2007 Minnesota Statutes

145A.17 FAMILY HOME VISITING PROGRAMS.
    Subdivision 1. Establishment; goals. The commissioner shall establish a program to
fund family home visiting programs designed to foster healthy beginnings, improve pregnancy
outcomes, promote school readiness, prevent child abuse and neglect, reduce juvenile
delinquency, promote positive parenting and resiliency in children, and promote family health and
economic self-sufficiency for children and families. The commissioner shall promote partnerships,
collaboration, and multidisciplinary visiting done by teams of professionals and paraprofessionals
from the fields of public health nursing, social work, and early childhood education. A program
funded under this section must serve families at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty
guidelines, and other families determined to be at risk, including but not limited to being at risk
for child abuse, child neglect, or juvenile delinquency. Programs must begin prenatally whenever
possible and must be targeted to families with:
    (1) adolescent parents;
    (2) a history of alcohol or other drug abuse;
    (3) a history of child abuse, domestic abuse, or other types of violence;
    (4) a history of domestic abuse, rape, or other forms of victimization;
    (5) reduced cognitive functioning;
    (6) a lack of knowledge of child growth and development stages;
    (7) low resiliency to adversities and environmental stresses;
    (8) insufficient financial resources to meet family needs;
    (9) a history of homelessness;
    (10) a risk of long-term welfare dependence or family instability due to employment
barriers; or
    (11) other risk factors as determined by the commissioner.
    Subd. 2.[Repealed, 1Sp2003 c 14 art 8 s 32]
    Subd. 3. Requirements for programs; process. (a) Community health boards and tribal
governments that receive funding under this section must submit a plan to the commissioner
describing a multidisciplinary approach to targeted home visiting for families. The plan must
be submitted on forms provided by the commissioner. At a minimum, the plan must include
the following:
    (1) a description of outreach strategies to families prenatally or at birth;
    (2) provisions for the seamless delivery of health, safety, and early learning services;
    (3) methods to promote continuity of services when families move within the state;
    (4) a description of the community demographics;
    (5) a plan for meeting outcome measures; and
    (6) a proposed work plan that includes:
    (i) coordination to ensure nonduplication of services for children and families;
    (ii) a description of the strategies to ensure that children and families at greatest risk receive
appropriate services; and
    (iii) collaboration with multidisciplinary partners including public health, ECFE, Head
Start, community health workers, social workers, community home visiting programs, school
districts, and other relevant partners. Letters of intent from multidisciplinary partners must be
submitted with the plan.
    (b) Each program that receives funds must accomplish the following program requirements:
    (1) use a community-based strategy to provide preventive and early intervention home
visiting services;
    (2) offer a home visit by a trained home visitor. If a home visit is accepted, the first home
visit must occur prenatally or as soon after birth as possible and must include a public health
nursing assessment by a public health nurse;
    (3) offer, at a minimum, information on infant care, child growth and development, positive
parenting, preventing diseases, preventing exposure to environmental hazards, and support
services available in the community;
    (4) provide information on and referrals to health care services, if needed, including
information on and assistance in applying for health care coverage for which the child or family
may be eligible; and provide information on preventive services, developmental assessments, and
the availability of public assistance programs as appropriate;
    (5) provide youth development programs when appropriate;
    (6) recruit home visitors who will represent, to the extent possible, the races, cultures, and
languages spoken by families that may be served;
    (7) train and supervise home visitors in accordance with the requirements established under
subdivision 4;
    (8) maximize resources and minimize duplication by coordinating or contracting with
local social and human services organizations, education organizations, and other appropriate
governmental entities and community-based organizations and agencies;
    (9) utilize appropriate racial and ethnic approaches to providing home visiting services; and
    (10) connect eligible families, as needed, to additional resources available in the community,
including, but not limited to, early care and education programs, health or mental health services,
family literacy programs, employment agencies, social services, and child care resources and
referral agencies.
    (c) When available, programs that receive funds under this section must offer or provide the
family with a referral to center-based or group meetings that meet at least once per month for
those families identified with additional needs. The meetings must focus on further enhancing the
information, activities, and skill-building addressed during home visitation; offering opportunities
for parents to meet with and support each other; and offering infants and toddlers a safe, nurturing,
and stimulating environment for socialization and supervised play with qualified teachers.
    (d) Funds available under this section shall not be used for medical services. The
commissioner shall establish an administrative cost limit for recipients of funds. The outcome
measures established under subdivision 6 must be specified to recipients of funds at the time the
funds are distributed.
    (e) Data collected on individuals served by the home visiting programs must remain
confidential and must not be disclosed by providers of home visiting services without a specific
informed written consent that identifies disclosures to be made. Upon request, agencies providing
home visiting services must provide recipients with information on disclosures, including the
names of entities and individuals receiving the information and the general purpose of the
disclosure. Prospective and current recipients of home visiting services must be told and informed
in writing that written consent for disclosure of data is not required for access to home visiting
services.
    Subd. 4. Training. The commissioner shall establish training requirements for home visitors
and minimum requirements for supervision. The requirements for nurses must be consistent with
chapter 148. The commissioner must provide training for home visitors. Training must include
the following:
    (1) effective relationships for engaging and retaining families and ensuring family health,
safety, and early learning;
    (2) effective methods of implementing parent education, conducting home visiting, and
promoting quality early childhood development;
    (3) early childhood development from birth to age five;
    (4) diverse cultural practices in child rearing and family systems;
    (5) recruiting, supervising, and retaining qualified staff;
    (6) increasing services for underserved populations; and
    (7) relevant issues related to child welfare and protective services, with information provided
being consistent with state child welfare agency training.
    Subd. 5. Technical assistance. The commissioner shall provide administrative and technical
assistance to each program, including assistance in data collection and other activities related to
conducting short- and long-term evaluations of the programs as required under subdivision 7. The
commissioner may request research and evaluation support from the University of Minnesota.
    Subd. 6. Outcome and performance measures. The commissioner shall establish measures
to determine the impact of family home visiting programs funded under this section on the
following areas:
    (1) appropriate utilization of preventive health care;
    (2) rates of substantiated child abuse and neglect;
    (3) rates of unintentional child injuries;
    (4) rates of children who are screened and who pass early childhood screening;
    (5) rates of children accessing early care and educational services;
    (6) program retention rates;
    (7) number of home visits provided compared to the number of home visits planned;
    (8) participant satisfaction;
    (9) rates of at-risk populations reached; and
    (10) any additional qualitative goals and quantitative measures established by the
commissioner.
    Subd. 7. Evaluation. Using the qualitative goals and quantitative outcome and performance
measures established under subdivisions 1 and 6, the commissioner shall conduct ongoing
evaluations of the programs funded under this section. Community health boards and tribal
governments shall cooperate with the commissioner in the evaluations and shall provide the
commissioner with the information necessary to conduct the evaluations. As part of the ongoing
evaluations, the commissioner shall rate the impact of the programs on the outcome measures
listed in subdivision 6, and shall periodically determine whether home visiting programs are
the best way to achieve the qualitative goals established under subdivisions 1 and 6. If the
commissioner determines that home visiting programs are not the best way to achieve these goals,
the commissioner shall provide the legislature with alternative methods for achieving them.
    Subd. 8. Report. By January 15, 2002, and January 15 of each even-numbered year
thereafter, the commissioner shall submit a report to the legislature on the family home visiting
programs funded under this section and on the results of the evaluations conducted under
subdivision 7.
    Subd. 9. No supplanting of existing funds. Funding available under this section may be
used only to supplement, not to replace, nonstate funds being used for home visiting services as
of July 1, 2001.
History: 1Sp2001 c 9 art 1 s 53; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 113; 2007 c 147 art 17 s 1