Florida Senate - 2009 SB 1620 By Senator Aronberg 27-01428-09 20091620__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to maternal and child health; creating 3 s. 383.2163, F.S., the “Florida Nurse Home Visitation 4 Act”; providing a short title; establishing a nurse 5 home visitation pilot program in specified areas; 6 providing purpose; providing definitions; requiring 7 local Healthy Start coalitions to administer the 8 program; providing duties of the Department of Health; 9 providing for administration of the program; providing 10 eligibility requirements; requiring the department to 11 adopt rules; requiring the department to submit an 12 annual report to the Governor and Legislature; 13 providing an effective date. 14 15 WHEREAS, in order to adequately care for their newborns and 16 young children, new mothers may often seek and benefit from 17 receiving professional assistance and information, and, without 18 such assistance and information, a young mother may develop 19 habits or practices that are detrimental to her health and well 20 being and the health and well-being of her child, and 21 WHEREAS, inadequate prenatal care and inadequate care in 22 infancy and early childhood often inhibit a child’s ability to 23 learn and develop throughout his or her childhood and may have 24 lasting, adverse effects on the child’s ability to function as 25 an adult, and 26 WHEREAS, implementation of a nurse home visitation program 27 that provides educational, health, and other resources for new 28 mothers during pregnancy and the first years of their infants’ 29 lives has been proven to significantly reduce the number of 30 premature births, the incidence of drug, tobacco, and alcohol 31 use and abuse by mothers, the occurrence of criminal activity 32 engaged in by mothers and their children under 15 years of age, 33 and the number of reported incidents of child abuse and neglect, 34 and 35 WHEREAS, one example of this type of program, the Nurse 36 Family Partnership, has succeeded in reducing the number of a 37 mother’s subsequent births, increasing the length of time 38 between subsequent births, reducing the mother’s need for other 39 forms of public assistance, and promoting the overall health and 40 developmental outcomes for the mother and her young children, 41 and 42 WHEREAS, the Nurse-Family Partnership model has been shown 43 to be cost effective, yielding a 5-to-1 return on investment for 44 every dollar spent on evidence-based nurse home visitation 45 services and producing a net benefit of $34,000 per high-risk 46 family served, NOW, THEREFORE, 47 48 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 49 50 Section 1. Section 383.2163, Florida Statutes, is created 51 to read: 52 383.2163 Nurse home visitation pilot program.— 53 (1) This section may be cited as the “Florida Nurse Home 54 Visitation Act.” 55 (2) A nurse home visitation pilot program is established in 56 Collier, Glades, Hendry, and Lee Counties and shall be 57 administered in at least two communities located in each county. 58 The purpose of the pilot program is to provide regular, in-home, 59 visiting nurse services to low-income, first-time mothers. 60 Visiting nurses shall educate mothers about the importance of 61 nutrition, the benefits of avoiding alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, 62 and the best ways to provide care for their children. In 63 addition, visiting nurses may provide assistance to enable 64 mothers to continue their education or find employment. Any 65 assistance provided through the program shall be provided only 66 with the consent of the low-income, first-time mother. Services 67 shall begin during the mother’s pregnancy and continue until her 68 child’s second birthday; however, the mother may refuse to 69 continue receiving services at any time. 70 (3) As used in this section, the term: 71 (a) “Department” means the Department of Health. 72 (b) “Local entity” means the local Healthy Start coalition. 73 (c) “Low-income” means having an annual household income 74 that does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level. 75 (d) “Nurse” means a registered nurse, licensed practical 76 nurse, clinical nurse specialist, or advanced registered nurse 77 practitioner as defined in s. 464.003. 78 (e) “Pilot program” or “program” means the nurse home 79 visitation pilot program established under this section. 80 (4) The program shall be administered by the local entity 81 and provide services to a minimum of 100 low-income, first-time 82 mothers in that community. The department may waive this 83 requirement if the population base of the community does not 84 include 100 eligible mothers. The department shall ensure the 85 ability of the local entity to implement the program within the 86 smaller community and maintain compliance with program 87 requirements. A mother is eligible to receive services through 88 the program if she is pregnant with her first child and her 89 gross annual household income does not exceed 200 percent of the 90 federal poverty level. 91 (5) The department shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 92 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement this section. Rules that 93 establish program training requirements, protocols, management 94 information systems, and evaluation requirements shall be 95 modeled after practices and procedures of research-based 96 programs that have been implemented in one or more other states 97 for at least 5 years. In order to produce sizeable, sustained 98 outcomes for families who receive services through the pilot 99 program, the department shall ensure that services are provided 100 in accordance with outcome standards that have been replicated 101 in randomized controlled trials conducted at multiple sites and 102 that have shown significant reductions in: 103 (a) The number of babies born prematurely or with low birth 104 weight. 105 (b) The occurrence of infant behavioral impairments due to 106 a mother’s use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. 107 (c) The number of reported incidents of child abuse and 108 neglect. 109 (d) The number of subsequent pregnancies. 110 (e) The number of mothers receiving public assistance. 111 (f) Criminal activity engaged in by a mother or her child 112 or children. 113 (6) The department shall monitor the administration of the 114 program to ensure that the program is implemented according to 115 the program training requirements, protocols, management 116 information systems, and evaluation requirements established by 117 rule of the department. The department shall evaluate the 118 program and submit an annual report of its findings and 119 recommendations on or before January 1 of each year to the 120 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the 121 House of Representatives. 122 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.