Page updated: 2/4/21

DHS officially closed the Minnesota Extended Treatment Options (METO) program June 30, 2011, and replaced it with Minnesota Specialty Health System-Cambridge (MSHS-Cambridge). As part of the Jensen Settlement Agreement, DHS agreed to close MSHS-Cambridge.

In 2014, services ended at MSHS-Cambridge, and Minnesota Life Bridge (MLB) began to provide treatment services in homes integrated within Minnesota communities.

MLB is part of Community Support Services (CSS), which is a program of the DHS Direct Care and Treatment (DCT) Division’s Community-Based Services (CBS).

MLB homes provide intensive residential treatment for Minnesotans who have developmental disabilities and exhibit extreme behavior that presents a risk to public safety. MLB’s purpose is reflected in its mission statement, “successful transition to a successful life.”

MLB settings do not provide hospital level care for medical conditions or psychiatric illnesses.

MLB serves people who both:

Consistent with the Jensen Settlement Agreement, people must be supported in the most integrated setting that is safely possible. A person may only be admitted to MLB when MLB is the most integrated setting possible to safely meet their needs.

MLB residential treatment services are:

Positive supports

Program staff members are intensively trained to use positive support strategies to promote people’s improved quality of life. MLB does not allow the use of mechanical restraint, prone restraint, chemical restraint, seclusion, time-out or any other aversive or deprivation procedures.

Transition planning

Successful transition from one residential setting to another requires planning and often additional supports for a short time. Because MLB residential treatment is intended to be short-term, thorough transition planning begins at admission and ends when the person has moved into the most integrated setting.

Person-centered plan

When a person is admitted to MLB, staff begins to work with the person and their identified support network to develop or update the person’s person-centered plan. This plan is used as a foundation for planning a successful transition from MLB with the person.

Planning team

Unless the person objects, their transition planning team includes:

My Move Plan Summary

The Person-Centered, Informed Choice, and Transition Protocol (PDF) requires the lead agency (specifically case managers and support planners) to work together with the person who is moving to complete My Move Plan Summary, DHS-3936 (PDF). For more information, see CBSM – My Move Plan Summary.

Training and additional support

MLB staff work with the person and their support network to ensure those supporting the person in their new home are well prepared. MLB staff offer training, consultation and other follow-up supports as appropriate. These supports are provided in partnership with CSS mobile teams (see CBSM – CSS).

MLB provides residential treatment services in four homes in Minnesota communities. Each home:

MLB homes are not secured facilities.

MLB and other CBS crisis and residential services use a unified, online referral process. For more information, see CBSM – Referral process for CBS crisis and residential service lines.

MLB services are funded primarily through HCBS waiver funding approved by the lead agency through a service agreement.

If a person meets MLB eligibility but is ineligible for waiver funding (e.g., due to immigration status), MLB services may be funded through other means. No person is denied services based on inability to pay.