Greetings from the district,
Minnesota is a well-run and well-functioning state. We have prided ourselves on this ever since Time Magazine put Governor Wendell Anderson on its cover in 1973 under the headline, “The Good Life in Minnesota.” But even the best run states are not immune to the pitfalls that come with a government that is too big and too complicated. The ongoing problems at the Department of Human Services (DHS) are a case-in-point.
DHS is a massive, complex agency. It is responsible for $18 billion and has more than 7,000 employees. The agency’s mission is solid: it provides care to vulnerable adults, children, families, and seniors in every Minnesota county.
Despite its good intentions, DHS has suffered a series of problems. In the last year and a half, DHS has been the source of three separate privacy breaches that exposed the personal data of 35,000 Minnesotans and the agency decided not to collect $30 million in MinnesotaCare premiums that were outstanding due to a software problem. Additionally, it has been at the center of elder abuse and child care assistance fraud scandals.
This summer, things seemed to spiral out of control. Here is a rundown of what has happened since June:
- June 2019: The medical director of the state’s Medicaid program, who had been in the role for 13 years, was unexpectedly told his job was being eliminated.
- July 2019: DHS strangely eliminated the state’s largest supplier of Naloxone, a life-saving opioid antidote, from a grant program to fight the opioid crisis.
- July 2019: A DHS compliance officer said she was punished and retaliated against for reporting wrongdoing in state contracts.
- August 2019: Reports found DHS overpaid two Indian bands by $25 million for substance abuse treatment.
- August 2019: A DHS disability advocate and equity coordinator said he was retaliated against and forced out of his job for raising concerns about bias within DHS.
- August 2019: News reports found Minnesota owes the federal government $48 million because DHS made improper payments to some treatment facilities.
In addition, DHS has been plagued by a rash of strange leadership turnover. In July, two career professional deputy commissioners abruptly resigned over concerns about leadership of the agency. They rescinded their resignations days later, after DHS Commissioner Tony Lourey and his chief of staff resigned. One of those deputies resigned again in August, and shortly after another assistant commissioner for health care tendered her resignation as well.
Senate Republicans have held multiple hearings to investigate some of these issues. We haven’t received very satisfactory answers so far, but we will keep pressing.
The new commissioner, Jodi Harpstead, is sharp, but she has a challenging job in front of her. Getting the department back on track will be a difficult and uncomfortable process, but one that needs to be done because the public expects accountability, transparency, and integrity from state government.
Minnesota is a great place to raise a family and remains, for the most part, a model for effective government. But the problems at DHS have been notable, and in the next three months I will be looking for a specific plan from Commissioner Harpstead that outlines how she intends to begin fixing the numerous problems with her agency.
Contact me
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me any time. Your feedback is extremely important to me and I encourage you to share your input. You can send me an email at sen.jeremy.miller@senate.mn or call my Capitol office at 651-296-5649. It’s a great honor to serve as your State Senator.
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Sincerely,
Jeremy