Committee hears bill to reduce children boarding in hospitals by expanding MN Choices and community supports

House File 671, which aims to reduce the number of children boarding in hospitals while waiting for appropriate mental‑health and placement services, was heard and laid over by the House Committee for Human Services on April 1.

Lead author Representative Hicks described the problem as widespread and urgent: children — in some cases for months — can remain in hospitals because MN Choices assessments, which county lead agencies conduct, are delayed. The bill would clarify and strengthen county timelines, expand the pool of MN Choice assessors, create a DHS MN Choices team deployable to hospitals when counties cannot meet timelines (with counties reimbursing DHS in certain circumstances), and require data collection and reporting. The bill also includes provisions to expand peer specialist definitions, consider juvenile reentry benefits, and fund other community‑based supports such as wraparound services.

Multiple clinical and provider witnesses told the committee that hospital boarding is harmful and that community‑based, high‑fidelity wraparound services can allow children to transition back to home settings. Jennifer Gustafson of the Minnesota Juvenile Detention Association said juvenile detention facilities have become a safety net for children with mental‑health needs and that many are boarding in detention as well.

Children's hospital clinicians and provider groups, including representatives from Children’s Minnesota and Prairie Care, described clinical complexity and urged expanding community therapeutic services and stronger coordination to shorten stays. Counties and intercounty associations supported the bill’s goals but cautioned that some proposed timelines and fiscal penalties for counties are problematic. Wright County’s aging and disability services manager, testifying for county associations, said counties would meet timelines if they had capacity and that penalties simply shift burden to local taxpayers; the counties and authors agreed to continue discussions and remove fiscal penalty language in negotiations.

Representative Hicks said statute already allows expedited processes in certain cases but that MN Choices delays remain a barrier; she emphasized that doing nothing is a choice that leaves children boarding. The committee laid the bill over for further work and the author noted ongoing discussions with counties and health‑care stakeholders to refine the proposal.