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The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) would like to inform providers and community members about updates to our ongoing work to improve and simplify publicly funded mental health services in Minnesota through the Uniform Service Standards (USS) project.
The current phase of work was proposed by Governor Walz in 2023 and was passed with partial funding by the Minnesota Legislature. This legislation directed DHS to transition several services certified by the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) to licenses under the Licensing Division in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG-LIC):
Throughout 2024, DHS, providers and community partners made substantial progress in drafting legislative language that would implement this transition by clarifying service requirements, separating licensing requirements into 245I, retaining Medicaid coverage authority in 256B, and creating the necessary authority for licensing and background studies. The intent was to enable DHS to start issuing licenses and begin transitioning providers from their current certifications by Jan. 1, 2026. However, DHS has encountered a few issues that have led to a delay.
The work to move these services to licensure builds upon the Provider Licensing and Reporting Hub (Provider Hub) — a digital platform with new and improved data management that enables providers to complete licensing processes online. The Provider Hub is replacing paper applications with digital access that supports multiple languages, leveraging core functionality that is scalable to all human services license types for a consistent and cohesive experience. This foundation is essential as DHS prepares to bring additional service types under licensure. While budgeting constraints and contract negotiations have adjusted our timeline, DHS will share updates for future Provider Hub phases in the coming months, including revised timelines for expansion to additional human services license types.
Additionally, the budget situation for the state has had broader impacts on our ability to identify the remaining resources necessary to supplement the partial funding allocated in 2023. Advancing the language that DHS and partners proposed would require new funding, and because of this, we were not able to pass it through the Legislature this year. DHS is studying further options and will engage with providers and other community partners in determining a potential legislative package in the 2026 session.
For ARMHS, CTSS and mobile crisis providers, this means that your programs will continue to be certified under existing authorities and processes by BHA. We do not have a revised target date for transition to licensure at this time. DHS will engage with you as we formulate options for future legislative development.
For CCBHC providers: BHA and OIG-LIC will be in communication with you as we pilot work to better incorporate 245G, 245I.20, ARMHS, CTSS, and mobile crisis reviews alongside the revised federal criteria. The Legislature did allocate a scaled-down amount of the staffing required for licensing these services in 2023, and those hires will be used to support the expanded pilot of CCBHC reviews. Developing greater familiarity with CTSS, ARMHS and mobile crisis through this process will allow a smoother transition when those services do come over to OIG-LIC.
For all providers and community partners, DHS appreciates your involvement in the Uniform Service Standards project. While this is a delay, DHS remains committed to improving our oversight of these services to provide consistency, clarity and efficiency, and improved program integrity.
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