Bill Text: AZ HB2782 | 2022 | Fifty-fifth Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Appropriations; nurse-home visitor program
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-10 - House HHS Committee action: Withdrawn, voting: (0-0-0-0-0-0) [HB2782 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2022-HB2782-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: appropriations; nurse-home visitor program |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session 2022
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HB 2782 |
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Introduced by Representative Wilmeth
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An Act
establishing the nurse-home visitor grant program; appropriating monies.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Department of health services; nurse-home visitor grant program; requirements; annual report; delayed repeal
A. The nurse-home visitor grant program is established in the department of health services. The department shall award the grant monies to at least one eligible organization to provide nurse-home visiting services for a three-year period, including assessments and screenings, care coordination, case management, preventive education and counseling, nurse-delivered interventions and referrals to health and human services, educational or job development resources, and other appropriate supports, to first-time, low-income, expectant mothers who voluntarily enroll before the third trimester. The nurse-home visiting services shall be available through the second birthday of children born to participating new mothers.
B. Organizations that are eligible to receive a grant pursuant to this section include public or private entities, nonprofit organizations, county or other local government entities and tribal nations.
C. When determining which organizations shall be awarded monies through the grant program, the department shall give preference to organizations that meet all of the following:
1. Are working and providing services in this state.
2. Can demonstrate either delivery as of December 31, 2021 or capacity to begin delivery, within ninety days after receiving the grant award, of a service delivered by registered nurses that meets the criteria established by the United States department of health and human services for an evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model.
3. Limit program enrollees to first-time expectant mothers who voluntarily enroll before twenty-eight weeks of their pregnancy.
4. Provide services to program enrollees and their children from early prenatal enrollment through the child's second birthday.
5. Employ nurses that have received a bachelor of science in nursing degree or higher to provide services.
6. Provide services in the enrollee's home, via telehealth or at another location as directed by the enrollee.
D. An organization that receives monies pursuant to this section shall submit to the department of health services data prescribed by the department, which may include client demographic information, regarding services and referrals that meet performance benchmarks developed by the United States health resources and services administration for evidence-based nurse-home visiting that addresses all of the following:
1. Improvements in maternal and newborn health.
2. Reduction of child injuries, child maltreatment and emergency department visits for accidental injuries.
3. Improvements in school readiness and achievement.
4. Reduction of crime or domestic violence.
5. Improvements in family economic self-sufficiency.
6. Improvements in coordinating and referring other community resources and supports.
E. The nurse-home visiting services delivered under the grant program shall be delivered:
1. To voluntary participants with their consent.
2. In a location and method preferred by participants, which may include in the participant's home, via telehealth or in another nonclinical setting.
F. On or before February 1, 2023 and each year thereafter, the department shall report to the appropriations committees of the senate and the house of representatives all of the following:
1. The number of grants awarded under the program, the recipient organizations and number of participants expected to be served.
2. The number of participants newly enrolled.
3. The extent to which each grant recipient made monthly visits to enrolled participants.
4. Other data and information related to measures of health and well-being of participants and their children participating in the program.
G. This section does not prevent the department from identifying performance measures consistent with those reported by the department to the United States health resources and services administration for delivery of evidence-based nurse-home visiting services supported in whole or in part by federal maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting services.
H. This section is repealed from and after June 30, 2026.
Sec. 2. Appropriations; department of health services; nurse-home visitor grant program; exemption
A. The sum of $2,300,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in each of fiscal years 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 to the department of health services for the purposes of administering the nurse-home visitor grant program for the delivery of evidence-based nurse-home visiting services.
B. The appropriations made in subsection A of this section are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations. Any unspent monies remaining on July 1, 2026 shall revert to the state general fund.
Sec. 3. Legislative findings and intent
The legislature finds that new mothers, in order to adequately care for their newborns and young children, often benefit from voluntarily receiving professional assistance and information. Without this assistance and information, a first-time mother may develop habits or practices that are detrimental to her health and well-being and to the health and well-being of her child. The legislature further finds that inadequate prenatal care and inadequate care in infancy and early childhood often inhibit a child's ability to learn and develop throughout childhood and may have lasting, adverse effects on the child's ability to function as an adult. The legislature recognizes that the implementation of a United States department of health and human services-accredited evidenced-based nurse-home visiting program for first-time mothers, which is ranked as "well-supported" in the federal title IV-E prevention services clearinghouse for in-home parent skill-based services under the family first prevention services act as of January 1, 2022, provides educational, health and other resources for first-time mothers from early pregnancy through the first two years of their infants' lives and has been proven to significantly reduce the risk of preterm birth, the amount of drug use, including nicotine and alcohol use, and abuse by first-time mothers, the occurrence of criminal activity committed by mothers and their children under fifteen years of age, and the number of reported incidents of child abuse and neglect. The program has also been proven to reduce the mother's need for other forms of public assistance and to increase the mother's educational attainment and employment.
