(1)(a) There is
established the nurse home visitor program to provide regular in-home visiting
nurse services to low-income first-time mothers, with their consent, during their
pregnancies and through their children's second birthday. The program provides
trained visiting nurses to help educate mothers on the importance of nutrition and
avoiding alcohol and drugs, including nicotine, and to assist and educate mothers in
providing general care for their children and in improving health outcomes for their
children. In addition, visiting nurses may help mothers in locating assistance with
educational achievement and employment. Any assistance provided through the
program is provided only with the consent of the low-income first-time mother, and
she may refuse further services at an
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(1) (a) There is
established the nurse home visitor program to provide regular in-home visiting
nurse services to low-income first-time mothers, with their consent, during their
pregnancies and through their children's second birthday. The program provides
trained visiting nurses to help educate mothers on the importance of nutrition and
avoiding alcohol and drugs, including nicotine, and to assist and educate mothers in
providing general care for their children and in improving health outcomes for their
children. In addition, visiting nurses may help mothers in locating assistance with
educational achievement and employment. Any assistance provided through the
program is provided only with the consent of the low-income first-time mother, and
she may refuse further services at any time.
(b) The nurse home visitor program, as it existed prior to July 1, 2022, is
transferred to the department of early childhood. All rules, orders, and awards of
the state board of health concerning the nurse home visitor program adopted prior
to July 1, 2022, continue to be effective until revised, amended, repealed, or nullified
pursuant to law. All grants in existence as of July 1, 2022, are valid through June 30,
2023, and may be extended or renewed beyond said date.
(2) The program must be administered in communities throughout the state
by entities selected on a competitive basis by the health sciences facility and
approved by the executive director. Any entity that seeks to administer the program
shall submit an application to the department as provided in section 26.5-3-506.
The entities selected pursuant to section 26.5-3-507 are expected to provide
services to a minimum of one hundred low-income first-time mothers in the
community in which the entity administers the program; except that the executive
director may grant a waiver of this requirement if the population base of the
community does not have the capacity to enroll one hundred eligible families. The
executive director shall consult with the health sciences facility prior to granting
the waiver to ensure that the entity can implement the program within the smaller
community and maintain compliance with the program requirements. A mother is
eligible to receive services through the program if she is pregnant with her first
child, or her first child is less than one month old, and her gross annual income does
not exceed two hundred percent of the federal poverty line.
(3) The executive director shall promulgate, pursuant to the provisions of
article 4 of title 24, rules to implement the program. The executive director shall
base the rules establishing program training requirements, program protocols,
program management information systems, and program evaluation requirements
on research-based model programs that have been implemented in one or more
other states for a period of at least five years and have shown significant reductions
in:
(a) The occurrence among families receiving services through the model
program of infant behavioral impairments due to use of alcohol and other drugs,
including nicotine;
(b) The number of reported incidents of child abuse and neglect among
families receiving services through the model program;
(c) The number of subsequent pregnancies by mothers receiving services
through the model program;
(d) The receipt of public assistance by mothers receiving services through
the model program;
(e) Criminal activity engaged in by mothers receiving services through the
model program and their children.
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, the
executive director shall adopt rules pursuant to which a nurse home visitation
program that is in operation in the state as of July 1, 1999, may qualify for
participation in the program if it can demonstrate that it has been in operation in the
state for a minimum of five years and that it has achieved a reduction in the
occurrences specified in subsection (3) of this section. Any program so approved is
exempt from the rules adopted regarding program training requirements, program
protocols, program management information systems, and program evaluation
requirements so long as the program continues to demonstrate a reduction in the
occurrences specified in subsection (3) of this section.
(5) The department may propose to the executive director rules concerning
program applications pursuant to section 26.5-3-506. Any such proposal must be
made in consultation with the health sciences facility.