MARSH Board starts communications with Governor Tim Walz, consider becoming a member to get inside access to the current conversation with the Governor and how it affects residential service home providers.

Minnesota Must Keep Family Residential Services in DWRS

The Minnesota Association of Residential Service Homes (MARSH) is calling on state leaders to protect Family Residential Services (FRS) by keeping these vital homes within the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS). The proposed shift to a flat rate model threatens the very stability of the services Minnesotans with disabilities rely on—and undermines decades of progress in inclusive, person-centered care.

FRS homes are not just programs—they are real homes. They serve adults with complex medical, behavioral, and emotional needs who thrive in a stable, family-like setting. These homes are often the last option before institutional care and the only environments where individuals feel safe, supported, and seen.

The flat rate proposal now reflects only a 25% increase—down from the originally proposed 51%—and fails to account for the real-life complexity and flexibility required to support high-needs individuals. Moving FRS to a flat rate system would destabilize a model that works, uproot individuals from trusted caregivers, and ultimately push them into higher-cost, higher-restriction systems of care.

Minnesota has been a national leader in disability services. We cannot abandon that leadership now.

We urge lawmakers to:

  • Keep Family Residential Services in the DWRS framework

  • Reject the flat or tiered rate models that reduce individualized care

  • Invest in strengthening DWRS, not replacing it

This is not just a funding issue—it is a moral issue. Where will people go if FRS homes close? Who will protect their dignity, their routines, and their well-being?

We ask Minnesotans to stand with us. Speak up. Contact your legislators. Protect our homes.

Minnesota is better than this. Let’s keep people home.

— Minnesota Association of Residential Service Homes (MARSH)

MARSH

A coalition of AFC/HCBS providers dedicated to a better tomorrow for those we serve

Latest Q&A Session

The board of MARSH alongside our lobbyist, Debra Hilstrom, discuss the current happenings at MARSH, how to approach your local representatives, and what our current objectives are for this legislative session. Become a member to access to the resources discussed in this Q&A including sample letters for contacting your local representatives.

What is MARSH?

MARSH is the Minnesota Association of Residential Service Homes, a 501(c)(6) business association of adult foster care (AFC) and home- and community-based services (HCBS) providers in Minnesota who are licensed under Minnesota Statures Chapters 245A and 245D.

Mission Statement

MARSH exists to promote the adult foster care and family residential services (FRS) industries in Minnesota, to assist providers in maintaining compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, to promote best practices in the provision of AFC and FRS services, to combat overzealous enforcement by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), and to advocate in the legislature and in the courts on behalf of AFC and FRS providers.