MN HF338

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

Financial incentives must increase with each semester of participation, and pilot sites must include one postsecondary institution in the seven-county metropolitan area and at least one outside it, with additional institutions located in northern and southern Minnesota if more than one outside-metro site is selected.

Students receive financial incentive payments after satisfactorily completing work requirements each semester through their pilot site or fiscal agent.

HealthForce Minnesota must contract with a third party to evaluate the pilot project's impact on health care costs, retention of personal care assistants, patient and provider satisfaction, number of participants, hours of care provided, and semester-to-semester retention.

A report on evaluation findings must be submitted by January 4, 2023, to the chairs and ranking members of legislative committees with jurisdiction over human services policy and finance, with $500,000 appropriated for fiscal year 2022 (up to $25,000 for administrative costs).