NAMI Minnesota Legislative Update

February 14, 2021

Only 25 Days Until the Mental Health Day on the Hill

The 2021 Mental Health Day on the Hill is coming up and is scheduled for March 11. This is the most important advocacy event of the year and we are counting on you to join us and share your story about mental health. With all the challenges that NAMI Minnesota is facing with a socially distanced legislative session, having a successful Mental Health Day on the Hill is more important than ever.

This year, the Mental Health Legislative Network will be hosting the Day on the Hill remotely via zoom, but there will still be a training in the morning, a rally with legislators and other leaders from the mental health community, and then most importantly meetings with legislators. We are counting on you to sign up for the Day on the Hill and get a meeting scheduled with your legislators.

It will be easier than ever to get a meeting scheduled this year because the MHLN has hired a part-time staff person who can schedule one for you! All you have to do is fill out this form and we can take care of the rest. Here are the meetings we have already scheduled:

Senators

SD 3: Sen. Bakk SD 18: Sen. Newman SD 24: Sen. Jasinksi SD 35: Sen. Abeler SD 37: Sen. Newton SD 38: Sen. Chamberlain SD 48: Sen. Cwodzinksi SD 53: Sen. Kent SD 57: Sen. Clausen SD 59: Sen. Champion SD 60: Sen. Dziedzic SD 61: Sen. Dibble SD 64: Sen. Murphy

SD 65: Sen. Pappas

House

3A: Rep. Ecklund 5B: Rep. Igo 12A: Rep. Backer 17B: Rep. Baker 18B: Rep. Gruenhagen 33A: Rep. Hertaus 35B: Rep. Scott 37B: Rep. West 38B: Rep. Wazlawik 40A: Rep. Nelson 43A: Rep. Fischer 45A: Rep. Frazier 53A: Rep. Xiong 59A: Rep. Lee 59B: Rep. Agbaje 61A: Rep. Hornstein 62A: Rep. Hassan 63B: Rep. Greenman 65A: Rep. Moran

Thank you to everyone who has reached out and gotten a meeting scheduled already. If you see that a meeting is scheduled with one of your legislators, you should still sign up and join the meeting with your neighbors to talk about mental health. We are also counting on you to schedule a meeting if you don't see your legislators on this list. Thank you everyone for your support of NAMI and the Mental Health Legislative Network!

NAMI Bills to Receive Hearing This Week! Action Needed!

NAMI Minnesota is very excited to report that three important bills will receive committee hearings this week. We need people to contact their legislators right away!

The Human Services Finance and Policy Committee will be meeting on Tuesday morning and will hear HF 287 authored by Rep. Edelson. This is NAMI Minnesota Legislation that commissions a study on how to expand access to sober homes and ensure there are adequate consumer protections. This bill has already been heard in

the House Behavioral Health Division and it passed with strong bipartisan support.

After our bill on sober homes, the Human Services Finance and Policy Committee will hear HF 635 from Rep. Bierman. This is NAMI supported legislation that will increase funding for school-linked mental health grants, which allow for a community-based mental health provider to co-locate at a school and provide mental health services in the school building. You can find the full committee list here. If you see your legislator on the list, be sure and contact them and urge them to support HF 287 and HF 635.

On Wednesday morning, NAMI Minnesota legislation to expand the BIPOC mental health workforce will receive its first hearing. This is one of NAMI Minnesota’s top priorities this year and we are very grateful that Rep. Vang agreed to be the chief author of HF 970. (Senator Utke is the senate author). The bill has 17 sections, including requiring private insurance to pay for clinical trainees, adding LADCs to the loan forgiveness program, targeting funds under the loan forgiveness program to professionals from the BIPOC community, requiring the various MH professional boards to have representation from rural areas and cultural diversity, including cultural competency requirements for continuing education, creating a task force to develop alternative pathways to licensure, creating a culturally informed and responsive task force, paying for BIPOC mental health professionals to become supervisors, allowing grant funds to be used for cultural healers, and providing grant funds to pay for supervision.

Member of the committee include Representatives: Fischer (Maplewood), Frederick (Mankato), Franke (St Paul Park), Backer (Browns Valley), Baker (Willmar), Becker-Finn (Roseville), Hanson (Burnsville), Kotyza-Witthuhn, (Eden Prairie), Lippert (Northfield), Moller (Shoreview), Pierson (Rochester), and Thompson (St Paul). If your legislator serves on the Behavioral Health Policy Division, be sure and contact them before Wednesday morning and ask for their support of HF 970! They need to hear from people! Your message is simple "I am a NAMI member and there is an extreme shortage of mental health professionals. We need to do all we can to expand the workforce and eliminate barriers to becoming licensed. We especially need people practicing in rural Minnesota and to have providers from diverse cultural communities."

Find out who represents you

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Committee Hearings

On February 8, the House Health Finance and Policy Committee met to hear H526 (Klevorn), HF475 (Huot), HF569 (Morrison), and HFXXX (Morrison). HF569 and HFXXX are bills that appropriate money for tobacco use prevention and cessation activities. Morrison presented her bills and had Molly Moilanen of ClearWay Minnesota and Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation testify about the need for action now. ClearWay Minnesota will be sunsetting in the end of 2021 and legislators need to fund the work they have been doing in this arena. Both bills address this need with differing funding strategies, in the hope that one will be able to pass both the House and Senate. Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation and NAMI submitted written testimony for HF569. NAMI writes in support of these bills because people with mental illnesses have higher smoking and nicotine use rates. Due to this high rate, tobacco is the leading cause of death and disability.

On Tuesday morning, the Senate Human Services Licensing Policy Committee held a hearing on two important bills for the mental health community. The first was SF 254 from Sen. Koran. Supported by the Hazelden Betty Ford Community it's goal is to reduce administrative costs in the licensing of substance use disorder providers, including fewer inspections of substance use disorder providers in some situations. Jennifer Lohse testified in support of the bill on behalf of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation noting that the pandemic has increased mental health and substance use disorder needs, while making it harder than ever for providers to stay afloat. Matt Burdick from DHS testified on this bill and noted that the department has been working with Hazelden on this legislation. SF 254 was passed and re-referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

The next bill was SF 496. This is legislation from Sen. Utke related to background studies. Sen. Abeler offered an A-1 amendment that would expand the eligible fingerprint vendors. The amendment passed unanimously. The first testifier was Sarah Grafstrom testifying in support of the bill on behalf of ARRM. Limited fingerprint locations has been a significant barrier for providers that has exacerbated a workforce shortage. Ms. Graftstrom noted that it will be impossible for providers complete background checks once the peacetime emergency ends, which could disqualify staff from working due to system backlogs. Mary Krinkie also testified in support of this bill on behalf of the Minnesota Hospital Association and focused on the strong support across the healthcare system. Jin Palen also testified in support of SF 496 on behalf of the Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health

Programs (MACMHP). Ms. Palen spoke to the need to extend the waiver around background studies for the mental health community, which was facing a severe workforce shortage before the pandemic. Finally, Matt Burdick noted that DHS recognizes the significant challenges facing providers with background studies, with the understanding that additional flexibility will be necessary. The Mental Health Legislative Network submitted written testimony in support of the the bill. SF 496 was passed as amended and re-referred to Civil Law and Data Practices Policy.

On Tuesday, the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee met to discuss HF398, HF399, and HF400 with testifiers. HF398 (Rep. Her) gives additional tenant protections that would require a minimum temperature statewide for rental homes, as well as removing barriers for emergency housing repairs at court. Matheis Lockett, a Brooklyn Center tenant, spoke about the difficult experiences as a tenant without a furnace and working amenities. In HF399 (Her), there would be new limits on the fees a landlord can charge beyond monthly rent and landlord entry would be restricted to a 24 hours notice. Samuel Spaid, Research Director of HOME Line, elaborated about hidden lease fees and the lack of protection for tenants’ privacy. Spaid stated, “Privacy is one of the top reasons for calls.” In HF400 (Her), the bill allows tenants to terminate their lease with two months notice if they will be in a treatment facility . Spaid noted that there is no current federal law that allows people with disabilities to legally terminate under these grounds. Sam Smith, NAMI MN, testified to how difficult it can be for people to pay rent when struggling with mental illness, leading to an eviction that makes future housing harder to find. Smith stated, “Some want to return to the community [after treatment],” which can be complicated with an eviction. All bills were moved to the Committee on Judiciary Finance and Civil Law.

The House Behavioral Health Policy Division met on Wednesday morning and held a hearing on the Uniform Service Standards (USS) legislation that was included in the Governor's budget. This is a very large bill that is designed to increase flexibility and reduce the complexity and paperwork burdens for mental health providers. After an introduction from the Department of Human Services, Abbie Vavra from Fraser testified in support of this legislation. Ms. Vavra emphasized the new flexibilities around diagnosis that will make it easier to engage patients, particularly people with a history of trauma or those from the BIPOC community. Brook Schultz from Radias Health also testified in support of the bill and improvements on the regulations governing Intensive Residential Treatment Services or IRTS Facilities. These include spacing out assessments when the client first arrives at the IRTS program and new standards on discharging someone from an IRTS program.

The executive director of MACMHP, Jin Palen, also testified in support of the bill. Ms. Palen's testimony focused on the benefits of moving to a unified licensing framework. Currently, many providers face challenges navigating multiple regulatory standards that are not always in alignment. Rep. Fischer asked what USS does to support the

transition from the children to the adult mental health system and Rep. Franke appreciated the efforts being done to reduce the administrative complexity. The committee did not take a formal action on USS because the legislation is not yet introduced. To learn more about USS, you can review this summary and presentation from DHS.

On Wednesday, the House Human Services Finance & Policy Committee met. The Department of Human Services presented an overview and proposal on Non-Emergency Medical Transportation. Matt Anderson, DHS Assistant Commissioner for Health Care and State Medicaid Director in the presentation included a discussion on protected transport which is meant to allow for non-emergency medical transportation for individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Matt mentioned how protected transport is an alternative to transport usually by law enforcement and how sometimes involving law enforcement can actually exacerbate a mental health crisis.

The proposal included strategies by the Blue Ribbon Commission for administrative cost savings. This proposal also includes a monthly bus pass instead of an individual receiving a pass for individual appointments. This is intended as a way to address social determinants of health. Matt discussed how transportation is one of the biggest barriers not only to healthcare but also to obtaining healthy food, getting to a job or child care and other aspects of their life, so by being able to provide this we would be increasing quality of life and also addressing those social determinants that produce better health outcomes. Representative Bahner asked about how already existing transportation services can partner and work together with Non-Emergency Medical Transportation. Also mentioned was how having one uniform and consistent place of accessing transportation services could bring great value to Minnesota. Rep. Liebling shared some concerns of a central administrator and how culturally appropriate providers are added to the network and how those contracts would be given out.

On February 10th, 2021, the House Preventative Health Policy Division met to hear HF521 (Morrison) and HF520 (Morrison). HF521 is a bill NAMI supports because it extends the eligibility for Medical Assistance for women to 365 days postpartum. This is important to help address postpartum depression and substance use disorder, both of which occur many times after Medical Assistance coverage currently expires. Representative Morrison touched on this when introducing her bill, citing that 1 in 7 women experience symptoms of postpartum depression up to a year after giving birth and that the time 7-12 months after giving birth is when women are most likely to relapse if they have had a substance use disorder.

Testimony was provided by Dr. Siri Fiebiger, MPH of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the Nurse Midwife Division Director at Hennepin Healthcare and HCMC Jessica Holm, J’Mag Karbeah, MPH from the

University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and Lilly Malander from the Medical Ally Association. Dr. Siri Fibiger and Jessica Holm touched on the fact that it is more dangerous to have a baby now than it was a decade ago, with ½ of maternal deaths happening after the birth of the baby. J’Mag Karbeah, MPH emphasized that maternal deaths are impacting communities of color at higher rates, with Black children-bearing people dying at three times the rate of their white counterparts. In addition to the live testimony, there were written testimonies submitted by Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, ACOG Minnesota, Hennepin Healthcare, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (Legal Services Advocacy Project), Minnesota Coalition for Targeted Home Visiting, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota’s Prenatal to Three Coalition, and NAMI. Representatives Beirman and Prior expressed extreme support for this bill. They voted to move this bill to the Health Finance and Policy committee.

On Thursday, the House Human Services and Policy Committee heard HF163 and HF296. HF193 (Fischer) establishes a disability services pilot project for parents with disabilities. Darren Paulsen, Sumer Spika, and Nikki Vilavicencio spoke to their experiences as parents with disabilities. Paulsen stated, “Parents with disabilities don’t have protections.” The committee also heard HF296 (Noor), which eliminates parental contribution fees on services for children with disabilities under TEFRA. The issue of the sliding scale fee for parents was discussed with Joe Jarosz, Department of Human Services. Jarosz noted that DHS doesn't have the authority grant waivers to those who can’t pay the fee. Concerns were raised about how significant the barrier was and if this needed immediate attention. HF 296 was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill.

Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy committee discussed Minnesota’s bail system with representatives from the judicial branch, city and county attorneys, public defenders, and insurance companies that underwrite bail bondsmen. Bail is a payment judges set for defendants to be released from jail based on public safety and ensuring that a person show up for their court date. Testimony from both prosecutors and State Public Defender Bill Ward pointed out inequities in applying Minnesota’s current laws. One clear disparity happens when two people may be charged with the same crime, have the same criminal history and public safety risk, but a person with resources can pay to be released and a person without resources will stay in jail.

Mr. Ward provided striking statistics saying, “Nearly half of Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency. There isn’t a person watching or listening to me right now that if you had to come up with the money, you couldn’t. All of you could. Half of Americans cannot. My clients cannot.” Mr. Ward also pointed out significant racial inequities for Black and Latino men are that there are many fewer people being held in jails during the pandemic with no correlating rise in people missing court dates. Remote hearings have actually helped defendants who might have to take time off work or secure

childcare to make it to an in-person court date. For a person with a mental illness, even a very short stay in jail can be detrimental to recovery and NAMI will continue to follow these issues to promote treatment over incarceration. You can listen to the hearing here.

The House Public Safety committee also discussed economic disparities in the criminal justice system this week through fines and fees and driver’s license revocations. The committee passed HF 306 (Frazier) which would provide more options for waiving fines and fees for people who can’t afford to pay and HF 366 (Becker-Finn) which would reduce license suspensions based solely on a person’s inability to pay a fine – both bills were passed to the House Judiciary committee.

Friday, the committee heard HF 377 (Youakim) a bill that would expand access to therapy for firefighters. NAMI provided written testimony in support of the bill and worked with Rep. Youkim on an amendment to better reflect the language of the mental health system. Firefighters, like many first responders, experience higher rates of PTSD and risk for suicide. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in a public safety omnibus bill.

Upcoming Committee Hearings

Monday

1:00 PM: The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy committee will hear a presentation on the Department of Corrections budget proposal.

3:00 PM: The Senate Education Committee will hear SF 1012 related to the impact of social media and screen time on youth mental health

Tuesday

8:30 AM: The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Public Defenders and HF 864 (Hollins) to better protect the privacy of health information gathered by mental health units in law enforcement agencies. There is a delete all amendment for HF 864 that will be considered.

10:30 AM: The House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee will hold a hearing on NAMI Minnesota's bill calling for a sober home study, as well as NAMI supported legislation to increase funding for school-linked mental health programs

1:00 PM: The Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee will hold a hearing on SF 319, which would temporarily increase the rate for

housing supports (formerly GRH) and allow a housing supports provider to hold a bed when a client is getting inpatient treatment.

Wednesday

8:30 AM: The House Behavioral Health Subdivision will hold a hearing on two bills to expand the BIPOC mental health workforce, including HF 970 from NAMI Minnesota

10:30 AM: Preventing Homelessness Division will hear legislation to increase the number of permanent supportive housing beds and to commission a study on the shelter resident bill of rights

10:30 AM: House Preventive Health Policy Division will hold a hearing on legislation to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products

1:00pm: The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy committee will hear HF 565 (Ingebrigtsen) to create a 911 telecommunicators task force to establish minimum training standards for dispatchers. NAMI is working with the author on an amendment to include mobile crisis teams on the task force.

3:00pm: The Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy will hear HF 478 (Feist), the Veterans Restorative Justice Act, to expand alternatives to incarceration for veterans with PTSD and standardize veterans specialty courts throughout the state.

3:00 PM: The House Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on HF 600, which would legalize recreational cannabis use.

3:00 PM: The House Health Policy and Finance Committee will hear HF838 (Bierman) which would expand MA coverage to include periodontal disease nonsurgical treatment.

Thursday

8:30 AM: The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on legislation related to service and emotional support animals in rental housing

10:30 AM: The House Education Finance Committee is holding a hearing on a bill to increase full-service community schools, as well as legislation that allows students to attend summer school if they were in a residential mental health program or a juvenile justice program (NAMI supports this bill)

News from the State Level

Minnesota Department of Health Raising Mental Health Awareness

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is launching a new public health campaign called #StayConnectedMN. Over the coming month, MDH will be offering a set of mental health promotion templates that employers and community leaders can use to help people focus on their mental health and wellbeing. In an article from MinnPost, Anna Lynn noted “We were all very concerned about the impact that COVID has had on everyone’s mental well-being and mental health in general,” Lynn said. While she and her colleagues cannot make the virus go away any faster, they realized that they did have access to information that could help exhausted community members make it through what feels like a punishingly long homestretch." NAMI Minnesota strongly encourages everyone to check out this free resource from MDH. We're in this together and there's no wrong to reach out for help.

Additional Guidance from DHS on COVID and Residential Programs

DHS has released the following information to provide instruction to residential facilities on completing a COVID-19 Risk Assessment when a staff or person tests positive for COVID-19. Residential facilities include:

Adult and child foster care Community residential services Intermediate care facilities for persons with developmental disabilities

(ICFs/DD) Children’s residential facilities Detox services Residential facilities for adults with mental illness Residential substance use disorder treatment Withdrawal management programs.

Provider instructions to complete COVID-19 risk assessmentResidential settings licensed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) are responsible to:

1. Work with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to identify when a staff member has been exposed to COVID-19

2. Complete a risk assessment to mitigate infection spread.

If a person who lives or works in a licensed setting is diagnosed with COVID-19, DHS and MDH will reach out to the person and the provider to gather information and provide support through the outbreak. Meanwhile, licensed providers should use this recently published guidance, Instructions to complete COVID-19 risk assessments, DHS-8065 (PDF) that outlines the required steps to complete the risk-assessment process.

New Housing Resources

There are four new resources from DHS that are available for Housing Stabilization providers to help people they serve.

Find enrolled Housing Stabilization providers on MnHelp.Info by typing in "Housing Stabilization" in the "What are you looking for?" search box. Search for providers by city and county, as well as see what other services they offer.

Helpful Tips for Housing Stabilization Services Eligibility Requests provides useful information for staff who submit eligibility requests.

Allowable Documentation for Housing Stabilization Services Eligibility Requests has been updated and details the types of documents required for eligibility.

A new Housing Sustaining Plan is available in the Vault on Housing Benefits 101. This plan is specific to people who want to keep their current housing and need help addressing barriers that may prevent them from staying. While it was designed for Housing Stabilization – sustaining providers, it can be used to help anyone who could use help to keep their place. Vault accounts are free and provide a space to securely store documents.

Please direct questions about these resources to dhshousingstabilization@state.mn.us.

Minneapolis Responds to Concerns about Crisis Resources

In January NAMI Minnesota sent a letter with the signatures of over 30 Minneapolis mental health providers to Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council concerning mental health crisis response. Our letter laid out concerns that the city would use newly shifted funds in the 2021 budget to create city-run mental health crisis team, instead

of building on the existing infrastructure through the Hennepin County crisis team, COPE.

This week the directors of Strategic Management and the Office of Performance & Innovation responded with a letter and copied the mayor and city council. The letter generally acknowledges our concerns, but we are not confident that there will be any substantially different action taken by the city.

The city plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to mental health providers in Minneapolis for the new city crisis response. In their letter the city mentions that their team will follow the same standards as mobile crisis teams and receive extensive training, but we are still concerned that most of the resources will go to establishing an infrastructure that already exists. We wonder how the city team will work with the current systems of 911, police, and the county crisis team, and how people will contact them?

The letter also mentions that a survey from the city showed the desire for a “community-based” response, and we still advocate that the county crisis team is exactly that – but it needs to be fully funded and resourced to meet the demand in Minneapolis and Hennepin County. If the city used their funds to contract with the county, we believe services, non-police, and co-responses would continue to improve. We will continue to follow this issue and work statewide to ensure people in a mental health crisis receive a safe, professional, and community response.

Healthcare Workers in Phase 1a May Register for COVID Vaccination Online

To help local public health departments identify health care workers who have not yet received the vaccine for COVID-19, we are sharing this message on behalf of the Minnesota Department of Health. People in the Phase 1a Priority Three group include (but are not limited to) those remaining health care personnel who work in:

Ambulatory and outpatient settings Dental offices Dermatologists Emergency shelters Group homes Home health settings Hospitals

Pharmacies Medical waste handlers Mental/behavioral health settings Mortuary personnel and coroner personnel

Employers or individual workers who have not yet made arrangements for COVID-19 vaccination or contacted their local public health department may register their need for a vaccine by completing the Health Care Vaccination Connection Form. We will share your information with your local health department. They will reach out to you when there are vaccines and appointments available. Read the complete announcement at Health care workers in Phase 1a may register for COVID-19 vaccinations online.

News from Federal Level

Biden Administration Releases Report on Suicide Prevention

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG) have just released the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Implement the National Strategy on Suicide Prevention. Key recommendations include:

Activate a Broad-Based Public Health Response to Suicide Address Upstream Factors that Impact Suicide Ensure Lethal Means Safety Support Adoption of Evidence-Based Care for Suicide Risk Enhance Crisis Care and Care Transitions Improve the Quality, Timeliness, and Use of Suicide-Related Data

There is also a focus on ensuring there is adequate crisis infrastructure to support the implementation of the national 988 number. (National Council)

Medicaid Reentry Act ReintroducedThis week, Sens. Baldwin (D-WI) and Braun (R-IN) and Reps. Tonko (D-NY) and Turner (R-OH) reintroduced the Medicaid Reentry Act , which would allow Medicaid to cover

health care related services provided to incarcerated individuals up to 30 days before their release from jail or prison. This legislation is an important step toward improving access to critically needed mental health and substance use services for one of the nation’s most vulnerable populations. NAMI Minnesota encourages you to contact your F ederal Representatives and urge them to support H.R. 955. (National Council)

Supreme Court to Review Medicaid Work RequirementsLast Week, the Supreme Court announced that it will hold hearing on the Trump Administration Policy on work requirements for single adults without children on Medicaid. NAMI Minnesota strongly opposes Medicaid work requirements because most people on Medicaid are already working, in school, or serving as the primary caregiver for a family member. These requirements increase paperwork requirements and will lead to people losing their health insurance even though they are eligible. The Biden Administration is reviewing work requirement waivers as well.

Legislators Urge Elimination of Buprenorphine WaiverA group of bipartisan legislators recently sent a letter to President Biden supporting the passage of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, which would remove hurdles to prescribing buprenorphine and expand access to needed substance use treatment nationwide. Removing the waiver requirement for buprenorphine prescribing would have an impact in rural areas, where access to MAT is currently extremely low. Removing the waiver may also help to curb disparities in underserved communities’ access to MAT. The National Council thanks Sens. Hassan (D-NH) and Murkowski (R-AK), and Reps. Tonko (D-NY), Delgado (D-NY), Gonzalez (R-OH), and Turner (R-OH) for championing this important issue. (National Council)

Bill Summaries

House Bill IntroductionsHF 793 (Fischer): Requires a parole or probation officer to consider community options to respond to a technical violation, including mental health treatment, if the

person on parole or probation does not present a risk to the public. Parole officers and agents must also support a person under their supervision to access mental health services. If a person is incarcerated in a local correctional facility like a jail or workhouse, the court may consider placing offenders in the least restrictive program that meets their mental health needs. If a person is convicted of a felony and has ever been civilly committed, the court must consider mental health treatment recommendations and options before imposing a sentence. Allows the courts to consider a mental illness a substantial factor that mitigates the offenders culpability after committing a crime. When the court is determining whether or not to offer pre-trial release, the court must consider the impact this decision will have on the defendants mental health treatment. Referred to Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy.

HF801 (Morrison): Establishes a Prescription Drug Affordability Board and Prescription Drug Affordability Advisory Council to protect consumers from unaffordable costs of certain prescription drugs and provide transparency on prescription drug price information. Referred to Commerce Finance and Policy.

HF826 (Lee, Novotny): Requires the Commissioner of Corrections to ensure each state correctional facility has policies and programs that preserve and protect the human and constitutional rights and provide for the health and wellness of inmates. Referred to Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy.

HF834 (Her): Grants Regions Hospital in St. Paul an exception to the hospital bed moratorium to add an additional 45 licensed beds, including mental health beds. Referred to Health Finance and Policy.

HF 835 (Her; Hassan; Howard): Prevents discrimination in rental properties due to the renter’s recipient status in a public assistance program, like Section 8. In addition, it allows the court to expunge an eviction from a renter’s history more easily by expanding discretionary and mandatory expungement. Finally, the bill creates specific notice requirements for evictions due to nonpayment of rent and limits public access to this information until the case is finalized. Referred to Housing Finance and Policy.

HF 838 (Bierman): ): Expands medical assistance coverage of adult dental services to include nonsurgical treatment of periodontal disease. Referred to Health Finance and Policy.

HF 856 (Hollins, Reyer, Keeler, Berg, Frederick): Requires the court to determine whether a defendant has a history of stroke or traumatic brain injury following conviction. If the defendant has such a history and the court believes this has impacted the defendant’s judgment, then the court must order a neuropsychological examination for the defendant. The court must consider this examination when

sentencing the defendant. Referred to Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy.

HF 864 (Hollins; Franke; Moller): Classifies data that is maintained by law enforcement for mental health incidents as private and can only be shared with the welfare system to help coordinate necessary services on behalf of the person. Referred to Judiciary Finance and Civil Law. Companion bill in Senate (SF234).

HF 876 (Frazier; Greenman; Agbaje; Hassan; Gomez; Keeler; Xiong, J.; Stephenson; Jordan; Youakim; Long; Howard; Garofalo; Vang): Restores the right to vote to felons that have finished their incarceration sentence, if they were given one. Referred to Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy.

HF 873 (Hassan, Xiong J, Gomez): Appropriates funding for Avivo to provide employment and education supports for low-income people that is integrated with mental health and substance use disorder services. Referred to Workforce and Business Development Finance and Policy.

HF 900 (Keeler; Gomez; Xiong, J.; Frazier; Hollins; Berg; Jordan; Howard): Establishes a task force for shelter resident rights and shelter provider practices. Referred to Human Services Finance and Policy.

HF916 (Xiong, J.): Privatizes data received by the Ombudsperson for the Department of Corrections, such as names, locations, and inmate ID. The ombudsperson is the outside official in charge of investigating complaints within prisons and the Department of Corrections. Referred to Judiciary Finance and Civil Law.

HF922 (Long; Novotny): Establishes guidelines for the use of restraints on a child who has violated the law. Authorizes officers to refer children to alternative programs instead of arresting them. Establishes a risk assessment tool for detention centers to determine whether a child is likely to endanger others upon release or miss their court hearing. If they are likely to do either, the centers will determine what further detention will be necessary. Referred to Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy.

HF944 (Hanson): Creates a pathway for children voluntarily seeking treatment in a children’s residential mental health program without a county referral or through the child protection process. Establishes the criteria for a referral to a residential mental health program based upon the medical necessity of this level of care as determined by a mental health professional. Appropriates funding to cover room and board costs. Referred to Human Services Finance and Policy.

This is NAMI Minnesota Legislation on the Family First Implementation. Minnesota

already pays for the treatment costs at residential programs because they are considered Institutes of Mental Disease or IMDs.

HF 945 (Youakim, Frederick): Allows school social workers to bill medical assistance. Allows for the use of an IEP instead of a diagnostic assessment in order to bill MA. Referred to Human Services Finance and Policy.

HF947 (Pinto; Miller): Prohibits juvenile detention centers from doing invasive physical inspections, using “discipline” rooms, or detaining children under the age of 12. Referred to Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy.

HF 950 (Richardson): Education Policy Bill. Requires school districts and charter schools must provide mental health instruction for students in grades 4 through 12 as a part of their health curriculum. Requires a school district, charter, or nonpublic public school to include information about any formal suspension, expulsion, exclusion disciplinary action and include services a pupil needs to prevent the inappropriate behavior from recurring. Defines comprehensive mental health systems in school as providing supports and services to students and additional elements. Defines Minnesota Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) as a framework to support students that uses evidence-based practices, culturally responsive and anti-racist approaches. Defines in-school and out of school suspension and requires schools to must have a readmission plan for each suspension action. Requires school officials to use nonexclusionary disciplinary school policies and practices that are different from removing a student from a class or dismissing them from a school some of the policies and practices include evidence-based positive behavior interventions and supports, social and emotional services, and school-linked mental health services. Pupils must have the option of a withdrawal agreement as an alternative to avoid expulsion or an exclusionary dismissal. Requires schools to use nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices before dismal proceedings or pupil withdrawal agreements. Changes language for suspension pending expulsion or exclusion hearing to exceed five consecutive school days and requires that if a student suspension exceeds 5 consecutive school days then alternative educational services must be provided. Requires a student who is suspended have the opportunity to complete all school work and receive full credit, also encourages school administration to appoint a school or district employee as a liaison to work with the teacher to make sure the student receives timely course materials. Requires exclusion or expulsion written notice to include the nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices used by the school to avoid expulsion proceedings and requires the school district to advise the pupil's parent or guardian that free or low-cost legal assistance may be available. Requires that a school administrator must include measures to improve the pupil's behavior admission or readmission plan which may include social and emotional learning, counseling, social work services, mental health services, referrals for special education or 504 evaluation, and evidence-based academic interventions and this admission or readmission plan must require parent involvement. If a student is facing exclusionary discipline, the school is responsible for ensuring that the student continues to make progress towards readmission and on their

academics, continue to access school-linked mental health services until the student is enrolled in a new district, and ensure that the students family or guardian can access mental health services for their child. Prohibits school staff or school resource officers from using a prone restraint or any form of physical holding that re restricts or impairs a pupil's ability to breathe, restricts or impairs a pupil's ability to communicate distress. School review of restrictive procedures must consider disproportionality, racial disparities, standards of for using restrictive procedures. Referred to Education Policy.

HF951 (Richardson; Xiong, J.): Prohibits disciplinary dismissals of children in kindergarten through grade 3. Referred to Education Policy.

HF 965 (Edelson): Introduces rules and guidelines for helping students in special education services to recover after COVID-19 disruptions to their on-site learning. Appropriates money to support these initiatives. Referred to Education Policy.

HF 967 (Edelson): Allows for school boards to limit the enrollment of special education programs and transition programs. Referred to Education Policy.

HF 968 (Edelson): Modifies the human services background checks required for certain license holders. This bill allows offenses when the individual was a minor to not cause disqualification if it has been a set amount of years, depending on the severity of the offense. Referred to Human Services Finance and Policy.

HF 970 (Vang; Richardson; Hollins; Hassan; Gomex; Xiong, J.; Frazier; Lee): Requires private insurance to cover treatment from a clinical trainee. Allows alcohol and drug counsellors to be eligible for loan forgiveness programs. Requires the licensing boards for mental health professionals to include representatives from rural providers and people of color. Requires continuing education credits to include training on cultural competency. Allows someone completing their practicum or internship to qualify as a mental health practitioner in order to bill for services. Allows for the use of grant funding to develop BIPOC supervisors and traditional healing practices for American Indians. Creates a task force to make recommendations on how to increase the number of BIPOC mental health professionals. Directs DHS and MDH to consider alternative paths to licensure that recognize the limitations with national testing, as well as to work with the licensing boards for mental health professionals to simplify the process for finding a supervisor and completing internship requirements. Appropriates funding for loan forgiveness programs, to pay for MH professionals from BIPOC communities to become supervisors and for the task forces. Referred to Human Services Finance and Policy on 2/10/2021. Referred to Behavioral Health Policy Division on 2/12/2021 by Chair. This is a NAMI bill that was developed in collaboration with the Wilder Foundation and others.

HF 976 (Acomb): Extends waivers and modifications including amendments to human

service programs in response to Covid-19 issued before the peacetime emergency expires shall remain in effect until June 30th, 2022. Requires the commissioner of human services to consult with stakeholders to develop direct care services in an acute care hospital for modifying or creating a new covered service. Requires the Unit-Based Services Advisory Task Force to advise and report recommendations to the human services commissioner on legislative changes to Minnesota Statutes for improving services in the community. Referred to Human Services Finance and Policy.

HF 1025 (Morrison): Establishes intensive in-home children’s mental health stabilization and support services as a medical assistance benefit. Referred to Human Services Finance and Policy on 2/11/2021. Re-referred to Behavioral Health Policy Division.

HF 1040 (Schultz, Liebling): This is the Governor’s Human Services Omnibus Bill. Referred to Human Services Finance and Policy Committee.

HF 1060 (Agbaje, Gomez, Hassan): Requires tenant screening services to delete any reference to a eviction in their database if eviction was expunged or the court ruling did not lead to an eviction. The tenant screening service must also update and verify all records on evictions. Adds additional specificity to what the landlord must include in their complaint when seeking an eviction, as well as more information on the court summons for an eviction hearing. Referred to Housing Finance and Policy.

HF 1065 (Davnie): Governor’s Education Budget Bill. Referred to Education Finance.

HF 1070 (Liebling, Schultz): Governors Health Budget Bill. Referred to Health Finance and Policy.

HF 1077 (Hausman): Governor’s Housing Budget Bill. Referred to Housing Finance and Policy.

HF 1078 (Mariani): Governor’s Public Safety and Corrections Budget Bill. Referred to Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy. Public Safety and Corrections budget bill. Public Safety: Appropriates $2,200,000 to the general fund to support the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act; $800,000 to the Minnesota Heals Program for first responder mental health and $800,000 for services for families following an officer-involved death; $3,000,000 in 2022 for Innovations in Policing Grants including mental health, police, and 911 collaborations; $22,824,000 to reimburse training through the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST).Corrections: Appropriates $400,000 to the general fund for a release and alternatives to incarceration program for pregnant women and new mothers in prison; $1,484,000 to improve jail oversight, implement minimum standards including mental health standards, and hire four full-time inspectors; $2,320,000 for a juvenile justice data

repository to reduce racial disparities; Appropriates $1,505,000 to the general fund for the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission and $1,322,000 to operate the office of Ombuds for Corrections.

Senate Bill IntroductionsSF701 (Senjem; Newton): Expands medical assistance coverage of adult dental services to include nonsurgical treatment of periodontal disease. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.

SF709 (Nelson; Hoffman; Abeler): Extends the age of youth who are eligible for intensive nonresidential mental health services or Youth ACT. Recipients who are eight years of age or older and under 26 years of age diagnosed with a severe mental illness are now eligible for these services. Staff under these services also have to be specially trained to work with the age group they serve. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy. This is NAMI Minnesota Legislation

SF721(Abeler; Hoffman): Appropriates money for customized living quality improvement grants. These grants are given to customized living services providers under the brain injury, community access for disability inclusion, and elderly waivers. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

SF 723 (Ingebrigtsen, Dibble): Appropriates funding for youth intervention programs. Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy.

Youth intervention programs offer nonresidential community-based advocacy, education, counseling, mentoring, and referral services to youth and their families experiencing personal, familial, school, legal, or chemical problems with the goal of resolving the present problems and preventing the occurrence of the problems in the future.

SF726 (Coleman): Requires student identification cards for middle schoolers and high schoolers to have a phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or other crisis phone line. Referred to Education Finance and Policy. This is NAMI Minnesota Legislation

SF728 (Frentz; Abeler; Hoffman; Newton): Allows school social workers to bill medical assistance. Allows for the use of an IEP instead of a diagnostic assessment in order to bill MA. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

SF 735 (Wiklund): Extends Medical Assistance coverage of postpartum women from 60 days to 365 days. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.

SF 757 (Franzen, Murphy, Port): Clone of House Bill to legalize recreational cannabis

use. Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy.

SF759 (Wiklund, Hoffman, Franzen): Adjusts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP by increasing the gross income limit to being equal or less than 200 percent federal poverty guideline. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

SF 761 (Abeler, Hoffman): Allows county agencies to contact caregivers by phone or in writing to acquire the necessary information to complete the MFIP household report form. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

SF 766 (Dziedzic): Increases tenant protections for an eviction. Before evicting a tenant for nonpayment of rent or another financial obligation, the landlord must submit a written notice to the tenant that includes the total amount due, the reason for these payments, and the name and address of who can receive the tenants payment. This notice must also include a statement on resources potentially available to the tenant including financial assistance from the county, how to access legal and financial assistance, and state that the landlord can begin the eviction process after fourteen days if the tenant does not complete payments. All eviction filings in court must include a copy of this written notice. Referred to Civil Law and Data Practices Policy.

SF 767 (Dziedzic): Allows leases to be terminated before the end date if the tenant(s) have been found by a medical professional to need to move into a medical care facility or needs an accessible unit, including people with mental illnesses. Referred to Civil Law and Data Practices Policy. NAMI Minnesota supports this legislation.

SF 768 (Dziedzic): Creates a grant program to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing to be administered by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Referred to Housing Finance and Policy.

SF 771 (Dziedzic): Provides courts with the option to expunge an eviction if the court file is no longer a reasonable predictor of future tenant behavior. Courts must also expunge an eviction record if the tenant won their court case, the court dismissed the landlords complaint, if both parties agreed to an expungement, an eviction was filed at least three years ago, or if the eviction resulted in a settlement and the tenant fulfilled the terms of the settlement. Prevents an eviction record from being accessible to the public until a final decision is made by the court. Referred to Civil Law and Data Practices Policy.

SF 772 (Dziedzic): Requires protections for tenants against landlord for repairs and allows tenants to request emergency repairs at court. Referred to Civil Law and Data Practices Policy.

SF 773 (Dziedzic): Prohibits landlords from requiring nonrefundable fees except for optional services offered by the landlord. In addition, sets limits on when a landlord can enter a tenant’s living space. Referred to Civil Law and Data Practices Policy.

SF 776 (Rosen; Frentz; Nelson): Extends Medical Assistance coverage to in-reach community-based service coordination that is performed at a jail for incarcerated individuals. These services cover mental health, chemical health, various social/economic/housing needs, and anything else that can reduce a client’s interactions with law enforcement. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.

SF780 (Rosen, Benson, Draheim): Changes the word telemedicine to telehealth in certain statutes. Referred to Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.

SF 782 (Chamberlain): Expands school districts extended time revenue to all students at residential treatment facilities or other facilities providing mental health services, juvenile justice services, or related programming. Extended time revenue can be used for extended day, extended week, summer school, and vacation break learning.

SF788 (Chamberlain, Wiger): Education Policy Bill. Requires school districts and charter schools must provide mental health instruction for students in grades 4 through 12 as a part of their health curriculum. Requires a school district, charter, or nonpublic public school to include information about any formal suspension, expulsion, exclusion disciplinary action and include services a pupil needs to prevent the inappropriate behavior from recurring. Defines comprehensive mental health systems in school as providing supports and services to students and additional elements. Defines Minnesota Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) as a framework to support students that uses evidence-based practices, culturally responsive and anti-racist approaches. Defines in-school and out of school suspension and requires schools to must have a readmission plan for each suspension action. Requires school officials to use nonexclusionary disciplinary school policies and practices that are different from removing a student from a class or dismissing them from a school some of the policies and practices include evidence-based positive behavior interventions and supports, social and emotional services, and school-linked mental health services. Pupils must have the option of a withdrawal agreement as an alternative to avoid expulsion or an exclusionary dismissal. Requires schools to use nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices before dismal proceedings or pupil withdrawal agreements. Changes language for suspension pending expulsion or exclusion hearing to exceed five consecutive school days and requires that if a student suspension exceeds 5 consecutive school days then alternative educational services must be provided. Requires a student who is suspended have the opportunity to complete all school work and receive full credit, also encourages school administration to appoint a school or district employee as a liaison to work with the teacher to make sure the student receives timely course materials. Requires exclusion or expulsion written

notice to include the nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices used by the school to avoid expulsion proceedings and requires the school district to advise the pupil's parent or guardian that free or low-cost legal assistance may be available. Requires that a school administrator must include measures to improve the pupil's behavior admission or readmission plan which may include social and emotional learning, counseling, social work services, mental health services, referrals for special education or 504 evaluation, and evidence-based academic interventions and this admission or readmission plan must require parent involvement. If a student is facing exclusionary discipline, the school is responsible for ensuring that the student continues to make progress towards readmission and on their academics, continue to access school-linked mental health services until the student is enrolled in a new district, and ensure that the students family or guardian can access mental health services for their child. Prohibits school staff or school resource officers from using a prone restraint or any form of physical holding that re restricts or impairs a pupil's ability to breathe, restricts or impairs a pupil's ability to communicate distress. School review of restrictive procedures must consider disproportionality, racial disparities, standards of for using restrictive procedures. Referred to Education Finance and Policy.

SF825 (Newton): Requires a person charged with certain criminal offenses must be released from jail unless the court determines that there is a substantial likelihood that the defendant will not appear at future court proceedings. Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy.

SF 837 (Koran): Prohibits life insurers from determining whether to issue, renew, cancel or modify a life insurance policy based on whether the individual has a prescription for an opiate antagonist. Referred to Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy.

SF 842 (Champion; Pappas; Marty): Restores the right to vote upon to people convicted of a felony once they are no longer incarcerated. Requires the Department of Corrections to notify everyone who has had their voting rights restored. Referred to State Government Finance and Policy and Elections.

Updates from NAMI Minnesota

NAMI Legislative CommitteeMeetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month at 6 PM. To be added to the email list, contact Sam Smith. Did you know Sue has a blog? Read the latest post here.

NAMI and U of MN Annual Research DinnerThe annual dinner will be virtual this year but people are still encouraged to attend. University researchers will present their latest findings, introduce new studies that are underway and answer your questions about What We Have Learned About Stress & Well-Being Over The Past Year.

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 Time: 6-7:30 pm Register today!

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