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NAMI Minnesota Legislative Update February 2, 2019 Elk River City Council Supports IRTS Facility!NAMI Minnesota is pleased to report that the Elk River City Council changed their mind and voted to approve the development of a new Intensive Residential Treatment Services (IRTS) facility. This will add a vital and much needed addition to the mental health continuum in the Northwest suburbs.None of this would have happened without the passionate advocacy of NAMI members and supporters who contacted the members of the Elk River City Council about the importance of this IRTS facility. Thank you for your advocacy!As a final request, we would ask that all NAMI members contact the Elk River City Council and thank them for a very courageous vote to build our mental health system and support people with mental illnesses. HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Mayor John Dietz: 763-441-5783Council Member HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Garret Chrisianson (Ward 1) - 763-300-2794Council Member HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Matt Westgaard (Ward 2)Council Member HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Nate Ovall (Ward 3) - 763-221-2296Council Member HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Jennifer Wagner (Ward 4) - 612-741-1619To learn more about the vote, you can read this HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" editorial from the Star Tribune.Hearings This Week - Action Needed! On Monday at 9:45 AM, the House Ways and Means Committee will hear HF 679, which will provide bridge funding for our children's residential treatment through the end of the biennium. The House Ways and Means Committee will also vote on HF 232, a small funding package to support mental health counseling for farm families. You can find the HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" committee list here. NAMI Minnesota strongly supports HF 679.The Senate Education Finance and Policy Committee and both Senate Human Services Committees will also meet on Monday at 3 PM to review the Governor's Budget Proposal.Tuesday will be a busy day of hearings that start at 8:00 AM in the Subcommittee on Corrections, where the committee will hear HF 1315 authored by Rep. Considine to increase the number of Correctional Officers and provide a salary bump as well. A still to be introduced bill from Rep. Wolgamott will appropriate funding for clinical staff in correctional facilities. You can find the committee HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" list here.The last significant hearing on Tuesday will be the Senate Higher Education Committee at 1 PM. They will be hearing SF 1017, which is NAMI Legislation that will allow for up to 5 community or technical colleges to have a community mental health provider co-locate at the school and provide mental health services to students. Here is a link to the HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" committee list. Please contact your legislators and urge them to support SF 1017. At 8 AM Wednesday, NAMI Minnesota legislation on the use of solitary confinement will get its first hearing in the House Subcommittee on Corrections. HF 493 will increase oversight around the use of solitary confinement, ensure that the use of solitary confinement is reserved for the most serious or persistent disciplinary violations, and provide a yearly report to the legislature with data on the use of solitary confinement. There will be a large amendment reflecting a consensus between NAMI and the Department of Corrections. Here is a link to the HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" committee list. Please contact your legislators and urge them to support HF 493. The Senate Finance Committee will be meeting on Wednesday at 8:30 AM and, after hearing a bill on cell phone use, will hear a presentation from the Department of Human Services on children's mental health grants.The House Health and Human Services Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday at 12:45 PM and will hear HF 3590, which will provide funding for tobacco cessation services.The House Health and Human Services Policy Committee will meet Wednesday starting at 2:30 and will hear a number of bills. This includes HF 814, which is NAMI legislation on school-linked mental health. HF 742 is another NAMI bill scheduled for a hearing that will increase early-childhood mental health grants. HF 1250 will also be heard which will sustain and expand Minnesota's Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). You can find the HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" committee list here. Please contact your legislators and urge them to support HF 814, HF 742 and HF 1250. We also need letters from parents, teachers, providers and school support personnel in support of the school-linked bill. Email them by Tuesday noon to HYPERLINK "mailto:namihelps@" \t "_blank" namihelps@ At 3:00 PM, the Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee will hold a hearing on SF 751, which would charge a fee to opiate producers and distributors in order to fund opioid treatment and prevention.The House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee will reconvene at 7 PM at the capitol to hold a public hearing on HF 8 and HF 9, two bills that make changes to Minnesota Gun Laws. HF 8 expands requirements for background checks, while HF 9 creates a legal process for prohibiting someone from possessing a firearm if they are a danger to themselves or others. NAMI Minnesota has suggested changes to HF 9 to ensure that the legislature does not equate suicide with violence. You can find the full committee HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" list here.On Thursday at 12:45, the House Government Operations will hear HF 586, which would create a veteran suicide awareness day.The House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee will meet on Thursday at 12:45 to consider legislation on juvenile justice reforms including alternatives to detention, parole, alternatives to arrest, and ernor Walz Releases Budget ProposalThere are many good proposals in Governor Walz's budget that will help us to continue to build our mental health system. Next steps are for the appropriate legislative committees to walk through the budgets and then hear the bills that will be introduced to make these changes. We have a long way to go - but it's a great start. Human Services DepartmentSchool-Linked Mental Health: Increases the funding for school-linked mental health by $4.5 million each year, increasing to $5 million the following biennium. This will serve approximately 7,000 more students while sustaining the reach of current services.?Children’s Residential Services: $3.581 million in FY 2020 and $8.448 million in FY 2021 to offset the loss of federal Medicaid funding for our children’s residential system (effective May 2019), to increase the number of Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) from 150 to 300 beds, and for start-up funding to get new PRTFs online.Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics: $373,000 in FY 2020 and $3.485 million in FY 2021 to transition Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC) from a demonstration project into an ongoing service model in Minnesota. Will also support the development of 5 new CCBHCs.Traditional Healing: $2.4 million annually in grants to provide traditional healing practices to American Indians for mental health and substance use disorders. Funding would go to Tribal Nations and five urban Indian communities.?Transitions to Community: $759,000 in FY 2020 and $1.62 million in FY 2021 to support people transitioning out of state-operated mental health services in a timely fashion when they no longer require this level of care and expands the program to people who are committed and in a community hospital and on the waiting list for Anoka. Increases the Elderly Waiver to help people over the age of 65 leave the Anoka Regional Treatment Center.Substance Use Disorder Treatment: Allows the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to be used to identify people who need treatment and authorize a limited number of treatment services in order to assure timely access.?Integrated Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Systems: To increase access and align financial structures, the county share of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment paid for under Medicaid would be eliminated; the room and board for residential mental health treatment for adults will be paid like SUD and county share would be eliminated. People in residential treatment would be automatically eligible for housing supports so they aren’t discharged to the streets.?Mental Health Uniform Standards: This is a multi-year project to simplify and align standards across mental health services. The first service to have substantive changes will be mobile crisis services.?Streamline Waivered Services: There is a proposal to streamline the waivers (including the CADI) by aligning the service menu, prepare for an individual budget methodology, move from four waivers into two.?State Operated:?$11.7 million (4.3 million in state funds) to add 17 staff in order to increase beds from 14 to 16 at four state operated IRTS facilities (Intensive Residential Treatment Services).?MFIP:?Having families live in absolute poverty contributes to the number of adverse childhood experiences and negatively impacts a child’s mental health. An increase of $100 a month is a small but impactful change. This would be the first time since 1986 that the basic cash assistance program has been increased.Children in Foster Care:?Ensuring that all children in foster care, many of whom have a mental illness, can access the full array of mental health services under the Medicaid program. This would include automatic Medicaid eligibility for any child who receive state funded Northstar Foster Care or Kinship Care in MN.?Provider Tax: Repeals the sunset of the provider tax which would provide $992 million for the Health Care Access Fund. This funds Medicaid expansion, MinnesotaCare and public health activities. Funding would also be used for new initiatives to make health care more affordable and stabilize the individual insurance market.?Child Welfare Training Academy:?Provides $1.6 then $2.5 million to expand the training for child welfare workers. This would improve child welfare practices as well as ensure consistency and stability in practice across the state.?Family First Prevention Services Act: $1.1 and then $784,000 for the infrastructure needed to implement the Family First Prevention Services Act. This federal act impacts Title IVE money (which is used to pay for room and board in children’s mental health residential facilities), foster care and adoption assistance.?Service Delivery Transformation:?$10 million a year is requested to figure out how to create an integrated service system – essentially figuring out what the roles should be for the state, tribal nations and the counties. It includes looking at standards for technology and security, simplification, evaluation and continuous improvement and identifying technology needs.?Health Department Suicide Prevention: $3.29 million in FY 2020 and FY 2021 for a comprehensive suicide prevention program including expanding community-based programs, purchasing suicide prevention training materials and resources for public and private schools, increasing protective factors in the community, implementing the Zero Suicide program, funding national suicide prevention lifeline sites in Minnesota, and providing suicide fatality review to improve prevention work Adequacy: Net budget impact of $308,000 in FY 2020 and FY 2021 to conduct reviews of health plans to ensure that health plans are offering adequate networks to their members, including if providers in the network are active and taking new patients.Opioid Prevention: $6 to $9 million to continue and expand community-based pilot prevention projects, culturally specific prevention efforts, Naloxone training, and conducting community-based fatality reviews of overdoses.?Tobacco Cessation Quitline: Funding to replace the Clearway Quitplan services which will sunset in March 2020. The Quitplan provides tobacco cessation counseling, nicotine replacement therapies and cessation promotion activities.?MN Housing Finance AgencyBridges: $500,000 in FY 2020 and FY 2021 for Bridges, a housing voucher program for adults with a serious mental illness. This will expand the program to another 80 households.?Homework Starts with Home:?$3 million a year for a program that provides rent and other housing assistance to low income homeless families with school-aged children to enhance housing stability and increase school attendance.?Department of Employment and Economic DevelopmentVocational Rehabilitation:?$4 million through FY 2023 in order to address new federal requirements to serve transition age youth and people who are earning less than minimum wage. Without this funding Vocational Rehabilitation Services, a program that helps people with the disabilities become competitively employed in an integrated environment, will have to close another category of service – those with the most significant disabilities. There are already waiting lists for Categories 2,3 and 4 – over 2,000. This would have placed 6,500 more people on the waiting lists.?Family and Medical Leave Act: We know that about 10% of MN workers take leave and of those 59% are for their own health reasons (non-pregnancy), 24% are to take care of an ill family member. $54 million the first year and $13.7 the second.?Education DepartmentSecond Chance: A new position that would work with education, higher education and corrections to address the needs of at-risk students, students who have an incarcerated parent, and students involved in the juvenile justice system is critical to their future success. Students with a mental illness have the highest drop-out rate and over 70% of the youth in the juvenile justice system have a mental illness.?Homeless Students:?$1 million a year to provide 8, 455 students who are homeless with additional assistance.?Board of Public DefenseAttorneys:?$10 million in FY 2020 and $21 million in 2021 would add 50 attorneys to this office which would bring down caseloads.District CourtsPsychological Services:?The number of people deemed incompetent to stand trial has increased exponentially. This funding of $1 million per year would pay for the needed psychological exams. Criminal Rule 20 exams grew by 11.5% and cost per case rose by 12%.?Treatment Courts: $306,000 a year to fund Treatment Courts. It doesn’t state if these include mental health treatment courts.?Agriculture?DepartmentMental Health Assistance: Provides an additional $225,000 a year to add a second mental health specialist to provide one-on-one counseling to farm families and to fund and promote a 24-hour hotline for farmers and rural residents.Public Safety DepartmentSchool Safety Center: An additional $250,000 a year to fund two additional school safety specialists to help school buildings be safer to students.?Extreme Risk Protection Orders and Background Checks: Additional funding is provided to process more background checks and extreme risk protection orders (if legislation passes). The District Courts also included $350,000 then $200,000 a year to address any new legislation.?Guardian Ad Litem BoardStaff:?Adds 46 new staff positions to comply with state and federal mandates and the increase in child protection cases.?The request also includes funding for training.?Supreme CourtLegal Services: An additional $1.6 then $2.5 to support civil legal services addressing issues such as evictions and foreclosures, seniors and people with disabilities and low-income people to address legal issues addressing housing, safety, health care, income and food.?NAMI Meets with LegislatorsNAMI Minnesota continues to meet with legislators in the House and Senate to advocate for our mental health agenda. If we have met with your legislator, please reach out to them and thank them for meeting with NAMI Minnesota. HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Sen. Benson from Ham Lake. Discussed children's mental health HYPERLINK "mailto:sen.david.senjem@senate.mn" \t "_blank" Sen. Senjem from Rochester. He agreed to carry our bill creating a task force to address the high numbers of people deemed incompetent to stand trial HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Sen. Latz from St. Louis Park. HYPERLINK "mailto:rep.tony.albright@house.mn" \t "_blank" Rep. Albright from Prior Lake HYPERLINK "mailto:rep.lyndon.carlson@house.mn" \t "_blank" Rep. Carlson from Crystal. Discussed overall funding for the mental health system. HYPERLINK "mailto:sen.nick.frentz@senate.mn" \t "_blank" Sen. Frentz from North Mankato.NAMI Minnesota works very hard to engage our elected officials, but we won't be able to meet with everyone. If we haven't met with your legislator yet, you can schedule a meeting yourself. To learn more about meeting with legislators, you can contact HYPERLINK "mailto:ssmith@" \t "_blank" Sam Smith at NAMI.Find out who represents you HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Click hereNews from the Federal LevelTrump Administration Close to Releasing New Guidance on Medicaid Work RequirementsNAMI Minnesota is strongly opposed to any effort to impose work-requirements on so called "able-bodied" adults without children. People with mental illnesses may not face any physical barriers to finding a job, but mental illnesses can make it very challenging to find and keep a job. Reports have surfaced that the Trump Administration is close to releasing new guidance to the states on how to implement work reporting requirements in order to be eligible for Medicaid. NAMI Minnesota will keep you informed on this concerning development. (National Council)MN Legislative Committee HearingsHouseThe House Education Finance Committee met on Tuesday morning and heard HF 813 authored by Rep. Richardson. This is NAMI Minnesota legislation that would fund an online, evidence-based suicide prevention training for teachers. Rep. Richardson opened the testimony by observing that suicide rates in Minnesota have become a public health crisis that demands action from the Legislature, arguing that providing state-wide access to a suicide prevention training is very important for teachers who are often the first to hear from a student. Sue Abderholden from NAMI testified next and spoke about the increasing suicide rates for Minnesota youth and the efficacy of the Kognito suicide prevention training.Two school administrators also testified in support of HF 813. Tamera Pulver spoke about the positive impact that the online, suicide prevention training had for 13 charter schools that she represents as the special education director. The principal for Princeton High School, Barbara Muckenhirn, also testified about the benefits of an online suicide prevention program. Ms. Muckenhirn's staff found the training to be easy to use, accessible, and made them feel more prepared to recognize and engage a student experiencing a mental health crisis. HF 813 was laid over for possible inclusion in the Education omnibus bill. For more on this legislation, you can check out this HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" coverage from KSTP and HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" here.The House Health and Human Services Finance Committee also met on Tuesday and heard HF 679, NAMI supported legislation authored by Rep. Morrison that would appropriate funding to make up for lost federal funding for our children's residential mental health treatment. Matt Burdick from DHS began by offering a brief overview of children's residential treatment, how they are funded, and the impact of a Federal decision to consider children's residential facilities as Institutes of Mental Diseases or IMDs and therefore cannot receive Medicaid funding. Rep. Morrison spoke next about the need for HF 679, which would make up for lost federal dollars through the rest of the biennium. Jamie Halpern testified next in support of HF 679 on behalf the Minnesota Association of County Social Services Agencies (MACSSA), arguing that this bill will give Minnesota the time to develop a long-term solution without disrupting essential mental health services. HF 679 was re-referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.On Wednesday Morning, The House Subcommittee on Corrections and met to hear HF 1399 authored by Rep. Considine. This is legislation that would re-create the Ombudsman for Corrections program. NAMI Minnesota introduced similar legislation that would create an Ombudsman for Corrections with a focus on mental health, but NAMI Minnesota supports HF 1399 as well. Sam Smith, the NAMI Minnesota Public Policy Coordinator, testified in support of HF 1399. In his testimony, Mr. Smith spoke to the numerous letters and phone-calls NAMI Minnesota gets from people who are facing challenges in Minnesota prisons and jails, going on to state that NAMI Minnesota strongly supports HF 1399 so that Minnesotans residing in a jail or prison have somewhere to go with concerns and questions about their treatment and someone who can investigate these concerns.Following Sam Smith, Theatrice "T" Williams testified in support of HF 1399 and his experience as the first Ombudsman on Corrections in Minnesota. In his compelling testimony, Mr. Williams discussed the appropriate role of a corrections ombudsman as a neutral arbiter, his efforts to build relationships with Corrections Officers, Wardens, and prison inmates, and his strong support for restarting the program. Following the testimony, Rep. Mariani spoke about the need to restart the ombudsman, noting that an ombudsman could have an important role in pushing the "next generation" of criminal justice reform. H F1399 was re-referred to the committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy. Read more HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" here.The House Jobs Committee met on Thursday morning and heard HF 1036, which is legislation authored by Rep. Edelson to expand the mental health workforce. Rep. Edelson opened the testimony by noting the significant mental health workforce shortage and the importance of making investments to diversity the mental health workforce. The CEO of the Washburn Mental Health Center, Tom Steinmetz, which would receive the grant funding from HF 1036, testified next and began by stating that only 35% of Minnesota children will get the mental health treatment they need. Mr. Steinmetz went on to argue for investing in the workforce and particularly mental health professionals of color. After discussion, HF 1036 was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.SenateThe Senate Jobs Committee met on Monday at 1 PM and heard SF 970. This is NAMI Legislation that would support people with mental illnesses to seek employment by increasing funding for Individual Placements and Supports (IPS) programs, requiring the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to analyze how they can better serve people with mental illnesses, and funding for clubhouses and community support programs to help their clients find a job.Senator Eichorn opened the testimony by observing that people with mental illnesses face numerous barriers to unemployment. NAMI Minnesota's Executive Director Sue Abderholden testified next about the positive impact of employment for people with mental illnesses, as well as the efforts NAMI makes to accommodate people with mental illnesses in the workplace. Ellie Erickson, and employment specialist at Guild Incorporated, was the next to testify in support of SF 970. Ms. Erickson spoke to the positive impact of IPS employment programs and noted that Guild was recognized with a National IPS achievement award.Sandy Timm, a guild client who receives IPS supports, testified about how her "life is more meaningful" now that she is employed thanks to IPS services. Jack Hermann, a NAMI member from Brainerd, testified next about the challenges he has faced finding and keeping a job due to his mental illness. Mr. Hermann declared: "The workforce center did not help me find job opportunities that met my needs and they did not understand how my mental illness affects the way I work." SF 970 was warmly received by the committee and laid over for possible inclusion in the Jobs omnibus bill.On Monday at 3 PM, the Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy heard important legislation for the mental health community. The first bill heard on Monday was SF 902 from Sen. Lang, which would fund transition services for rural youth with mental illnesses. SF 902 is NAMI supported legislation and was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill. SF 779 was also heard on Monday. This bill requested an appropriation to renovate the Buhl Kids Peace Academy in order to provide children's mental health services. Supporters spoke to the need for mental health services in the area. Sen. Abeler questioned whether or not DHS supported this proposal, while Sen. Benson wondered how the IMD exclusion might impact potential funding sources for the facility. SF 779 was laid on the table. Finally, the committee heard SF 1131 from Sen. Relph. This is NAMI supported legislation that would provide bridge funding from the state to make up for lost federal funding for children's residential treatment. SF 1131 was quickly passed out of the committee and re-referred to the Senate Finance Committee.State NewsMental Health Day on the Hill Rapidly ApproachingIt is almost one month until the Mental Health Legislative Network's Day on the Hill. This is the most important mental health advocacy event of the year and we are counting on hundreds of NAMI advocates to join us on March 14th!Please note that there has been a venue change. The pre-rally training this year will be held in the Christ-Lutheran Church on the Capitol. This is a convenient location that is just across the street from the north side of the capitol on University. Thank you for your flexibility. To read up on the issues read the HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Mental Health Legislative Network book. NAMI members who live in the metro area will have to arrange for their own transportation, but people who live in Western Minnesota, the Moorhead area, Duluth, Rochester, and Winona will have a chartered bus that will take you to and from the capitol. Whether you are driving yourself or are planning on taking a bus, please register for the Day on the Hill on our HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" eventbrite page.Thank you for registering for our Day on the Hill and speaking up for the needs of our mental health community at the capitol. We are counting on you to join us in order to keep up our momentum in the 2019 session!Please contact HYPERLINK "mailto:ssmith@" \t "_blank" Sam Smith if you have any questions or would like to learn more about the 2019 Day on the Hill. If you have scheduled an appointment please let Sam know.NAMI Needs Testifiers!As NAMI bills start to get introduced, we will need supporters who are ready to share their personal story. Testifying can be a very meaningful way for you to participate in the legislative process, but it's important to remember that you will only have the opportunity to testify if your personal experience is connected with the bill being heard in the committee. While we will do our best to provide warning ahead of time, you should be ready to respond quickly if you think your story is relevant. Here are a few areas where we know we will need stories:Supportive Housing: Have you or a loved one accessed permanent supportive housing for your mental illness?Bridges Housing Voucher: Do you or a loved one access housing with the help of a Bridges housing voucher?Adult Mental Health Grants: Have you or a loved one ever benefited from an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team or a First Episode Psychosis Program?We are counting on NAMI Supporters to testify if they feel comfortable. We will work with you to develop your story, write it down, and then we will be there when you testify to provide support and answer any questions legislators might have. Thank you for your support!CMS Grants Final Approval to Statewide Transition Plan for Home and Community Based ServicesThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted final approval for Minnesota's Home and Community Based Services statewide transition plan. This was a necessary step to our Home and Community Based services in compliance with federal regulations, but NAMI Minnesota continues to have concerns with elements of the Statewide Transition Plan. Most notably, NAMI is very concerned about new regulations on customized living facilities that would create new restrictions for facilities where over 25% of residents are on a wavier. There are many people with complex mental health needs that require significant staff support, which can be very challenging to deliver without serving people in the same facility. To learn more about the CMS approval HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" from DHS. Bill IntroductionsSenateS.F. 1340 (Kiffmeyer) Expands eligibility for a residency program from three to four years so that psychiatric residents can use the program. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy. NAMI supports this legislation and identical language is a part of our workforce bill. S.F. 1343 (Johnson, Utke, Pappas, Relph, Latz) Creates grant program for a nonprofit to support finding alternatives to the use of detention for young people in the juvenile justice system. Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy.S.F. 1390 (Anderson, P., Housley) Requests funding to create and implement a statewide suicide response program, available via text messaging or telephone. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and PolicyS. F. 1429 (Senators Relph, Utke, Klein, Hoffman, and Abeler) Amends the Brain Injury Waiver to include FASD. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.S.F. 1437 (Mathews, Hoffman, Utke, Nelson, Wiklund) Allows for parents on MFIP child-only to receive up to 20 hours of child care a week with the recommendation of the treating mental health professional, so long as the parent needs intensive mental health treatment or the child needs a consistent caregiver. Appropriates funding through children's mental health grants for?multi-generational mental health care. Clarifies that a child does not need a case manager in order to be eligible for respite care. Increases funding for early childhood mental health consultation.?Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy. This is NAMI Legislation. ?S.F. 1438 (Relph, Wiklund, Hoffman, Abeler, and Eichorn) Funding for home visiting programs. Referred to the Committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.S.F. 1460 (Benson, Rosen, Mathews, Draheim) Requires Department of Human Services to cover people presumptively eligible for medical assistance under the fee for service program until the re-determination of eligibility. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.SF 1476 (Hawj, Hoffman, Abeler, Newton): Small appropriation to TAP program to support mental health programming in disability community including spoken art forms. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.SF 1481 (Relph, Klein, Draheim, Franzen, Jensen): Requires private health plans to pay for treatment from a clinical trainee, something that Medical Assistance and some health plans already do. Requires a mental health professional to review decisions around medical necessity whenever a health plan denies a mental health benefit. Adds marriage and family therapists and professional clinical counselors to funding for clinical training programs. Expands eligibility for a residency program from three to four years so that psychiatric residents can use the program. Creates a program to provide financial support to students fulfilling practicum requirements necessary for licensure as mental health professional. Creates a grant program to support traditional healing provided to American Indians. Provides funding to support mental health training for pediatric residents. Increases funding for the mental health loan forgiveness program. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy. This is NAMI Minnesota Legislation to expand our mental health workforce. SF 1508 (Jensen): Requires a health plan to notify the provider and any patients who have used the provider when changing the providers network status to out-of-network. Referred to Commerce and Consumer Protection.SF 1518 (Klein, Draheim, Wiklund, Jensen, Little): Prohibits a manufacturer or wholesale drug distributor from?price gouging in the sale of essential or lifesaving off-patent or generic drugs, defining price gouging as an excessive increase in price that is not justified by the cost of producing the drug or expanding access to the drug. The Department of Human Services or a health plan can notify the attorney general of any price increase for an essential generic or off patent drug when the price increase is over 50%, a 30 day supply of drug exceeds $80, or a full course of treatment exceeds $80. Grants the attorney general the authority to request the drug manufacturer or wholesale distributor to produce the records or documents necessary to determine if they are violating the law. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.S.F. 1521 (Kent, Miller, Cwodzinski, Hayden, and Relph) Appropriating funding for school support personnel. Referred to the Committee on E-12 Finance and Policy.SF 1530 (Relph, Miller, Jensen, Klein, Abeler):?Provides funding to Proof Alliance to make funding available to community-based organizations to reduce fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and other prenatal drug-related conditions in children. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.SF 1532 (Utke, Wiklund, Johnson, Nelson, Marty):?Sustains Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) with a prospective rate to reflect the level of care these facilities provide. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy. CCHBCs are a new and innovative way of providing mental health and substance use disorder services. Minnesota is part of a federal pilot project that is set to expire. Without legislative action, CCBHCs would lose their rate structure and potentially have to close or offer less comprehensive care. NAMI supports this legislation. S.F. 1534 (Housley and Kent) Bonding money for a new Washburn Center for Children facility in the east metropolitan area. Referred to the Committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.SF 1555 (Marty, Isaacson, Miller, Abeler, Hoffman): Creates a pilot project to support parents with a disability. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.SF 1558 (Housley, Champion, Hoffman, Anderson P, Kent): Appropriates funding to hire and train?children’s mental health therapists for the pathways program at Washburn Center for Children. The program will create 40 paid clinical fellowships for masters and doctorate level professionals of color specializing in children’s mental health. Referred to Jobs and Economic Growth Finance and Policy.SF 1575 (Pratt, Wiklund, Jensen, Rosen, Dziedzic): Links state law on the?release of medical records without consent?during an emergency with federal regulations. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.SF 1576 (Abeler, Hoffman, Isaacson): Requires the Department of Health to develop and operate a database that tracks acts of violence in hospitals. Requires hospitals to educate their staff on this violence database, develop a process for allowing hospital staff to request additional security staff, and document requests for additional security by hospital staff. Makes it a felony to assault hospital staff anywhere in a hospital. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy. NAMI Minnesota has significant concerns with this legislation. Expanding current statute around assaulting hospital assault personnel to everyone in the hospital, including inpatient psychiatric units, is likely to criminalize the symptoms of a mental illness. NAMI Minnesota is also concerned with the scope of the violence database and who will have access to this information. SF 1577 (Draheim, Dziedzic, Frentz, Goggin, Weber):?Appropriations to Minnesota Housing finance agency that include an increase in the Bridges rental subsidy for people with serious mental illnesses, family homelessness prevention, and other programs. Referred to Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Policy. This is a Homes for All Bill that NAMI Minnesota has endorsed. SF 1578 (Clausen, Wiklund, Senjem, Hoffman): Appropriates additional funding for school-linked mental health services. Requires at least 25% of new funding be targeted to schools that have the highest percentage of special education students with an emotional and behavioral disorder (EBD) or high poverty. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.S.F. 1584 (Pratt, Housley, Hoffman, and Anderson, P.) Requiring districts to have policies to essentially reduce suspensions, screen for mental health issues and inform parents if police have taken the student off the school grounds. Referred to the Committee on E-12 Finance and Policy.S.F. 1586 (Benson, Rosen, Abeler, Marty, and Kiffmeyer) Creating a Department of Direct Care and Treatment and Office of Inspector General; transferring duties from the Department of Human Services and other state agencies to the new state agency and office; Referred to the Committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.SF 1611 (Goggin, Frentz, Lang, Johnson, Draheim): Appropriates funding for permanent?supportive housing for people with serious mental illnesses, Bridges housing vouchers for people with mental illnesses on a waiting list for section 8 housing vouchers, and a landlord risk mitigation fund. Referred to Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Policy. This is NAMI Legislation. The permanent supportive housing and Bridges appropriations are endorsed by the Homes for All Coalition. SF 1612 (Hoffman, Rosen, Abeler): Designates May as Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month. Referred to State Government Finance and Policy and Elections.HouseHF 1269 (Cantrell, Zerwas, Elderson, Olson, and Bahner): Requires private health plans to pay for treatment from a clinical trainee, something that Medical Assistance and some health plans already do. Requires a mental health professional to make decisions around medical necessity whenever a health plan denies a mental health benefit. Adds marriage and family therapists and professional clinical counselors to clincial education programs. Expands eligibility for a residency program from three to four years so that psychiatric residents can use the program. Creates a program to provide financial support to students fulfilling practicum requirements necessary for licensure as mental health professional. Creates a grant program to support traditional healing provided to American Indians. Provides funding to support mental health training for pediatric residents. Increases funding for the mental health loan forgiveness program. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy. This is NAMI Minnesota Legislation to expand our mental health workforce. HF 1277 (Cantrell): Removes requirement to begin transition planning for special education students starting in grade 9. Referred to Committee on Education Policy. If this law passes, Minnesota would follow federal guidelines and begin transition planning at age 16. HF 1279 (Cantrell, Davnie, Noor, and Bahner): Resolution calling on federal government to fully fund its portion of special education costs. Referred to the Committee on Government Operations.HF 1281 (Morrison, Zerwas, Schultz, Elderson, and Albright): Makes policy changes to Behavioral Health Homes (BHHs), including broadening eligibility for this service, establishing a state-wide reimbursement rate for BHHs, and establishes provider requirements, staff qualifications, service standards, and other requirements for BHHs to operate in Minnesota. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy.????????HF 1287 (Fischer, Hamilton, Xiong, T., Zerwas, Cantrell, Kunesh-Podein, and Moran): Creates a pilot project to support parents with a disability. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy.?H. F. 1289 (Her and Youakim) Removies additional prior written notice requirements under special ed. Referred to the Committee on Education Policy.?HF 1300 (Koegel, Zerwas, Bahner, Olson, Edelson, Halverson, Becker-Finn, Mann, Xiong, J., Lesch, and Lee ): Designates the month of May as Maternal Health Awareness Month. Referred to the Committee on Government Operations.??HF 1306 (Baker, Demuth, Kresha, Bennet, Erickson, and Dettmer): Requires the commissioner of education to streamline special education reporting requirements by eliminating any requirement that is not called for in federal and state statutes, rules, or regulations. Referred to the Committee on Education Policy.??HF 1315 (Considine, Christensen, Moller, Pinto, Howard, Long, Hausman, Huot, Brand, Ecklund, Becker-Finn, Wolgamott, Winkler, Bierman, Lillie, Edelson, Carlson, L., Urdahl, Mahoney, Johnson, Nelson, Sundin, Persell, Zerwas, Theis, Olson, Cantrell, Noor, and Hassan): Increases the number of full-time correctional officer positions in correctional facilities across the state. 150 new positions are proposed for year 2020, 60 in year 2021, 60 in 2022, and 58 in year 2023. Referred by the Chair to the Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division.HF 1330 (Hassan, Koegel, Olson, Baker, Hamilton, Noor, and Morrison): Onetime appropriation to Minnesota Recovery Corps to provide evidence-based substance use disorder recovery services. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and then the Committee on Health and Human Services Finance Division.HF 1340 (Lien, Cantrell, Zerwas, Albright, and Howard): Requires private health plans to submit an annual report to the Department of Commerce that demonstrates their compliance with mental health parity regulations. Authorizes the Department of Commerce to enforce mental health parity regulations including the use of market conduct examinations. Referred to the Committee on Commerce. This is NAMI Minnesota Legislation. HF 1349 (O’Neill, Moller, and Edelson): Appropriates funding to establish treatment courts in Metro and Greater Minnesota. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and then the Committee on Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Division.HF 1387 (Howard, O’Neill, Stephenson, Backer, and Halverson): Requires health plans to allow any willing mental health provider into their networks so long as the provider accepts the same reimbursement rate and abides by the same requirements as other in-network providers. Includes appropriation to provide suicide-prevention training to primary care providers, mental health providers, and other emergency service providers. Referred to Committee on Commerce. This is NAMI Legislation. HF 1390 (Moller, Youakim, Hassan, Huot, Her, Christensen, and Kunesh-Podein): Allows an individualized education program to report the students performance on general or statewide assessments. Referred to the Committee on Education Policy.HF 1398 (Stephenson, Lesch, Halverson, Noor, Moran, Freiberg, Hornstein, Long, Bierman, Becker-Finn, Carlson, A., Huot, Persell, Howard, and Pryor): Requires the Department of Health to develop and operate a database that tracks acts of violence in hospitals. Requires hospitals to educate their staff on this violence database, develop a process for allowing hospital staff to request additional security staff, and document requests for additional security by hospital staff. Makes it a felony to assault hospital staff anywhere in a hospital. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy. NAMI Minnesota has significant concerns with this legislation. Expanding current statute around assaulting hospital assault personnel to everyone in the hospital, including inpatient psychiatric units, is likely to criminalize the symptoms of a mental illness. NAMI Minnesota is also concerned with the scope of the violence database and who will have access to this information. HF 1399 (Considine): Reestablishes the position of ombudsman for corrections. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and then the Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division. NAMI supports this legislation. HF 1401 (Howard, Garofalo, Hausman, Theis, Moran, Fischer, Pinto, Davnie, Edelson, and Kresha):?Appropriates funding for rental assistance to highly mobile students. Referred to Committee on Housing Finance and Policy Division.HF 1402 (Howard, Haley, Brand, Theis, Sauke, Her, Edelson, Jurgens, and Hausman): Appropriates funding to create local housing trust funds. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and then the Committee on Housing Finance and Policy Division.HF 1517 (Bennett): Only requires an individual education program to include short-term objectives and benchmarks if the student takes alternative assessments. Referred to Education Policy.HF 1523 (Cantrell, Liebling, Mann, Morrison, Olson, Bierman, Acomb): Requires the Department of Human Services to operate a prescription drug purchasing program to lower prescription drug lists. This work can include developing a drug formulary for MinnesotaCare and the individual market and engaging in price negotiations for prescription drugs. Referred to Health and Human Services Policy.HF 1524 (Albright): Sets medical assistance payment rates as the floor for health plans and county-based purchasing plans payments to health care providers. Referred to Commerce.HF 1540 (Liebling): Appropriates funding to provide mental health training for pediatric residents. Referred to Ways and Means. NAMI supports this legislation and identical language is included in our mental health workforce bill. HF 1547 (Sandstede, Edelson, Kotyza-Witthuhn and Kunesh-Podein) Requiring online reporting of special education data, streamlining paperwork. Referred to the Committee on Education Policy.HF 1549 (Edelson): Funds four pilot projects to deliver school-linked mental health services via telemedicine. Referred to Ways and Means.HF 1557 (Edelson): Increases funding for school-linked mental health services. Referred to Ways and Means.HF 1559/HF 1560 (Youakim)(Howard) Requiring paid orientation for paraprofessionals. Referred to the Committee on Education Policy.HF 1566 (Kunesh-Podein, Baker, Zerwas and Olson) Providing a grant for substance misuse prevention instruction. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.HF 1575 (Sandell, Liebling, Scott, O'Neill): Gives?county jails?the option to share the names and some information on inmates who have screened positive for a mental illness or may have a mental illness in order to arrange for mental health services upon discharge. Referred to Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy.HF 1580 (Poppe) Appropriating money for farmer mental health counseling. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.Updates from NAMI MinnesotaNAMI Legislative CommitteeMeetings are generally held on the second Tuesday of every month at 6 PM at the NAMI?Minnesota office. You can also join by phone. To be added to the email list, contact HYPERLINK "mailto:ssmith@" \t "_blank" Sam Smith. NAMI Minnesota | 1919 University Ave. W., Ste. 400 | St. Paul, MN 55104 HYPERLINK "mailto:namihelps@" \t "_blank" namihelps@ | HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" htttp:// 651-645-2948 | 1-888-NAMI-HELPS HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" ? 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