Clay County social services reports steady caseloads, flags state program implementation delays

Clay County social services leaders summarized 2024 program activity on April 8 and told the County Board that while many program areas have stable capacity, several state-led changes are creating administrative burdens and service delays.

Quinn (Social services staff) opened the departmental update and turned to Jessica Mickelson, who oversees the county isability Services licensing work, and Holly Wanner, supervisor of the home and community-based disability services unit, to present program-by-program figures and operational concerns.

Jessica Mickelson, Disability Services Division, said Clay County had 58 family adult foster care (AFC) homes with a total licensed capacity of 108 beds; 17 of those beds were currently open and two new AFC homes were in the licensing process. She reported nine AFC licenses closed in 2024 (six voluntary closures, two revocations and one provider who moved out of the county) and five AFC homes opened in 2024. For corporate foster care, the county has 121 licensed homes with a total bed capacity of 325; of those 325 beds, 311 are licensed for adults and 14 are licensed for children.

Mickelson said the county changed its AFC intake approach in 2023 nd refined it in 2024 to prioritize placements that meet local resident needs rather than accepting all new applications. "We started focusing more on the capacity needs of Clay County residents," she said, explaining the change reduced the number of marginal or unused licenses and helped reduce compliance issues. She reported 124 names on the family adult foster care inquiry list; those inquiries are currently for adult placements only.

On child foster care, Mickelson said Clay County had 42 licensed child foster care homes (32 nonrelative and 10 relative homes). She said many child beds that previously existed have declined as corporate providers closed children's beds in recent years. The county has two full-time licensors assigned to the child foster care area and is planning a deeper briefing for the board on May 6 about the licensing timeline and barriers.

On family childcare licensing, the county reported 127 licensed family childcare homes and 14 applications in process (down from 133 the prior year). Mickelson said the county continues recruitment and marketing, and noted a county ARPA award of $87,000 for incentives; she said about $30,000 of those funds remained and that the county offers a $250 referral bonus to existing licensed providers who refer a new licensed provider.

Mickelson and Quinn also reviewed statewide structural changes: child-focused licensing and related functions are moving from the Department of Human Services (DHS) to the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). "Our adult foster care will stay with DHS," Mickelson said, and she warned the split could create extra administrative work as programs and funding are reorganized.

Jessica and Quinn reviewed MNChoices, the state—ligibility and assessment tool that launched a revised version in April 2024. Mickelson said the new MNChoices release created data and workflow problems that required manual corrections but that many of those issues had been fixed. She said initial MNChoices assessments typically take six to eight staff hours to complete; reassessments now take about two to three hours on average.

Mickelson raised an operational concern about Community First Services and Supports (CFSS), the October 2024 replacement for personal care assistance (PCA). She said the statewide rollout has left a severe mismatch between people needing CFSS and the consultation services providers that must initiate those services. "Of the 946 PCA agencies that were enrolled, only 320 are eligible to provide CFSS," she said, and noted there are only 18 consultation services providers statewide. In Clay County, she said the county had approved 70 new CFSS enrollments since the October launch but only 24 of those people had been able to work with a consultation services provider.

Holly Wanner, Supervisor, Home and Community Based Disability Services, reviewed the county isability waiver caseloads and staffing. Wanner said her unit has 16 staff (14 case managers and two case aids) and described the primary waiver counts: five consumers on the brain injury waiver in 2024; community access for disability inclusion (CADI) served 567 individuals in 2024; the developmental disability waiver served 216 people in 2024; and the county—unded Rule 185 developmental disability case management included 130 consumers in 2024. Wanner said annual reassessments remain required for people on most waivers and that case managers face significant front-loaded workload to authorize services quickly after eligibility is established.

Wanner described several operational initiatives: the county added reassessor positions, the agency received a state lead-agency capacity-building grant to increase employment supports for people with disabilities, and new state policy (effective July 1) will require case managers to document that less-restrictive residential options were explored before residential placements in corporate foster homes or customized living settings are authorized.

Board members thanked staff for the detailed briefing and raised concerns about state-level budget and policy changes that could affect county workloads and costs.

Ending: County staff said they will return with a deeper licensing process briefing at the May 6 meeting, and social services managers asked the board to note the operational strains from CFSS roll-out and MNChoices transition as the county continues to serve clients while state systems are adjusted.