April 26, 2012, Introduced by Reps. Lyons, Haveman, Townsend, Ananich, Liss, Price, Hobbs, MacGregor, Shaughnessy, Jacobsen, Wayne Schmidt, Roy Schmidt, Kandrevas, Tlaib, Lane, Forlini and Walsh and referred to the Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors.
A bill to support voluntary home visitation programs; to
authorize the promulgation of rules regarding home visitation
programs; and to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state
departments and agencies.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. As used in this act:
(a) "Departments" means the department of community health,
the department of human services, and the department of education.
(b) "Evidence-based program" means a home visitation program
described in section 3.
(c) "Home visitation" means a voluntary service delivery
strategy that is carried out in relevant settings, primarily in the
homes of families with children ages 0 to 5 years and pregnant
women.
(d) "Promising program" means a home visitation program
described in section 3.
Sec. 2. (1) The departments shall support home visitation
programs that include periodic home visits to improve the health,
well-being, and self-sufficiency of parents and their children.
(2) Home visitation programs supported under this act shall
provide culturally appropriate, face-to-face visits by nurses,
social workers, and other early childhood and health professionals
or trained and supervised lay workers.
(3) Home visitation programs supported under this act shall do
1 or more of the following:
(a) Work to improve maternal, infant, or child health outcomes
including reducing preterm births.
(b) Promote positive parenting practices.
(c) Build healthy parent and child relationships.
(d) Enhance social-emotional development.
(e) Support cognitive development of children.
(f) Improve the health of the family.
(g) Empower families to be self-sufficient.
(h) Reduce child maltreatment and injury.
(i) Increase school readiness.
Sec. 3. The departments shall support home visitation programs
that are either of the following:
(a) Evidence-based programs that are based on a clear,
consistent program or model that are or do all of the following:
(i) Research-based and grounded in relevant, empirically based
knowledge. Evidence-based programs are linked to program-determined
outcomes and are associated with a national organization or
institution of higher education. Evidence-based programs have
comprehensive home visitation standards that ensure high-quality
service delivery and continuous quality improvement, have
demonstrated significant, positive outcomes, and either have been
evaluated using rigorous randomized controlled research designs and
the evaluation results have been published in a peer-reviewed
journal or are based on quasi-experimental research using 2 or more
separate, comparable client samples.
(ii) Follow a program manual or design that specifies the
purpose, outcomes, duration, and frequency of service that
constitute the program.
(iii) Employ well-trained and competent staff and provide
continual professional development relevant to the specific program
model being delivered.
(iv) Demonstrate strong links to other community-based
services.
(v) Operate within an organization that ensures compliance
with home visitation standards.
(vi) Operate with fidelity to the program or model.
(b) Promising programs that do not meet the criteria of
evidenced-based programs but are or do all of the following:
(i) Have data or evidence demonstrating effectiveness at
achieving positive outcomes for pregnant women, infants, children,
or their families. There must be an active evaluation of each
promising program, or there must be a demonstration of a plan and
timeline for that evaluation.
(ii) Follow a manual or design that specifies the program's
purpose, outcomes, duration, and frequency of service.
(iii) Employ well-trained and competent staff and provide
continual professional development relevant to the specific program
model being delivered.
(iv) Demonstrate strong links to other community-based
services.
(v) Operate within an organization that ensures compliance
with home visitation standards.
(vi) Operate with fidelity to the program or model.
Sec. 4. This act does not apply to either of the following:
(a) A program that provides early intervention services under
part C of the individuals with disabilities education act, 20 USC
1431 to 1444.
(b) A program that provides a 1-time home visit or infrequent
home visits, such as a home visit for a newborn child or a child in
preschool.
Sec. 5. The departments shall develop internal processes that
provide for a greater ability to collaborate and share relevant
home visiting data and information. The processes may include a
uniform format for the collection of data relevant to each home
visiting model and the development of common contract or grant
language related to voluntary home visiting programs.
Sec. 6. Each state agency that authorizes funds through
payments, contracts, or grants that are used for home visitation
shall include language regarding home visitation in its contract or
funding agreement that is consistent with the provisions of this
act.
Sec. 7. The departments may promulgate rules under the
administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to
24.328, as necessary to implement this act.
Sec. 8. Not later than December 1, 2013 and December 1 of each
fiscal year after that, the departments shall provide a
collaborative report on home visiting to the house and senate
appropriations subcommittees on the department of community health,
state school aid, and the department of human services, to the
state budget director, and to the house and senate fiscal agencies.
The report provided under this section may include model-specific
data and shall, at a minimum, include the goals and outcomes of
funded programs with data on cost per family, the number of
families served, demographic data on families served, the number of
evidence-based programs which shall include the total as well as a
percentage of overall funding for home visiting, and the number of
promising programs which shall include the total as well as a
percentage of overall funding for home visiting.