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.