What is 144G in Minnesota?

Minnesota Statutes Chapter 144G — the assisted living license. Unlike 245D, it is issued by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), not DHS. An agency that provides both group home (245D) and assisted living (144G) services at the same address answers to two separate regulators for the same residents.

What is the difference between DHS and MDH?

They are two different Minnesota state agencies with different licensing authority. The Department of Human Services (DHS) licenses 245D home and community-based services — group homes, adult foster care, day programs — and administers CFSS. The Department of Health (MDH) licenses assisted living under 144G and home care providers more broadly. A provider can hold licenses from both at once, and each conducts its own separate reviews.

What is an ISP in Minnesota home care?

Individual Service Plan (formally the coordinated service and support plan, or CSSP, under Chapter 245D) — the person-specific plan developed with the person receiving services that describes their goals and the services being delivered to meet them. Documentation is expected to trace back to this plan; a licensor's core question is whether service delivery matches what the ISP actually says.

Individual Abuse Prevention Plan — a separate, person-specific plan required under Minn. Stat. § 245A.65, subd. 2 and § 245D.071, subd. 2, documenting a person's individual susceptibility to abuse and the specific measures staff take to reduce it.

What is EVV in Minnesota?

Electronic Visit Verification — the federally mandated (21st Century Cures Act) system for electronically confirming that a home care visit actually happened, recording who provided it, to whom, where, and when. In Minnesota, visit data flows through an aggregator (HHAeXchange) to DHS.

Minnesota Compliance Glossary: 245D, 144G, CFSS, EVV

Q: What is Integrated Community Supports (ICS)?

One of the newer categories of 245D intensive support services, alongside residential services, day programs, supported employment, crisis services and case management — delivering supports to a person in their own home or community setting rather than a licensed residential facility.

Already know the terms and want the operational detail? See the Minnesota overview, the 245D documentation checklist, or the IAPP checklist.

Minnesota runs home and community-based services through more than one regulator and more than one statute, and most explanations of any single term assume you already know the rest. This page doesn't. Each entry is short on purpose — the deeper pages linked from each one are where the operational detail lives.

Licenses and regulators

What is 245D?

Minnesota Statutes Chapter 245D — Home and Community-Based Services Standards. It's the license the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) issues to providers of group homes, adult foster care, integrated community supports, and other home and community-based disability and behavioral health services. It splits into basic support services (supervision and assistance, no primary treatment component — individualized home supports, homemaker services, night supervision, personal support, respite, 24-hour emergency assistance) and intensive support services (residential services, day programs, supported employment, crisis services, case management, integrated community supports), which carry heavier documentation obligations. See the full 245D documentation checklist.

What is 144G?

Minnesota Statutes Chapter 144G — the assisted living license. Unlike 245D, it's issued by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), not DHS. If your agency runs both a group home and an assisted living program, you're answering to two regulators for what may be overlapping residents. See MN assisted living & group homes.

DHS vs. MDH — what's the actual difference?

Two separate state agencies with separate licensing authority and separate reviewers. DHS licenses 245D services and administers CFSS. MDH licenses assisted living (144G) and home care providers more broadly. A provider can hold licenses from both, and each conducts its own reviews on its own schedule — one does not stand in for the other.

What is CFSS?

Community First Services and Supports, under Minn. Stat. § 256B.85 — the program that replaced Personal Care Assistance (PCA), with billing moving to CFSS service codes on October 1, 2024. It runs on two service models (agency-provider and budget model), with its own service delivery plan and its own EVV obligation. See CFSS under § 256B.85.

Plans, services and clocks

What is an ISP?

Individual Service Plan — formally the coordinated service and support plan (CSSP) under Chapter 245D. It's developed with the person receiving services and describes their goals and the services being delivered to meet them. The question a licensor asks is simple: does what actually happened match what this plan says?

What is an IAPP?

Individual Abuse Prevention Plan — a separate, person-specific plan required under Minn. Stat. § 245A.65, subd. 2 and § 245D.071, subd. 2, documenting one person's individual susceptibility to abuse and the specific measures staff take to reduce it. It is not the same document as a program-wide abuse prevention policy. See the full IAPP checklist.

What is Adult Foster Care (AFC)?

A home-based 245D service type where a small number of people receiving services live in a family-style setting — typically the home of a licensed provider — rather than a larger group-home building. It carries the same 245D documentation, IAPP and incident-reporting obligations as other 245D residential services. See Group Home / 245D AFC.

What is Integrated Community Supports (ICS)?

One of the newer 245D intensive-support service categories, alongside residential services, day programs, supported employment, crisis services and case management — delivering support to a person in their own home or community setting rather than a licensed residential facility.

What is EVV?

Electronic Visit Verification — the federally mandated system (21st Century Cures Act) for electronically confirming a home care visit happened: who provided it, to whom, where, and when. In Minnesota, visit data flows through an aggregator, HHAeXchange, to DHS. See the Minnesota EVV cheat sheet.

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These are plain-English summaries, not legal definitions. Regulatory details on this page reflect the current text of Minn. Stat. Ch. 245D, Ch. 144G, § 256B.85, § 245A.65 and § 245D.071 as of September 2026. Requirements and DHS/MDH guidance change — confirm current rules with your licensor before relying on this summary. Sothcare is documentation and workflow software; it supports your compliance program but does not replace your licensing, policies, or clinical judgment.