WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are announcing that Minnesota is one of eight states and the District of Columbia (DC) to have been selected to participate in a new federal initiative, known as the “Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator” (Accelerator) to help strengthen partnerships across housing, disability, aging, and health sectors; access available federal programs and resources, and maximize federal flexibilities to help keep people healthy.

The Accelerator will help Minnesota unlock critical resources in their efforts to reduce homelessness, including by receiving technical assistance from HUD and HHS on its recently expanded the set of clinically appropriate and evidence-based services that address health-related social needs, such as housing-related services. For example, states can use Medicaid waivers to cover time-limited rental and utility assistance and one-time transition costs, like security deposits and rental application fees.

Through participation in the Accelerator, Minnesota will receive technical assistance to improve implementation of its Medicaid section 1115 demonstration or section 1915(i) state plan amendment to better connect and provide eligible people with housing-related services and supports, which can be coordinated with housing funded by Continuum of Care grants, alongside other federal, state, and local housing resources.

“Since Day One of the Biden-Harris Administration, HUD has worked to not only expand the availability of housing assistance, but to ensure people experiencing homelessness have access to supportive services so they can permanently transition to housing,” said Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “We are proud to partner with HHS and Secretary Becerra to take that work even further.”

“Nobody in America should experience homelessness. Today we are taking important steps to help communities better access HHS’ programs to address homelessness and connect people with housing-related services and supports – which could be life changing,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The Biden-Harris Administration has worked tirelessly to help people experiencing homelessness to provide needed services and supports that help them maintain that housing. We will continue to work on strengthening partnerships across housing, disability, aging, and health sectors and do everything we can to prevent and address homelessness.”

“Our collaboration with the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator is a welcome opportunity to further strengthen services supporting Minnesotans facing housing instability. We see this partnership as a way to enhance Minnesota’s Medicaid authority to improve health outcomes, close disparities in access, and address social determinants of health for Minnesotans,” said Eric Grumdahl, Assistant Commissioner at the MN Department of Human Services (Behavioral Health, Housing, and Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services Administration).

The Accelerator was announced by HHS and HUD in November 2023 as a competitive technical assistance opportunity for states. States with approved federal Medicaid section 1115 demonstrations or section 1915(i) state plan amendments covering housing-related services for people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness were eligible to apply. As part of their Accelerator application, states were required to form collaborative teams comprising of partners from their health, housing, and aging and disability sectors, and outline the status of their implementation of Medicaid-covered housing-related support services and supports, their goals under the Accelerator, and areas where technical assistance was needed.

HHS and HUD received an overwhelming response with applications from fifteen eligible states and DC. A rigorous review and scoring process, including interviews with state teams, led to the final selection of the following states:

• Arizona
• California
• District of Columbia
• Hawaii
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• North Carolina
• Washington

Over the next twelve months, HUD and HHS will provide these eight states and DC with intensive federal technical assistance and opportunities for state peer-to-peer exchange to support their implementation of clinically-indicated housing-related services and supports under their Medicaid programs for people with complex health needs experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. By receiving this federal technical assistance, these states can improve coordination and delivery of services like navigation services, ongoing individualized case management, one-time transition assistance, and home modifications that can help people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness to obtain and maintain stable housing.

Synopses of Minnesota’s areas of focus and goals under the Accelerator can be found here.

The Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator helps fulfill a federal commitment to “scale housing and supports that meet demand” made in All In: The Biden Administration’s Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, which was developed by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) with input from stakeholders across the U.S., including people with lived experience of homelessness. Secretary Becerra serves as Chair of USICH and has made expanding supportive services to prevent and address homelessness a priority.

Last week, HUD awarded a historic $43,510,043 in FY 2023 Continuum of Care Program grants to Minnesota. These grants will enable homelessness response systems in Minnesota to expand and sustain housing and supportive services for people experiencing homelessness, as well as to support data collection and community planning and coordination.

In November 2023, HHS, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), published guidance and a framework clarifying the flexibilities available to states under their Medicaid section 1115 demonstrations or 1915(i) state plan amendments to cover services to help meet eligible enrollees’ health related social needs like housing and nutrition, and to receive federal matching funds for their Medicaid expenditures on those services when clinically indicated. The Accelerator will provide tailored support to the selected eight states and DC who are early adopters of these flexibilities.

Through participation in the Accelerator, Minnesota will receive technical assistance to improve implementation of its Medicaid section 1115 demonstration or section 1915(i) state plan amendment to better connect and provide eligible people with housing-related services and supports when clinically appropriate, which can be coordinated with housing funded by Continuum of Care grants, alongside other federal, state, and local housing resources.

States not selected to participate in the Accelerator may apply to participate in a related technical assistance opportunity, the National Academy for State Health Policy’s Health and Housing Institute (HHI), funded by HHS through the Health Resources & Services Administration. Now in its third year, the HHI also supports states pursuing cross-agency and federal-state-local strategies to increase access to safe, affordable housing and wrap-around services and supports for people experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Applications for the HHI are due on February 13, 2024.

Later this year, HHS, HUD, and USICH will host an in-person convening for the eight states and DC participating in the Accelerator, states that applied but were not selected for the Accelerator, states participating in the HHI, and the seven communities participating in USICH’s ALL INside initiative to address unsheltered homelessness to share and discuss their efforts to align housing, health, and supportive services to address and prevent homelessness.