In response to a state budget deficit, the University of Minnesota Extension restructured its field staff, establishing a new regional and county delivery system, shifting all supervision of field staff to campus faculty, and encouraging greater field staff specialization, program focus, and entrepreneurial efforts. Nine economic concepts and…

This report is based on a site visit to a private, for-profit agency that provides community support services to people with severe disabilities in six counties in Minnesota. The organization supports 25 families in its in-home program and 35 people in supportive and semi-independent living services. Services offered include minor physical…

This report proposes creation of a flexible and coordinated system for delivery of comprehensive community-based services to Minnesota children with emotional and behavioral disorders. The proposal calls for the state to support multiagency Local Collaboratives with: (1) legislation that grants local communities certain powers in exchange for…

This study, which collected data through interviews and document review, was designed to identify strengths and weaknesses of Minnesota's Comprehensive Children's Mental Health Act (CCMHA) of 1989 and its implementation through December 1990. Three criteria for mental health reform were established for the study, including: care should be…

This final report describes Project Dakota, an early intervention demonstration project serving newborns to preschoolers with developmental delay or disability in Dakota County, Minnesota, from 1983 to 1986. The first chapter describes the project model (which focuses on increasing the effectiveness of parents in fostering the child's development)…

This report is a comprehensive description of Minnesota's children's mental health system. It is designed to provide background and guidance to the Children's Integrated Fund Task Force, to assist local coordinating councils, and to serve policymakers outside of mental health who are increasingly asked to consider problems from an interagency…

Franchise fees are a tax imposed on a private entity to compensate a municipality for use of a public property for private gain. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 grants municipalities the right to assess a 5% franchise fee to both cable companies and competitors of cable companies, such as operators of open video systems. The Minnesota State…

This report presents findings of a Minnesota study group which reviewed the costs and structures under which developmental disabilities services are provided. The group conducted a series of town meetings throughout the state and concluded with a toll-free call-in day. Six themes emerged from the meetings: (1) "We have a lot to be proud of…