Prior to January, 2007, Minnesota did not require specific services to be provided in the state's assisted living projects.  Consequently, service packages varied widely.  In response, the new law requires residents in <a title=Assisted living Minnesota at Great Places! rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href= >assisted living Minnesota</a> facilities to have access to an on-call registered nurse at all times; two meals per day; weekly housekeeping and laundry service; assistance with transportation to medical and social services resources.

In addition, the law mandated such services as assistance with self-administration of medications, medication administration, and assistance with at least three activities of daily living.
Minnesota has a Medicaid waiver program that provides services for older persons who are at risk of placement in nursing homes. The waiver funds in home healthcare services and a variety of residential care facilities, including <a title=Assisted living at Great Places! rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href= >assisted living</a>.

As they developed the legislation, Minnesota legislators attempted to prescribe an optimally-flexible, consumer-driven model, using consumer choice and negotiated risk.  Minnesota's Housing with Services Contract Act allows consumers to enforce the contract by legal means.  Moreover, the Minnesota Department of Health is authorized to take action if a particular project is suspect of non-compliance with the act.
State policymakers attempted to avoid a detailed, prescriptive regulatory system and instead adopt a more flexible, consumer-driven model, based on the concepts of consumer choice and negotiated risk.  Quality in the housing portion is enforced primarily by consumers. Under Minnesota’s Housing with Services Contract Act, consumers may enforce the contract in court, and the Minnesota Department of Health has the authority to intervene if a building appears to be out of compliance with the Contract Act.

Agencies that provide assisted living services are regulated by the Minnesota Department of Health, and the oversight and enforcement process is similar to that for home care agencies that provide services in private homes. Annual or biannual unannounced surveys are performed to determine compliance with the law, and clients' homes are visited with the permission of the client.  Clients are able to file complaints with the Health Department's office of health facility complaints.

Following enactment of the legislation, AARP conducted a study of Minnesota seniors-oriented projects.  It can be found at