DHS Tightens Support Plan Signature Rules Starting Aug. 1

Posted on June 25, 2026 by Kelly Conrad

Minnesota senior services providers will soon have a more direct role in support plan compliance, and potentially a stronger voice in how services are understood, documented and delivered. Beginning Aug. 1, 2026, DHS will require the full support plan to be provided to and signed by all required parties within 60 calendar days of the person’s assessment or initial assessment review.

That includes the person receiving services, the person’s legal representative if applicable, the case manager or care coordinator, and all providers responsible for delivering services under the plan.

For assisted living, skilled nursing, adult day and other senior care providers delivering waiver, Alternative Care, or Essential Community Supports-funded services, the change is more than administrative. Providers must now sign the full support plan, not a partial plan or substitute form, and keep a current copy of the plan and signatures in their records. DHS also made clear that two attempts to obtain provider signatures will no longer satisfy the requirement. In practice, this places providers more squarely inside the support planning process, rather than leaving them to carry out plans developed largely between the person and the case manager.

A New Opening for Provider Collaboration

Providers often see the daily realities of a person’s care needs in ways that may not fully surface during an assessment. Residents may minimize their needs, forget important details, or describe their abilities on a better-than-usual day. When that happens, the resulting service plan may not fully reflect the hands-on assistance, supervision, cueing or behavioral supports actually required. By requiring provider signatures on the full support plan, DHS is creating a clearer expectation that providers review the plan, understand what is authorized and have a defined opportunity to identify gaps before documentation becomes a compliance problem.

Although DHS will direct corrective actions toward lead agencies, providers are now part of the compliance chain. A missing or delayed provider signature could create issues for case managers, care coordinators and managed care organizations during review. But the policy also creates an opportunity: stronger communication between providers and lead agencies, better alignment between assessed needs and actual service delivery, and a more complete record of what the member requires. For senior services providers, the practical step is to establish a clear internal process for receiving, reviewing, signing and storing support plans, and for flagging concerns when the plan does not appear to match the person’s day-to-day care needs.

What This Means for Providers

DHS will begin auditing support plans under the updated policy on August 1, 2026, but the first year will serve as a transition period. Corrective actions will not be issued to lead agencies between August 1, 2026, and July 31, 2027. Corrective actions begin August 1, 2027. Providers should use that transition year to tighten document-retention practices, clarify who is authorized to sign support plans, and build stronger communication channels with case managers and care coordinators so they are prepared to review plans quickly, document concerns appropriately and sign within the required timeline.