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“You don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Exciting things are on the horizon for MnCHOICES. We have taken the first step toward a better MnCHOICES as we climb the staircase. We may not know right now what we will encounter along the way but we are committed to our climb toward DHS key initiatives of equity, people, families, communities and operational excellence in MnCHOICES. At times, you may not see the whole staircase either. But, we invite you to take these steps with us to help further these key initiatives in MnCHOICES and look forward to your continued partnership.
MnCHOICES Matters is getting a make-over!
We are updating the visual appeal of our newsletter and adding fresh content. These enhancements help us align our communications to the mission, vision, values and goals of the MnCHOICES team and the Department of Human Services.
Our mission: To ensure equitable access to services that support healthy outcomes in how people choose to live, work and enjoy life in their communities.
Our vision: A Minnesota without disparities in health, housing and quality of life.
Our values: We believe in…
- The inherent worth and dignity of every human being
- The importance of respect towards the people we serve and ourselves
- Promoting choice and independence across all people
- An integrated system of care around the whole person
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Integrity, openness and honesty throughout all of our work
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Engaging with communities
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Innovation in service design and implementation
- Empowering resilience and recovery in others
- In the value of relationships to our success.
As we continue to enhance our newsletter, we are asking for your input. What do you like? What would you like to see added? Are there any sections you do not use? Visit the MnCHOICES Matters enhancement survey to provide your input.
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We need your help! We would like to feature great ideas and best practices from you, the users. Do you have a workflow, technology tip or trick, or best practice that you would like to share with other MnCHOICES users? If so, submit your ideas on the MnCHOICES Help Desk Contact Form, DHS-6979 and choose “Other” under the QUESTION TYPE for a chance to be featured in our newsletter.
November’s tips: Pope and Grant Counties
The main goal of Lead Agency Review (LAR) is to evaluate how well HCBS programs are operating and meeting the needs of the people we serve. One specific measure, “needs that were identified in the assessment being addressed in the support plan,” stands out as an area of frequent corrective action for lead agencies.
To highlight best practices, we reached out to Pope and Grant counties because both had high compliance in the "needs" measure. Pope and Grant counties shared some tips and practices that contributed to the high level of compliance.
Each start with a detailed assessment:
- Before getting to the domains in the assessment, ask about the person’s daily routine. Go deep; for example “Why do you like to brush your teeth first?” or “When you get help with toileting, how do you want people to help you?”
- While in the domains, be curious and interested, always.
With support planning, the lead agencies direct staff to take this approach:
- Before you start, tell people you want them to imagine that the support plan is the only direction someone will have about how they want to be supported. What do they need to know? What if you are unable to tell them?
- At all costs, resist entering “cookie cutter” statements into a person’s plan.
Pope and Grant counties also shared that all staff are trained in person-centered thinking and many are trained person-centered planners and coaches. The training is supported by their management team. The management team sets a high bar and they lead with passion, which motivates staff. Thank you to Pope and Grant counties for sharing your tips!
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Do you have a technical or workflow question that you would like help answering? If so, submit your question on the MnCHOICES Help Desk Contact Form, DHS-6979 and choose “Other” under the QUESTION TYPE. We will answer one question per issue.
You asked, we answered . . .
Question: How can I easily search for plans assigned to me in MnSP?
Answer: In addition to searching for a plan by the person’s name, you can view all plans you are working in using the My Plans tab. When you are in the MnCHOICES Support Plan application, click on the “My Plans” tab. Once in this tab view, you can filter the view to see plans assigned to you as plan owner, shared owner, secondary owner or plan aide. Then, select the status of the plan type you are searching for (open, complete or closed). Finally, you can search for document types of Community Support Plan, Coordinated Services and Support Plan (CSSP), Rate plan, Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) evaluations or all.
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Reminder to check the Known Issues document
MnCHOICES Assessment and Support Plan have moved to an operational and maintenance phase and have no planned releases. We may do releases for legislative changes and work stoppage defects. During this phase, we will add items to the Known Issues list as they are discovered and reported. Make sure to visit the MnA and MnSP Known Issues documents regularly to review new items. We will change the “Updated” date each time we add something new.
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 LTSS program performance website
DHS is excited to announce that the Long-term services and supports (LTSS) program performance webpage on the DHS public site is now updated with fiscal year 2019 data. This webpage includes demographic trends about the number of people receiving publicly funded LTSS along with age, race/ethnicity and language. It also shows how the program demographics are changing over time and compare to the overall population.
In addition, the LTSS performance measures show how well the programs support people in their community while ensuring system sustainability. The dashboards allow you to drill down on outcomes by demographic information.
New guidelines for help desk to re-open closed assessments
We extended the timeline the help desk can reopen inadvertently closed assessments and Community Support Plans (CSP). The help desk can now accept reopen requests up to 60 days from the assessment date; up from 14 days. Policy will still need to approve reopen requests that are greater than 60 days from the assessment date.
Mentors should use the DHS-6979 Help Desk Contact Form to submit a reopen request and enter the following:
- Question Type: Technical
- Description comment box: Note reopen request, the document type (assessment or CSP) and plan ID
 New contact form for Resource Center
To protect private data and protected health information, DHS created a secure form for lead agencies to use when contacting the DSD Resource Center. Starting Oct. 1, 2020, lead agencies must use DSD Resource Center Portal, DHS-3754 when they need assistance with MMIS. To learn more, see the full announcement: New contact form for Resource Center.
Attention mentors: check for lapsed certified assessors
We noticed an increase in lapsed assessors over the last quarter. Mentors must make sure certified assessors complete their recertifications on time to avoid a lapse in system access to perform MnCHOICES Assessments. Check the Statewide List of Certified Assessors (XLS) to review your lead agency. Consider adding a monthly reminder to your calendar to review assessors.
Lanette Ayers from Blue Earth County provides some great tips to combat lapsed assessors. “I put an alert in my outlook calendar to check Certified Assessors monthly. I also review recertification information at staff meetings. If a training comes through, I forward that to the group to let them know how it can count towards MnCHOICES Continued Learning Units.”
“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” — Robert Frost
Check out the DSD Training News and Information Page for opportunities for ongoing educational courses. Visit TrainLink to find additional courses offered by the Disability Services Division.
Home and community-based services (HCBS) disability waiver foundations
This foundational course covers an introduction to Brain Injury (BI), Community Alternative Care (CAC), Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI) and Developmental Disabilities (DD) HCBS disability waivers. Additional details are available on the session information page.
Person-Centered Thinking exploration
Person-Centered Thinking® (PCT) is a set of values, skills and tools that underlays the work we do to support people to have a meaningful life. To help you learn more about PCT skills, we created a four-part training series designed for those who have not taken the full, two-day PCT training. See the session announcement for more registration details.
Pathway to autism services and supports webinar series
A Minnesota team of interagency professionals is hosting a series of webinars to help increase awareness and access to the range of services and supports available to people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the lifespan. For more information, view the full announcement: Pathway to autism services and supports webinar series.
Overview of Online Housing Search Tools
The Housing Best Practices Forum is an opportunity to expand the use of best practices in helping people with disabilities to move to the housing they choose. Join this forum on Nov. 23 to learn more about three different online housing search tools: HousingLink, HB101 Places and MafoMN openings. Registration is required.
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Publication updates
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Community-Based Services Manual (CBSM) – what’s new?
Visit the Community-Based Services Manual often for a list of policies and pages we've recently updated. For a list of changes, visit the What’s New page.
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