AASD and DSD eList announcement

Date: Jan. 30, 2024
To: Lead agency staff and other interested parties
From: DHS Aging and Adult Services and Disability Services divisions
Purpose: To announce a consumer directed community supports (CDCS) policy revision that increases the maximum number of hours for which parents of minors and spouses can be paid to provide personal assistance
Effective: Immediately
Contact: For questions about disability waivers, use the DSD Contact Form. For AC or EW questions, email dhs.aasd.hcbs@state.mn.us.

CDCS policy change about hours of paid personal assistance services

A spouse or parent of a minor is no longer limited to 40 hours of paid personal assistance services in a seven-day period.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved DHS’ waiver amendment to increase the number of hours per week a spouse or parent of a minor can be paid as follows:

· If one parent provides personal assistance services to their minor child(ren), the parent may provide up to 60 hours of paid support in a seven-day period.

· If more than one parent provides personal assistance services to their minor child(ren), each parent may provide up to 40 hours of paid support in a seven-day period.

· If a person’s spouse provides personal assistance services, the spouse may provide up to 60 hours of paid support in a seven-day period.

For more information, refer to CDCS Manual – Paying a spouse or parent of a minor for personal assistance.

Implementation instructions

The lead agency is responsible to follow its standard protocol to review and approve plan revision requests. For plan revision requests to increase the number of hours a spouse or parent of a minor can be paid, the lead agency must ensure:

· Services fall within the description and allowable costs of the personal assistance services category.

· Service hours meet the basic waiver criteria for allowable expenditures.

· Paid tasks are not activities a spouse or parent of a minor would ordinarily perform or be responsible to perform.

· Requested revisions are within the person’s budget amount.

If the lead agency approves additional hours that result in overtime pay, the person is still responsible to adhere to the overtime provisions of the U.S. Department of Labor – Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The person should contact their financial management services (FMS) provider for assistance.

More information

This change is part of the amendments to the federal Brain Injury (BI), Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI), Community Alternative Care (CAC) and Developmental Disabilities (DD) waiver programs and the Elderly Waiver (EW). For more information, refer to the Jan. 25, 2024, eList announcement and the Jan. 30, 2024, eList announcement.

Previous eList announcements

AASD LEAD AGENCY ARCHIVE | DSD LEAD AGENCY ARCHIVE | DSD STAKEHOLDER ARCHIVE