BILL NUMBER: AB 543 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ma
(Principal coauthor: Senator Runner)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Block)
(Coauthor: Senator Cedillo)
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to amend Sections 123492 and 123493 of the Health and
Safety Code, and to amend Section 7 of Chapter 878 of the Statutes of
2006, relating to perinatal care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 543, as introduced, Ma. Perinatal care: The Nurse-Family
Partnership.
Existing law establishes the Nurse-Family Partnership program to
provide grants for voluntary nurse home visiting programs for
expectant first-time mothers, their children, and their families, as
specified. Existing law prohibits the use of grant moneys to match
other grants administered by the department.
This bill would allow the use of Nurse-Family Partnership program
grant moneys as a match for other grants administered by the
department.
Existing law establishes the California Families and Children
Account in the State Treasury to accept private donations to pay for
the program. Existing law only allows grants to be distributed if the
Director of Finance determines that there are sufficient funds from
private donations available in the account. Additionally, under
existing law, if there are not sufficient funds on deposit in the
account by January 1, 2009, the account shall cease to exist.
This bill would extend the time before which there must be
sufficient funds in the account to January 1, 2014, and would allow
grants to be distributed without the determination of sufficient
funding by the Director of Finance.
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. 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 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 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 every eight nurse home visitors
, 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) 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) Provide data on operations, results, and expenditures in the
formats and with the frequencies specified by the department.
(m) 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) 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) Provide cash or in-kind matching funds in the amount of 100
percent of the grant award.
(p) Prohibit the use of moneys received for the program as a match
for grants currently administered by the department.
SEC. 2. Section 123493 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
123493. (a) The department may accept voluntary contributions, in
cash or in-kind, to pay for the costs in of
the implementation of the program under Section 123492. These
private donations shall be deposited into the California Families and
Children Account, which is hereby created in the State Treasury,
in which, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, is hereby continuously appropriated to the
department for purposes of implementing Section 123492. No state
funds shall be used in implementing Section 123492.
(b) The department shall only distribute grants established under
Section 123492 if the Director of Finance determines, in writing,
that there are sufficient funds from private donations available in
the account for expenditure for the purposes of the program.
(c)
(b) The department's administration costs shall not
exceed 5 percent of the moneys in the account created under
subdivision (a). Any costs to the department incurred prior to the
account receiving funds shall be reimbursed to the department from
funds in the account.
(d)
(c) The department shall not apply for grants or
solicit private funds.
(e)
(d) If, as of January 1, 2009
2014 , the Director of Finance determines pursuant to
subdivision (a) that there are insufficient funds on deposit in the
account to implement the voluntary nurse home visiting grant program,
the account shall cease to exist.
SEC. 3. Section 7 of Chapter 878 of the Statutes of 2006 is
amended to read:
Sec. 7. If there are not sufficient funds on deposit in the
California Families and Children Account, established pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 123493 of the Health and Safety Code by
January 1, 2009 2014 , the account
shall cease to exist.