, to April 30, 2027 (i.e., $5,000 per month). The lead agency must calculate the budget increase for the period starting at the beginning of the month the person met all requirements.

Prorating

The lead agency must prorate the person’s budget if the person becomes eligible in the middle of a service plan year.

For example, if the worker completed the qualifying training on Sept. 15, 2026, the lead agency only enhances the budget from Sept. 1, 2026, through April 31, 2027 (i.e., $40,000).

The prorated budget for Sept. 1, 2026, through April 30, 2027, must have the 12.5% enhancement applied to it.

To apply the increase, the lead agency multiplies the Sept. 1, 2026, through April 30, 2027, budget amount ($40,000, in this example) by 1.125.

The result is $45,000, which is the new CDCS authorized budget amount for the Sept. 1, 2026, through April 30, 2027, period.

The lead agency then enters the additional amount (i.e., $5,000) in the “amount change” field on CDCS Enhanced Budget Request & Community Support Plan Addendum, DHS-6633B.