MN HF2182

HealthForce Minnesota at Winona State University must develop a pilot project establishing the Minnesota Direct Care Service Corps to attract postsecondary students to work as personal care assistants or direct support professionals through financial incentives.

Financial incentives must increase with each semester of participation, with HealthForce Minnesota establishing the specific incentive amounts and minimum work requirements for eligibility.

Pilot sites must include one postsecondary institution in the seven-county metropolitan area and at least one outside it; if multiple sites are selected outside the metro area, one must be in northern Minnesota and one in southern Minnesota.

HealthForce Minnesota must contract with a third party to evaluate the pilot project's impact on healthcare costs, retention of personal care assistants, patient and provider satisfaction, participant numbers, hours of care provided, and semester-to-semester retention by January 4, 2022.

$500,000 is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal year 2021 to the commissioner of human services for a grant to HealthForce Minnesota, with up to $25,000 available for administrative costs as a onetime appropriation.