AASD and DSD eList announcement

Date: Aug. 18, 2026
To: Lead agencies and all interested parties
From: DHS Aging and Adult Services and Disability Services divisions
Purpose: To announce updates DHS made to the Community-Based Services Manual (CBSM) in July 2026
Contact: For Brain Injury (BI), Community Alternative Care (CAC), Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI) and Developmental Disabilities (DD) waivers, use the DSD Contact Form. For Alternative Care (AC), Essential Community Supports (ECS) and Elderly Waiver (EW), email DHS.AASD.HCBS@state.mn.us. For Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) service agreements and screening documents, refer to Service Agreement and Screening Document (SASD) Support Team.

Recent CBSM updates

In July 2026, DHS made updates to the following pages in the CBSM.

Page	Information about update
Family training and counseling	We updated CBSM – Family training and counseling to add information about coverage for adaptive or one-on-one swimming lessons for people who are at a high risk of drowning due to their disability. For more information, refer to the July 21, 2026, eList announcement: Swimming lessons now covered through family training.
Home health agency services	We comprehensively reviewed CBSM – Home health agency services and clarified information throughout the page.
IHS	We updated CBSM – Individualized home supports (IHS) and made the following changes: · Clarified the differences between support and training. · Added guidance related to IHS with training (including family training) and IHS without training. For more information, refer to the July 21, 2026, eList announcement: IHS support and training updated guidance.
Resource: Service options for IHS	We updated CBSM – Resource: Service options for individualized home supports (IHS) and made the following changes: · Clarified the differences between support and training. · Added guidance related to IHS with training (including family training) and IHS without training. · Added frequently asked questions and examples to support service authorization decisions. · Added information to help lead agencies determine the appropriate service mixes for people who live in their own home/family home. For more information, refer to the July 21, 2026, eList announcement: IHS support and training updated guidance.
Corporate foster care moratorium liaison contact list	We updated information for Kittson County on CBSM – Corporate foster care moratorium liaison contact list.
Waiver, AC and ECS case management	We updated the provider standards and qualifications section on CBSM – Waiver, AC and ECS case management to add information about Informed Choice: Disability Waiver Case Manager Training.
Home health therapies	We comprehensively reviewed CBSM – Home health therapies and clarified information throughout the page.
HCN	We updated CBSM – Home care nursing (HCN) and made the following changes: · Moved information from the old eDoc, DHS-4071C, into the page. · Clarified information about consumer directed community supports (CDCS).
Transition services provider contact list	We updated information on CBSM – Transition services provider contact list for the following providers: · Access Health, LLC. · Engage Community Services. · Maximal Care, LLC. · Options for Independence.
Resource: 65th birthday discussion	We posted a new resource, CBSM – Resource: 65th birthday discussion, for assessors and case managers working with people who use disability waivers as they approach their 65th birthday to determine whether they need an assessment to change programs. For more information, refer to the July 28, 2026, eList announcement: Changes to the process for 65th birthday assessments on BI, CAC and CADI.
Assessment applicability and timelines	We updated information about the 65th birthday assessment on CBSM – Assessment applicability and timelines. For more information, refer to the July 28, 2026, eList announcement: Changes to the process for 65th birthday assessments on BI, CAC and CADI.
EW	We updated CBSM – EW and made the following changes: · Added definitions for Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO), Minnesota Senior Care Plus (MSC+) and Special Needs BasicCare (SNBC). · Added an eligibility requirement that the person must be enrolled in fee-for-service Medical Assistance or, if enrolled in managed care, MSHO or MSC+. · Removed extended personal care assistance (PCA) as an available service, effective Sept. 30, 2026.

Training

AASD

AASD and the Minnesota Board on Aging offer online courses and training materials for staff from counties, tribal nations, managed care organizations, providers and other interested parties about how to better serve and support older adults.

All courses are available in the Older Adult Programs Learning Center in TrainLink.

For additional information, refer to DHS – AASD training and webinars.

DSD

Lead agency staff can take the On-Demand HCBS Disability Waiver Foundations course to learn the basics about the four disability waivers, including eligibility and covered services.

The Supporting A Person’s Move: A Case Manager’s Role course guides case managers through their responsibilities in supporting a person to find a new home. This course also discusses different moving supports, services and tools to help people plan for successful moves, including information about Housing Stabilization Services (HSS). To find the course, go to TrainLink and search for course code “Housing_CM”.

For information about additional trainings, refer to TrainLink – DSD training news and information.

Previous eList announcements

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