Subdivision 1.Authorization to enter into agreements.

Effective July 1, 1997, the commissioner may enter into agreements with federally recognized Indian tribes with a reservation in the state to provide MFIP employment services to members of the Indian tribe and to other caregivers who are a part of the tribal member’s MFIP assistance unit. For purposes of this section, “Indian tribe” means a tribe, band, nation, or other federally recognized group or community of Indians. The commissioner may also enter into an agreement with a consortium of Indian tribes providing the governing body of each Indian tribe in the consortium complies with the provisions of this section.

Subd. 2.Tribal requirements.

Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 256J.645

  • Agency: has the meaning given in section 256P. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of human services or the commissioner's designated representative. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • MFIP: means the assistance program authorized in this chapter. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • MFIP assistance unit: means a group of mandatory or optional people receiving or applying for MFIP benefits together. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Participant: includes any of the following:

    (1) a person who is currently receiving cash assistance or the food portion available through MFIP;

    (2) a person who withdraws a cash or food assistance payment by electronic transfer or receives and cashes an MFIP assistance check or food coupons and is subsequently determined to be ineligible for assistance for that period of time is a participant, regardless whether that assistance is repaid;

    (3) the caregiver relative and the minor child whose needs are included in the assistance payment;

    (4) a person in an assistance unit who does not receive a cash and food assistance payment because the case has been suspended from MFIP; and

    (5) a person who receives cash payments under family stabilization services under section 256J. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

  • state: extends to and includes the District of Columbia and the several territories. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44

The Indian tribe must:

(1) agree to fulfill the responsibilities provided under the employment services component of MFIP regarding operation of MFIP employment services, as designated by the commissioner;

(2) operate its employment services program within a geographic service area not to exceed the counties within which a border of the reservation falls;

(3) operate its program in conformity with section 13.46 and any applicable federal regulations in the use of data about MFIP recipients;

(4) coordinate operation of its program with the county agency, Workforce Investment Act programs, and other support services or employment-related programs in the counties in which the tribal unit’s program operates;

(5) provide financial and program participant activity record keeping and reporting in the manner and using the forms and procedures specified by the commissioner and permit inspection of its program and records by representatives of the state; and

(6) have the Indian tribe’s employment service provider certified by the commissioner of employment and economic development, or approved by the county.

Subd. 3.Funding.

If the commissioner and an Indian tribe are parties to an agreement under this subdivision, the agreement shall annually provide to the Indian tribe the funding allocated in section 256J.626.

Subd. 4.County agency requirement.

Indian tribal members receiving MFIP benefits and residing in the service area of an Indian tribe operating employment services under an agreement with the commissioner must be referred by county agencies in the service area to the Indian tribe for employment services.