In the Matter of the Appeal by Hawa Abdulle, Ayan Home Health Care, LLC, and Hawa Abdulle Adult Foster Care of the ...

Court of Appeals of Minnesota·Decided December 29, 2025·No. a241899·Unpublished

Opinion

This opinion is nonprecedential except as provided by Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 136.01, subd. 1(c).

STATE OF MINNESOTA

IN COURT OF APPEALS

A24-1899

In the Matter of the Appeal by Hawa Abdulle, Ayan Home Health Care, LLC, and Hawa Abdulle Adult Foster Care of the Order of License Revocation.

Filed December 29, 2025

Affirmed

Harris, Judge

Minnesota Department of Human Services File No. 39249

Jason Steck, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota (for relators Hawa Abdulle and Ayan Home Health Care)

Keith Ellison, Attorney General, R.J. Detrick, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota (for respondent Minnesota Department of Human Services)

Considered and decided by Smith, Tracy M., Presiding Judge; Slieter, Judge; and Harris, Judge.

NONPRECEDENTIAL OPINION

HARRIS, Judge In this certiorari appeal, relators challenge the revocation of their adult-foster-care licenses. Relators argue that (1) respondent Minnesota Department of Human Services (the department) erroneously relied on its own definition of “primary residence” without

promulgating the definition as a rule 1 and (2) the department’s decision was arbitrary and capricious. 2 We affirm.

FACTS

Relators Hawa Abdulle and Ayan Home Health Care LLC were licensed to provide adult-foster-care services (AFC) and home and community-based services (HCBS) at an address on Ashland Drive in Rochester. Abdulle is the AFC license-holder. Ayan Home Health Care is the HCBS license-holder. Abdulle is the authorized agent and sole controlling individual of Ayan Home Health Care. 3 In December 2021, Abdulle requested to change the AFC license address from the home on Ashland Drive to a home on Arctic Fox Road in Rochester. The department granted the request, and Arctic Fox Road became the residence where Abdulle was licensed to provide AFC and HCBS services. Under Minnesota law, the AFC license-holder must live in the licensed residence as their “primary residence.” Minn. Stat. § 245A.02, subd. 6f (2024); see also Minn. Stat. § 245A.03, subd. 7 (2024) (licensing moratorium). If the AFC

1 Abdulle initially argued in her brief that the department erred as a matter of law because it based its decision to revoke her license on a definition of “primary residence” that arose from unpromulgated rulemaking. Abdulle conceded during oral argument that the department did not create or enforce its own definition of “primary residence” as an unpromulgated rule. Therefore, we need not address this issue in our opinion. 2 Abdulle also argues that the department’s license revocations in Olmsted County are racially motivated. Abdulle concedes that she failed to raise this argument before the administrative-law judge (ALJ), therefore forfeiting the issue. See Thiele v. Stich, 425 N.W.2d 580, 582 (Minn. 1988) (stating that appellate courts generally address only those questions previously presented to and considered by the district court). 3 Relators will generally be referred to as “Abdulle” throughout this opinion.

license-holder does not maintain the licensed residence as their “primary residence,” the department is required to revoke the AFC license. Minn. Stat. § 245A.03, subd. 7. As the AFC license-holder, Abdulle was required to live at Arctic Fox Road as her primary residence.

In February 2021, the department issued a guidance document to all county licensors. This guidance document set forth a non-exclusive list of 12 factors (guidance factors) that licensors could consider in determining a license-holder’s primary residence.

In January 2023, the department conducted a license review of Arctic Fox Road.

Present at the review was Abdulle; her son, M.A., who served as Ayan’s designated coordinator and manager 4; and a staff member from Ayan. The department primarily spoke with M.A. throughout the review. 5 During the review, M.A. told the department that “they”

4 Designated coordinator and manager are statutorily defined positions. See Minn. Stat. § 245D.081 (2024). Under Minnesota Statutes section 245D.081, subdivision 2, a designated coordinator must supervise, support, and evaluate individual service delivery, including oversight of support-plan responsibilities; facilitating progress toward outcomes; providing or delegating staff instruction and competency assessment; and evaluating the effectiveness of services and methodologies. The coordinator must be competent through education, training, and relevant work experience and must meet the minimum statutory qualification pathways outlined in subdivision 2(b). Id., subd. 2. Under Minnesota Statutes section 245D.081, subdivision 3, a designated manager must ensure program-wide compliance with licensing requirements; fulfillment of coordinator duties; implementation of corrective action and required internal reviews; evaluation of satisfaction and protection of persons’ rights; assurance of staff competency, orientation, and training; compliance with commissioner-ordered corrective actions and license conditions; and development and implementation of ongoing program improvements. The designated manager must meet required competency, educational, training, and supervisory-experience criteria. Id., subd. 3. 5 The department primarily spoke with M.A. during the review as he seemed fluent in English. Abdulle’s native language is Somali, and she is not fluent in English.

had another home across the street. The home M.A. was referring to was Ashland Drive, the previous address listed on Abdulle’s AFC license. M.A. spontaneously indicated that all his family members, including Abdulle, lived at the “family home.” 6 Abdulle then interjected, speaking to M.A. in Somali. M.A. then changed his prior statement, explaining that Abdulle was at Arctic Fox Road “around the clock.” The department did not ask Abdulle if Arctic Fox Road was her primary residence. During the review, the department observed and photographed the room that M.A. identified as belonging to Abdulle. The room contained clothing, a television, a videogame system, a bed, an additional mattress, and other personal effects. The department documented that the bedroom arrangement appeared “strange” and “odd,” noting that individuals were apparently sharing a room despite the presence of unoccupied bedrooms in the basement at the time of the review.

In April 2023, the department issued an order revoking Abdulle’s AFC and HCBS licenses. In May 2023, the department amended the revocation order to correct certain statements made in the original order and to rescind a violation that was erroneously cited. Relying on its guidance factors, the department concluded that Arctic Fox Road was not Abdulle’s primary residence. The department based its decision on M.A.’s statements during the license review, overall observations of Arctic Fox Road, and Abdulle’s driver’s license, homestead declaration, and background-study submissions.

Abdulle filed an administrative appeal, and the matter was heard by an ALJ during a contested-case hearing in January 2024. The ALJ concluded that the revocation of

6 M.A. further explained that he called Ashland Drive the “family home” because it was the first home his family purchased.

Abdulle’s AFC license was improper, finding that Abdulle proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Arctic Fox Road was her primary residence. Accordingly, the ALJ recommended that the department rescind the license revocation order and instead placed Abdulle on a conditional license.

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