SF4237

Purpose

• Require the Departments of Human Services and Children Youth and Families (DCYF) to produce an annual “program integrity report” for the Legislature, starting November 30, 2026, to review how well each department is overseeing programs and protecting the integrity of services.

Main Provisions

• DCYF program integrity report (new Subd. 36 added to Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 142A.03):

  • Annual report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over children, youth, and families.
  • Includes updates from the DCYF Office of Inspector General on licensing and maltreatment oversight, plus data from the past five years:
  • Capacity to meet licensing demands.
  • Maltreatment reports and licensing complaints.
  • Results of maltreatment investigations.
  • Licenses issued for each provider type.
  • Number of licensing investigations and reviews completed.
  • Number of correction orders issued.
  • Includes an update from the DCYF Office of Inspector General on caseload and site visit data, child care assistance program investigations, administrative reviews, recipient fraud investigations involving multiple benefits, and updates on major fraud investigations, all covering the past five years.

• DHS program integrity report (new Subd. 45 added to Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 256.01):

  • Annual report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over human services.
  • Includes updates from the Office of Inspector General’s units, covering:
  • Background Studies Division (also called background checks) with historical metrics and descriptive data on background studies and licensure, including:
    • Number of background studies completed in the past five years.
    • Number of disqualifications that occurred.
  • Licensing Division with historical metrics and descriptive data, including:
    • Capacity to meet licensing demands.
    • Data for the past five years on maltreatment reports and licensing complaints.
    • Results of maltreatment investigations.
    • Number of licenses issued for each provider type.
    • Number of licensing investigations and reviews completed.
    • Number of correction orders issued.
  • Financial Fraud and Abuse Investigations Division:
    • Caseload screening and site visit data.
    • Number of provider medical assistance managed care investigations in the past five years.
    • Number of screening investigations in the past five years.
    • Updates on major fraud investigations.
  • Data for the past five years, and annual reporting to the same legislative committee audience.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Introduces two new required program integrity reporting subdivisions:
  • Subd. 36 in 142A.03 for DCYF, focusing on licensing, maltreatment, fraud, and related investigations and data.
  • Subd. 45 in 256.01 for DHS, focusing on background checks, licensing, and fraud investigations.
• Establishes a formal, recurring data-intensive reporting mechanism to legislative leadership to enhance transparency and oversight of child welfare and human services programs.

Reporting Schedule and Recipients

• Beginning November 30, 2026, and annually thereafter.
• Reports go to the chairs and ranking minority members of the relevant legislative committees:
  • For DCYF: committees with jurisdiction over children, youth, and families.
  • For DHS: committees with jurisdiction over human services.

Impact and Purpose

• Aims to improve program integrity by providing comprehensive, five-year historical data and current metrics on licensing, investigations, maltreatment, fraud, and related activities.
• Improves oversight, accountability, and transparency of how DCYF and DHS manage licensing, background checks, and fraud investigations, including the effect on services like child care assistance and medical assistance managed care.

What This Means in Practice

• Agencies must gather and report detailed statistics on licensing workloads, maltreatment cases, investigations, and enforcement actions.
• The reports will include data on provider types, corrections orders, and major fraud cases, helping lawmakers assess program performance and identify areas needing improvement.

Relevant Terms - program integrity report - Office of Inspector General - Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) - Department of Human Services (DHS) - licensing - maltreatment reports - licensing complaints - correction orders - background studies (background checks) - disqualifications - caseload - site visits - child care assistance program investigations - administrative reviews - recipient fraud investigations - multiple benefits - provider types - medical assistance managed care investigations - screening investigations - major fraud investigations - five-year data window - annual reporting - legislative committees (with jurisdiction over children, youth and families; or human services)