Adult foster care allows people who need supportive housing services an opportunity to live and participate in the community in a residential setting with overnight supervision and support. County and state philosophy emphasize that people who need this type of care have choices in their housing and that the services they receive are person-centered. The state defines minimum standards of care, placement documentation, and oversight. The state also requires that people seeking adult foster care as a housing option meet eligibility criteria.
There are two options in adult foster care settings: family or corporate.
Corporate adult foster care
Corporate homes are residential settings where the license holder does not reside in the home. Residents can receive services either from the corporation licensed to operate the home, or from another licensed service provider. Most Hennepin County residents in corporate adult foster care have pre-qualified for waivered services funding to pay for residential support services.
How to find vacancies
HB101 Places is a tool that can be used to search for housing vacancies, including corporate adult foster care homes. Check this site for updates. Currently, those interested in corporate adult foster care housing options must contact individual providers to ask about vacancies. For information on licensed providers, visit the DHS licensing information lookup.
Due to the moratorium on new corporate foster care development, people interested in corporate adult foster care may find information on alternative housing options by visiting Minnesota health care facilities programs.
New corporate development
The state has imposed a moratorium on the growth of corporate foster care. The moratorium created a statewide cap on beds and created a process that allows for new corporate adult foster care homes for individuals who meet specific eligibility criteria.
If you are interested in developing new corporate foster care beds, the clients you plan to house must meet one of these criteria:
- Individuals with a hospital level of care (CAC or BI-NB waivers)
- Settings that require MN Statute 144D housing with services registration (80 percent or more of the residents are age 55 or older)
- Closure of a nursing facility, ICF/DD, regional treatment center, or due to restructuring of state-operated facilities and closure plans in place
- Those transitioning out of Minnesota State Security Hospital
- Those transitioning out of Anoka Regional Treatment Center
For more information on the moratorium and exceptions, please visit the State Department of Human Services.
How to refer residents for placement
Hennepin County licensors are not involved in screening or matching referrals to corporate adult foster care homes. Providers screen and match referrals to their own homes. Once you have selected a home that meets your or your client's housing needs and choices, contact the provider directly.
Case manager responsibilities
Work with the person you serve, their team and the provider to determine appropriateness of placement, client choice, payment logistics and paperwork.
Post-placement concerns or complaints
Hennepin County seeks input on how corporate adult foster care homes are performing and can assist with complaints and concerns. If you do not know the licensor for a specific corporate adult foster care home and would like to reach them, contact the county at 612-348-2816.
Family adult foster care
In family homes, the license holder lives in the home and is the primary caregiver. Most adults in family adult foster care in Hennepin County qualify for either group residential housing funds or pay with private funds. Some family providers hold an additional license to accept waiver payments.
Placement in a family’s home brings additional considerations in matching the needs and choices of the individual served with the provider.
People generally appropriate for family adult foster care
- Able to benefit from living in a family setting
- Able to maintain activities of daily living, under supervision
- Willing to accept services, follow a treatment plan and cooperate with the placement agreement
- Are involved in day programming, school, are employed, or engaged in some other kind of meaningful daytime activity
- Function at the moderate, mild, or borderline level of developmental disability
- Have emotional or mental health problems for which they are receiving appropriate treatment but are not acute at time of placement
- Be an elderly person unsafe in their own home
- Have physical limitations or impairments that require limited physical assistance with activities of daily living
- Need and accept some supervision in basic living skills such as hygiene, cooking, or budgeting
- Cooperate with taking prescribed medication
- Agree to have background information shared with the adult foster care provider
- Are recovering from chemical dependency but have had one year or greater of sobriety and consistently follow their recovery plan
People generally inappropriate for family adult foster care
- Have a history of fire setting
- Have a history of committing sexual abuse
- Have a recent or significant history of assaulting others
- Have a legal history of endangering others in a home environment
- Are unable or unwilling to accept the expectations of a family environment, including respecting household rules, family members' privacy and refraining from verbal abuse, lying, stealing or excessive complaints
- Need close round-the-clock monitoring including providers who are awake at night
- Refuse to work with service professionals as determined by their placement agreement
- Are unwilling to make required or agreed-upon payments to the foster care provider
- Are currently considered chemically dependent and not participating in a treatment or recovery plan.
People who might be a match for family adult foster care
- Resist attending to personal hygiene
- Smoke – most of the county’s adult foster care homes are non-smoking
- Engage in self harm
- Require some nursing care
- Are without a day program
- Have a physical condition that requires extensive assistance or home modifications
- Have disruptive sleeping habits
- Have failed in previous placements
- Have made a suicide attempt in the past year
- Have less than one year of sobriety and are following their recovery plan
- Have very limited or no background information available
Finding vacancies in family adult foster care
Note that county licensing staff must approve all family placements prior to move-in.
- Complete a placement request form.
- Email the form to familyadultfostercare@hennepin.us. They will review your referral for a possible match and get back to you within two business days.
New development in family adult foster care
See potential provider section for more information.
Referring to family adult foster care
Once you identify a potential home, you must interview the provider and visit the home to determine if the provider can meet the client’s needs.
Considerations before placement
- Case managers must arrange for the client to have a physical exam, within 30 days prior or three days after placement. The exam must document that your client is free of communicable/contagious disease. If coming from a health care facility, a physical transfer summary satisfies this requirement.
- Case managers must ensure that foster care providers are aware of and arrange for training in the use of needed medical equipment.
Required forms for family adult foster care
The case manager must have these documents completed on or before the date the resident moves in and make sure they're updated at least yearly. Licensors can answer questions about the forms and participate in pre-placement meetings.
- Individual resident placement agreement and ISP or CSSP (if available)
- Individual abuse prevention plan (IAPP)
- Vulnerable adult law information form
- APS reporting vulnerable adult maltreatment
- Information form
- Client medical
- Mobility access assessment
- Resident’s medication record
- Cash record form
- Client sign-off on rights form
Paying for family adult foster care
- Before placement, the case manager establishes the payment sources and how payments will be made. Most clients have some portion of their foster care paid through group residential housing (GRH) funds. Application for those funds must be made by the date of placement.
- The case manager is responsible for communicating all financial information and requirements to the client or client’s representative.
- Make sure the client understands what their share of the cost of care will be, whether the source of payment is public or private.
- Make alternate payment arrangements if the client has trouble making timely or complete payments.
- Check that the foster provider has a 245D HCBS license for clients whose service rate will be paid by a disability waiver program.
- Complete the difficulty-of-care (DOC) process for non-waiver clients to establish a service rate to be paid by group residential housing funding.
- The case manager should facilitate getting the Shelter Verification Form to the provider and assist in completion and submission as needed.
Follow-up case manager responsibilities
- Follow-up with your client and the provider within 30-days of placement to evaluate the appropriateness of placement and modify the placement plans if needed.
- Meet with the provider and client in the foster home annually, or more frequently if needed, to review and sign the placement records and modify them as needed.
- Call the foster provider periodically to discuss placement issues and case planning.
- Call the county licensor if you have concerns about your client’s care in a particular foster home.
- Complete the county’s provider evaluation form
Post-placement concerns or complaints
County licensors seek case manager input on how homes are performing and can assist with complaints and concerns. Send your complaints or concerns to familyadultfostercare@hennepin.us.