Florida Senate - 2010 SB 2352 By Senator Aronberg 27-00070-10 20102352__ 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 and evaluation of the 10 program; providing eligibility requirements; requiring 11 the department to adopt standards and guidelines; 12 requiring the department to submit an annual report to 13 the Governor and Legislature; providing an effective 14 date. 15 16 WHEREAS, in order to adequately care for their newborns and 17 young children, new mothers may often seek and benefit from 18 receiving professional assistance and information, and, without 19 such assistance and information, a young mother may develop 20 habits or practices that are detrimental to her health and well 21 being and the health and well-being of her child, and 22 WHEREAS, inadequate prenatal care and inadequate care in 23 infancy and early childhood often inhibit a child’s ability to 24 learn and develop throughout his or her childhood and may have 25 lasting, adverse effects on the child’s ability to function as 26 an adult, and 27 WHEREAS, implementation of a nurse home visitation program 28 that provides educational, health, and other resources for new 29 mothers during pregnancy and the first years of their infants’ 30 lives has been proven to significantly reduce the number of 31 premature births, the incidence of drug, tobacco, and alcohol 32 use and abuse by mothers, the occurrence of criminal activity 33 engaged in by mothers and their children under 15 years of age, 34 and the number of reported incidents of child abuse and neglect, 35 and 36 WHEREAS, one example of this type of program, the Nurse 37 Family Partnership, has succeeded in reducing the number of a 38 mother’s subsequent births, increasing the length of time 39 between subsequent births, reducing the mother’s need for other 40 forms of public assistance, and promoting the overall health and 41 developmental outcomes for the mother and her young children, 42 and 43 WHEREAS, the Nurse-Family Partnership model has been shown 44 to be cost effective, yielding a 5-to-1 return on investment for 45 every dollar spent on evidence-based nurse home visitation 46 services and producing a net benefit of $34,000 per high-risk 47 family served, NOW, THEREFORE, 48 49 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50 51 Section 1. Section 383.2163, Florida Statutes, is created 52 to read: 53 383.2163 Nurse home visitation pilot program.— 54 (1) This section may be cited as the “Florida Nurse Home 55 Visitation Act.” 56 (2) A nurse home visitation pilot program is established in 57 the Lee County Healthy Start coalition service area. The 58 existing program in the Palm Beach County Healthy Start 59 coalition service area is included in the pilot program. The 60 purpose of the pilot program is to provide regular, in-home, 61 visiting nurse services to low-income, first-time mothers who 62 are identified as eligible based on the results of Healthy Start 63 risk screening. Visiting nurses shall educate mothers about the 64 importance of personal health, child health and development, 65 education and employment, and building supportive relationships. 66 In addition, visiting nurses may provide assistance to improve 67 the home and surrounding environment, manage child care, and 68 provide families with access to other community services. Any 69 assistance provided through the program shall be provided only 70 with the consent of the low-income, first-time mother. Services 71 shall begin during the mother’s pregnancy and continue until her 72 child’s second birthday; however, the mother may refuse to 73 continue receiving services at any time. 74 (3) As used in this section, the term: 75 (a) “Department” means the Department of Health. 76 (b) “Local entity” means the local Healthy Start coalition. 77 (c) “Low-income” means having an annual household income 78 that does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level. 79 (d) “Nurse” means a registered nurse, licensed practical 80 nurse, clinical nurse specialist, or advanced registered nurse 81 practitioner as defined in s. 464.003. 82 (e) “Pilot program” or “program” means the nurse home 83 visitation pilot program established under this section. 84 (4) The program shall be administered by the local entity 85 and provide services to a minimum of 100 low-income, first-time 86 mothers in that community who are identified as eligible based 87 on the results of Healthy Start risk screening. The department 88 may waive this requirement if the population base of the 89 community does not include 100 eligible mothers. The department 90 shall ensure the ability of the local entity to implement the 91 program within the smaller community and maintain compliance 92 with program requirements. A mother is eligible to receive 93 services through the program if she is pregnant with her first 94 child and her gross annual household income does not exceed 200 95 percent of the federal poverty level. 96 (5) The department shall adopt standards and guidelines to 97 implement this section. Standards and guidelines that establish 98 program training requirements, protocols, management information 99 systems, and evaluation requirements shall be modeled after 100 practices and procedures of research-based programs that have 101 been implemented in one or more other states for at least 5 102 years. In order to produce sizeable, sustained outcomes for 103 families who receive services through the pilot program, the 104 department shall ensure that services are provided in accordance 105 with program standards that have been replicated in randomized 106 controlled trials conducted at multiple sites and that have 107 shown significant reductions in: 108 (a) The number of babies born prematurely or with low birth 109 weight. 110 (b) The occurrence of infant behavioral impairments due to 111 a mother’s use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. 112 (c) The number of reported incidents of child abuse and 113 neglect. 114 (d) The number of subsequent pregnancies. 115 (e) The number of mothers receiving public assistance. 116 (f) Criminal activity engaged in by a mother or her child 117 or children. 118 (6) The department shall monitor the administration of the 119 program to ensure that the program is implemented according to 120 the program training requirements, protocols, management 121 information systems, and evaluation requirements established by 122 the department. The department shall evaluate the program and 123 submit an annual report of its findings and recommendations on 124 or before January 1 of each year to the Governor, the President 125 of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 126 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.