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The Behavioral Health and Licensing Divisions of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) are seeking diverse perspectives and experiences to guide our work as we continue to transform the ways that DHS provides essential services to Minnesota's most vulnerable residents. Alyssa Dotson, Deputy Inspector General of the Licensing Division and Kristine Preston, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Behavioral Health Division, are pleased to announce the next phase of work and request participants for the Uniform Service Standards Design Team.
The Uniform Service Standards (USS) project is a multi-phase reform of the regulatory structure and service standards for Minnesota’s mental health care system. The USS project is aligning common standards to reduce administrative burden, refocusing the standards on supporting quality and equitable services and establishing a unified licensing framework to build accountability where it matters.
In the first phase of USS, we eliminated confusing and contradictory definitions, focused on person/family-centered services and setting up a strong foundation for clear and consistent regulation of mental health services. You can visit the USS webpage for more details.
The Minnesota Legislature is currently considering funding for the planning, computer systems and implementation to license several more mental health services:
- Adult Rehabilitative Mental Health Services (ARMHS)
- Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC)
- Children’s Therapeutic Services and Supports (CTSS)
- Mobile Crisis (call centers, community assessment/intervention and community stabilization)
The USS project will also look at how to better define and distinguish Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) from certified clinics (245I.20, formerly known as “Rule 29”) and CCBHCs.
To identify the priorities and practicalities that will make this work a success, the project is assembling a USS Design Team of external voices and DHS staff on these mental health services. Participation is particularly sought from counties, tribes, managed care organizations, provider organizations, advocacy groups and individuals and families served. Due to space and logistical concerns, team size is limited, with the goal of representing a diversity of experiences and views on the impacted services. The USS Design Team will have meetings every six weeks to select priorities and guide each phase of USS project development.
To help DHS with this work, complete the application for the USS Design Team which will be open until May 7, 2023. DHS will contact you with a response by May 17, 2023, in preparation for the first USS Design Team meeting on Jun. 7, 2023. Subsequent meetings will be held in the mornings, and a schedule of the meetings is included in the survey.
About the Design Team, Kristine Preston said, “This is an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to equity, high quality services and empowering providers to do their best work. We hope you’ll join us.”
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