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public exposure to approved educational <br />materials. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities agrees that there is a need to <br />improve the energy efficiency of older <br />housing stock to reduce energy <br />consumption and improve the <br />affordability of housing. The state should <br />focus its efforts on improving educational <br />programs and on improving the use of <br />existing statewide Conservation <br />Improvement Program (CIP) financed <br />programs to provide homeowners with <br />technical and financial support for <br />weatherization and energy efficiency <br />improvements. Cities should use their <br />communication tools, such as newsletters <br />and web sites, to promote these efforts <br />and to help link homeowners to <br />educational materials and program <br />resources. <br />LE-11. Residential Care Facilities <br />and In -Home Day Care <br />Issue: Minnesota's deinstitutionalization <br />policy seeks to ensure that all people with <br />mental illness can live in housing that <br />maximizes community integration and <br />opportunities for acceptance. Minnesota <br />statute states that "persons with disabilities <br />should not be excluded by municipal zoning <br />ordinance or other land use regulations from <br />the benefits of normal residential <br />surroundings." (Minn. Stat. § 462.357, subd. <br />6a.) Restrictions on municipal zoning <br />authority can have the unintended <br />consequence of undermining the <br />deinstitutionalization policy by <br />concentrating residential care facilities. In <br />upholding a state and local dispersal <br />requirement, the Eighth Circuit Court of <br />Appeals stated that the requirement was <br />"designed to ensure that mentally <br />handicapped persons needing residential <br />treatment will not be forced into enclaves of <br />treatment facilities that would replicate and <br />thus perpetuate the isolation resulting from <br />institutionalization." Familystyle of St. Paul, <br />Inc. v. St. Paul, 923 F.2d 91, 95 (8th Cir. <br />1991). <br />City authority to regulate the locations of <br />residential care facilities is limited by state <br />statute and the federal Fair Housing Act <br />(FHA), although Minn. Stat. § 245A.11, <br />subd. 4 prohibits the Commissioner of <br />Health from granting an initial license to a <br />residential program of six or fewer people <br />within 1,320 feet of an existing residential <br />program in cities of the first class. Sufficient <br />funding and oversight is needed to ensure <br />that residents living in residential care <br />facilities have appropriate care and <br />supervision, and that neighborhoods and <br />facility residents are not negatively impacted <br />by high concentrations of these types of <br />facilities. Under current law, operators of <br />certain residential care facilities are not <br />required to notify cities when they intend to <br />purchase single family housing for this <br />purpose. <br />Cities have reasonable concerns about the <br />safety of facility residents and <br />neighborhoods, particularly in case of public <br />safety. Cities also have an interest in <br />preserving a balance in residential <br />neighborhoods between this type of facility <br />and other uses. It is in the best interest of <br />providers to inform and work with cities <br />before opening a facility in order to educate <br />providers of community standards and <br />expectations. Ultimately, the goal of <br />community integration is best achieved by <br />engaging cities as partners with the state and <br />care providers. <br />There are similar restrictions on the ability <br />of a city to regulate licensed day care <br />facilities. Minn. Stat. § 462.357, subd. 7 <br />states that certain licensed residential <br />facilities and day care facilities must be <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2015 City Policies Page 53 <br />