California Assembly Bill AB50 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 50INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mullin DECEMBER 1, 2014 An act to amend Section 123492 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to perinatal care. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 50, as introduced, Mullin. Nurse-Family Partnership. Existing law establishes the Nurse-Family Partnership program, which is administered by the State Department of Public Health, to provide grants for voluntary nurse home visiting programs for expectant first-time mothers, their children, and their families. Under existing law, a county is required to satisfy specified requirements in order to be eligible to receive a grant. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to develop a means to leverage public and private dollars to substantially expand the scale of the Nurse-Family Partnership in California, in accordance with specified findings. The bill would revise the requirements relating to the award and use of Nurse-Family Partnership grants, including eliminating a requirement for nurse home visitors and supervisors to receive certain training in effective home visitation techniques. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) In 2014, the Legislature passed Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 155 by Assembly Member Raul Bocanegra, recognizing that research over the last two decades in the evolving fields of neuroscience, molecular biology, public health, genomics, and epigenetics reveals that experiences in the first few years of life build changes into the biology of the human body which, in turn, influence the person's physical and mental health over his or her lifetime. (b) On May 3, 2012, Governor Edmund G, Brown Jr. issued Executive Order B-19-12, establishing the "Let's Get Healthy California Task Force" to develop a 10-year plan for improving the health of Californians, controlling health care costs, promoting personal responsibility for individual health, and advancing health equity." (c) The task force identified several priorities, including a subset for "Healthy Beginnings," which include reducing infant deaths, increasing vaccination rates, reducing childhood trauma, and reducing adolescent tobacco use. (d) The final report of the task force states "the challenge going forward is to identify evidence-based interventions and quicken the pace of uptake across the state," in order to meet the ambitious goals in the Governor's directive. (e) In addition to reducing healthcare costs, the Nurse-Family Partnership has demonstrated proven outcomes addressing factors that contribute to toxic stress and made measurable progress towards many of the goals identified by the task force. (f) The Nurse-Family Partnership is an evidence-based, community health program that improves pregnancy outcomes, improves child health and development, and improves economic self-sufficiency. (g) Multiple peer-reviewed, randomized, controlled trials and longitudinal followup studies have clearly demonstrated the efficacy of the Nurse-Family Partnership programs, through significant sustained results, in achieving these goals. (h) The Nurse-Family Partnership provides lifelong health and economic benefits to both mothers and children served by the program. (i) These lifelong benefits have the potential to achieve substantial savings to federal, state, and local governments with respect to programs and services, including Medicaid, Child Protective Services, law enforcement, special education, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, among others. These savings far exceed the costs of implementing the Nurse-Family Partnership program. (j) Twenty-one California counties currently operate a Nurse-Family Partnership program. Only a fraction of potentially eligible recipients are receiving these highly beneficial and cost-effective services. (k) However, if California were to provide these services to significantly more eligible first-time mothers, the state could see population-wide health and economic benefits that would carry over to future generations. (l) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to develop a means to leverage public and private dollars to substantially expand the scale of the Nurse-Family Partnership in California, beginning with regions and populations with the greatest need. SEC. 2. Section 123492 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 123492. The department shall develop a grant application and award grants on a competitive basis to counties for the startup, continuation, and expansion of the program established pursuant to Section 123491. To be eligible to receive a grant for purposes of that section, a county shall agree to  do  all of the following: (a) Serve through the program only pregnant, low-income women who have had no previous live births. Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 123485, women who are juvenile offenders or who are clients of the juvenile system  , with no history of prior   live births,  shall be deemed eligible for services under the program. (b) Enroll women in the program while they are still pregnant, before the 28th week of gestation, and preferably before the 16th week of gestation, and continue those women in the program through the first two years of the child's life. (c) Use as home visitors only registered nurses who have been licensed in the state. (d) Have nurse home visitors undergo training according to the program and follow the home visit guidelines developed by the Nurse-Family Partnership program. (e) Have nurse home visitors specially trained in  the Nurse-Family Partnership guidelines for  prenatal care and early child development. (f) Have nurse home visitors follow a visit schedule keyed to the developmental stages of pregnancy and early childhood. (g) Ensure that, to the extent possible, services shall be rendered in a culturally and linguistically competent manner. (h) Limit a nurse home visitor's caseload to no more than 25 active families at any given time. (i)  Provide for   For  every eight nurse home visitors  , provide a full-time nurse supervisor who holds at least a bachelor's degree in nursing and has substantial experience in community health nursing.  (j) Have nurse home visitors and nurse supervisors trained in effective home visitation techniques by qualified trainers.   (k)   (j)  Have nurse home visitors and nurse supervisors trained in the method of assessing early infant development and parent-child interaction in a manner consistent with the program.  (l)   (k)  Provide data on operations, results, and expenditures in the formats and with the frequencies specified by the department.  (m)   (l)  Collaborate with other home visiting and family support programs in the community to avoid duplication of services and complement and integrate with existing services to the extent practicable.  (n)   (m)  Demonstrate that adoption of the Nurse-Family Partnership program is supported by a local governmental or government-affiliated community planning board, decisionmaking board, or advisory body responsible for assuring the availability of effective, coordinated services for families and children in the community.  (o)   (n)  Provide cash or in-kind matching funds in the amount of 100 percent of the grant award.  (p)   (o)  Prohibit the use of moneys received for the program as a match for grants currently administered by the department.