Disability Services Division eList

Forwarded on behalf of the DHS Disability Services Division.

DHS Memo: Case management redesign

DATE: Oct. 7, 2016
TO: County and tribal partners and stakeholders
FROM: Chuck Johnson, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services
PURPOSE: To share important information from the DHS deputy commissioner on case management redesign
CONTACT: jennifer.blanchard@state.mn.us.

As many of you know, the Minnesota legislature directed the Department of Human Services to redesign Medical Assistance-funded case management to:

• Increase consumer choice
• Specify and standardize how the service is provided
• Improve quality and accountability
• Streamline funding arrangements. 

Past planning efforts have yielded progress toward these goals, but we have not succeeded in engaging all partners and stakeholders, laying out a unified vision or developing a comprehensive redesign plan.

In April of this year, we informed partners and stakeholders, including people served by various case management programs, that DHS was initiating a new round of planning. The goal is to create an integrated approach to all forms of MA-funded case management while assuring that each type of case management fulfills the needs of the individuals it serves.

Based on feedback received from our partners and stakeholders, DHS agreed to inform the next phase of planning with what is referred to as an “information gathering” phase. Partners and stakeholders asked DHS to:

1. Develop internal agreement across administrations about the scope and priorities of the planning
2. Request that further effort go into understanding the financial and service-related implications of any proposed changes to case management
3. Consolidate the information that has already been provided to DHS before we reengage partners and stakeholders in a large-scale planning effort. 

Since April of this year, a small group of internal and external collaborators who represent each administration from within DHS, county government, tribal members from Mille Lacs and White Earth reservations, managed care and consumers have reviewed past work to inform a series of background documents that will be a basis for a draft Roadmap to Case Management Redesign. DHS also asked partners and stakeholders to develop their own vision statements for the future of case management and improvements needed to realize that vision. You can find these documents, referred to as set-up documents, on the DHS Case Management Redesign page. 

We ask that you review any or all of these documents and take the Case Management Redesign Set-Up survey to provide your feedback. (Please note, DHS welcomes alternative forms of feedback if you prefer not to use the online survey.)

Once feedback is received, it will be reviewed by our small group of internal and external collaborators who will help summarize the information and integrate it into the set-up documents. These documents and the vision statements received from our partners and stakeholders will become the basis for a draft Roadmap for Case Management Redesign.

On Jan. 31, 2017, DHS and the Future Services Institute will host a one day gathering at the Humphrey Institute where a draft Roadmap to Case Management Reform will be further discussed. The goal of the event is to offer another forum to engage partners and stakeholder to provide feedback and inform this work moving forward. The gathering will mark the end of the information gathering phase and the beginning of our next phase of work together. Please watch for a “Save the Date”.

Again, we thank you for your partnership and support as we continue to work towards a unified vision for Case Management Redesign. If you have questions, please contact Jennifer Blanchard, jennifer.blanchard@state.mn.us.