To: The Minnesota State House, The Minnesota State Senate, and Governor Tim Walz
Reform Funding for Group Residential Housing in Minnesota
Reform Funding for Group Residential Housing in Minnesota
Why is this important?
What is Group Residential Housing (GRH)?
The Group Residential Housing (GRH) program is a state funded program that provides an income supplement to recipients each month to pay for rent and food. All of those supported by the program are at risk of institutional placement or homelessness. The amount of a GRH payment is based on a federal and state standard of what an individual would need, at a minimum, to live in the community. In addition, there are income and asset maximums. Counties administer the GRH program for the state and are responsible for determining eligibility.
The GRH Housing Rate is a payment directly to the provider of housing on behalf of the eligible person. Many types of settings may enter into a GRH contract with their county, including adult foster care (family and corporate), board and lodging establishments, non-certified boarding care homes, and registered housing with services establishments.
The Problem
The current GRH base-rate, less $96.00 for the recipient’s personal needs, as of July 1, 2014, is $876.00 per month or $28.80 per day / per bed / per recipient.
In addition to the base rate room & board paid to the facility, each person in the GRH program will receive for personal needs, clothing allowance, and prescription medication co - pays currently not less than $96 per month.
In other words, the program takes all of the recipient’s money and only gives them $96 a month to live on for people’s personal needs money. Recipients are not allowed to work while living in GRH. They can’t pay other bills and they don’t have enough money to live on. Basically it’s a program that keeps people in poverty and doesn’t allow them to move out of poverty.
When talking to a Minnesota State Senator about GRH housing, he said that the reason the government only gives people $96 to live on, is because that’s how GRH housing gets their funding. The Minnesota State Government doesn’t want to pay all of it, so they charge poor people an arm and a leg for it.
The Solution
When you think of everything you need to buy in a month to survive and all of the bills you have to pay, $96 barely covers it. No one can live on $96 a month and it is unfair to ask GRH recipients to do the same. No matter what people’s living situation is, they need to have money to properly live on and to be able to pay their bills. Most importantly, they need to be able to move out of poverty, which is why they also need to be allowed to work and go to school.
By amending the GRH program to where the recipient only has to pay 1/3 of their income for rent, and where the Minnesota state government pay for the rest of the budget for GRH, will allow poor people to pay their bills, have enough money to live on, find a job or go back to school, and move out of poverty.
Please sign the petition and contact Governor Mark Dayton, and your Minnesota State Senator and Representative and ask them to reform the funding for GRH.
The Group Residential Housing (GRH) program is a state funded program that provides an income supplement to recipients each month to pay for rent and food. All of those supported by the program are at risk of institutional placement or homelessness. The amount of a GRH payment is based on a federal and state standard of what an individual would need, at a minimum, to live in the community. In addition, there are income and asset maximums. Counties administer the GRH program for the state and are responsible for determining eligibility.
The GRH Housing Rate is a payment directly to the provider of housing on behalf of the eligible person. Many types of settings may enter into a GRH contract with their county, including adult foster care (family and corporate), board and lodging establishments, non-certified boarding care homes, and registered housing with services establishments.
The Problem
The current GRH base-rate, less $96.00 for the recipient’s personal needs, as of July 1, 2014, is $876.00 per month or $28.80 per day / per bed / per recipient.
In addition to the base rate room & board paid to the facility, each person in the GRH program will receive for personal needs, clothing allowance, and prescription medication co - pays currently not less than $96 per month.
In other words, the program takes all of the recipient’s money and only gives them $96 a month to live on for people’s personal needs money. Recipients are not allowed to work while living in GRH. They can’t pay other bills and they don’t have enough money to live on. Basically it’s a program that keeps people in poverty and doesn’t allow them to move out of poverty.
When talking to a Minnesota State Senator about GRH housing, he said that the reason the government only gives people $96 to live on, is because that’s how GRH housing gets their funding. The Minnesota State Government doesn’t want to pay all of it, so they charge poor people an arm and a leg for it.
The Solution
When you think of everything you need to buy in a month to survive and all of the bills you have to pay, $96 barely covers it. No one can live on $96 a month and it is unfair to ask GRH recipients to do the same. No matter what people’s living situation is, they need to have money to properly live on and to be able to pay their bills. Most importantly, they need to be able to move out of poverty, which is why they also need to be allowed to work and go to school.
By amending the GRH program to where the recipient only has to pay 1/3 of their income for rent, and where the Minnesota state government pay for the rest of the budget for GRH, will allow poor people to pay their bills, have enough money to live on, find a job or go back to school, and move out of poverty.
Please sign the petition and contact Governor Mark Dayton, and your Minnesota State Senator and Representative and ask them to reform the funding for GRH.