Human Services

Minnesota Supplemental Aid Grants

Statewide Outcome(s):

Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA) Grants supports the following statewide outcome(s).

Minnesotans are healthy.

Strong and stable families and communities.

Context:

Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA) grants help to address homelessness and poverty in Minnesota. MSA Grants provide a state-funded monthly cash supplement to help people who are aged, blind or disabled, and who receive federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to meet their basic needs that are not met by SSI alone. Nearly half of MSA recipients are age 60 or older and 79 percent are disabled. MSA grants are intended to cover basic need items and other daily or special necessities. Some recipients who do not receive SSI because their income is too high may still be eligible for MSA if they meet other eligibility criteria.

In SFY 2011, an average of 30,000 people per month received an average monthly MSA supplement of $91. This supplements a typical monthly SSI benefit is $698 for an individual living alone.

Minnesota established the MSA program in 1974. Federal maintenance of effort regulations require that states maintain payment levels that were in effect in March 1983 or the state risks losing Medicaid federal financial participation. The program serves as the supplement to Minnesota recipients of the SSI program. People who become eligible for SSI are no longer eligible for GA and become eligible for MSA to supplement their SSI income.

Strategies:

The Department of Human Services works with counties, tribes, the Social Security Administration, service providers, and other non-profit advocacy agencies to identify persons eligible for the program and to advise and administer MSA program policy.

Results:

People who receive SSI are categorically eligible for MSA, but must apply for benefits. While the MSA program has had stable enrollment of around 30,000 individuals over time, the number of adults who receive SSI but do not receive MSA is increasing. This is an indicator that people are not fully accessing the benefits they are eligible to receive. While further analysis is needed, some of the increase may be due to small differences in policies which could be addressed through a change in MSA policy.

Performance Measures Notes:

*Social Security Research, Statistics, & Policy Analysis – “SSI Recipients by State and County” data compares 2010 (previous) and 2011 (current), www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/ssi_sc/