§ 429 — Home visiting

§ 429. Home visiting. 1. In accordance with a plan developed by the\noffice of children and family services and approved by the director of\nthe budget and within the amounts which the director of the budget\ndetermines should be made available therefor, such office, in\nconjunction with the department of health, is authorized to issue grants\nfor home visiting programs to prevent child abuse and maltreatment,\nenhance positive parent child interactions, increase healthy outcomes\nfor families and empower families to develop and achieve their\nself-sufficiency goals. To the extent that federal funds are used to\nsupport home visiting programs, such programs must be operated in\naccordance with all applicable federal laws and regulations. To the\nextent possible and appropriate, funding for the home visiting program\nshall be coordinated with other available funding to maximize the\neffective use of federal, state and local moneys and to promote the\nprogram's purposes.\n 2. Each home visiting program funded under this section shall include,\nbut not be limited to, the following activities:\n (a) providing screening of families in the targeted geographical area\nupon the birth of a child and prenatally, if possible;\n (b) engaging those expectant parents and families with an infant\ndetermined to be at risk of child abuse or maltreatment and/or poor\nhealth outcomes to participate in the home visiting program;\n (c) providing home visits by nurses or by community workers under the\nsupervision of a health or social services professional to those at risk\nexpectant parents and families who choose to participate in the program;\n (d) requiring the home visitors to:\n (i) assist parents in learning about child development principles;\n (ii) assist parents in accessing appropriate preventive health care\nfor their children and themselves; and\n (iii) link the families to other supports and activities in the\ncommunity;\n (e) determining the frequency of the home visiting services provided\nto each participating family based on the family's needs;\n (f) continuing home visits for a particular family until the child\nenters school or a head start program, when necessary; and\n (g) assisting families to develop and obtain the necessary supports to\nachieve their self-sufficiency goals.\n 3. A request for proposals shall be issued to solicit applications for\nhome visiting programs. Priority for funding shall be given to\napplicants from communities identified as high need by such factors as\npoverty rates, rates of adolescent pregnancy, rates of child abuse and\nmaltreatment, immunization rates and infant mortality rates.\n 4. Not-for-profit organizations and local public agencies such as\ncommunity-based organizations, family resource centers, local health\ndepartments, local social services departments, schools, hospitals and\nother health agencies shall be eligible to apply for the grants\navailable pursuant to this section.\n 5. Each applicant shall demonstrate among other things:\n (a) a working relationship with the applicable local departments of\nhealth and social services and key services providers in the community;\n (b) the commitment of local hospitals, prenatal clinics and early\nintervention programs servicing families in the targeted geographical\narea to promote the effective screening of families so that the program\ncan be offered to the maximum number of at-risk expectant parents and\nfamilies possible;\n (c) its administrative and fiscal viability and the community's\nsupport for the home visiting program; and\n (d) how the home visiting program would be integrated with other\navailable services, programs and funding streams.\n 6. The commissioner of the office of children and family services\nshall establish policies governing enrollees' rights and\nconfidentiality, and each home visiting program shall, in accordance\nwith such policies, inform enrollees of their rights, and of such\npolicies governing confidentiality.\n 7. The office of children and family services shall submit to the\ngovernor and the legislature by December first, two thousand, and every\nthree years thereafter, a report which shall include a review of all the\nhome visiting programs funded under this section; and comments and\nrecommendations based on a comprehensive evaluation regarding the most\neffective models for providing home visiting services and statutory\nchanges which could improve the state's ability to prevent child abuse\nand maltreatment, improve healthy outcomes for families and empower\nfamilies to develop and obtain their self-sufficiency goals.\n 8. Any home visiting program that meets the criteria delineated in\nthis section as determined by factors set by the office of children and\nfamily services and the department of health, regardless of whether such\nprogram contracts with or receives funding from the state, may provide\nthe necessary information to such offices as is required by subdivision\n(i) of section seventeen of this chapter or paragraph (w) of subdivision\none of section two hundred one of the public health law in order for\ntheir program to be made available on the internet mapping resource\nmaintained by the council on children and families pursuant to section\nfour hundred eighty-three-h of this chapter.\n