The department shall develop a grant application and award grants on a competitive basis to counties for the startup, continuation, and expansion of the program established pursuant to Section 123491. To be eligible to receive a grant for purposes of that section, a county shall agree to all of the following:

(a) Serve through the program only pregnant, low-income women who have had no previous live births. Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 123485, women who are juvenile offenders or who are clients of the juvenile system shall be deemed eligible for services under the program.

(b) Enroll women in the program while they are still pregnant, before the 28th week of gestation, and preferably before the 16th week of gestation, and continue those women in the program through the first two years of the child’s life.

(c) Use as home visitors only registered nurses who have been licensed in the state.

(d) Have nurse home visitors undergo training according to the program and follow the home visit guidelines developed by the Nurse-Family Partnership program.

(e) Have nurse home visitors specially trained in prenatal care and early child development.

(f) Have nurse home visitors follow a visit schedule keyed to the developmental stages of pregnancy and early childhood.

(g) Ensure that, to the extent possible, services shall be rendered in a culturally and linguistically competent manner.

(h) Limit a nurse home visitor’s caseload to no more than 25 active families at any given time.

(i) Provide for every eight nurse home visitors a full-time nurse supervisor who holds at least a bachelor’s degree in nursing and has substantial experience in community health nursing.

(j) Have nurse home visitors and nurse supervisors trained in effective home visitation techniques by qualified trainers.

(k) Have nurse home visitors and nurse supervisors trained in the method of assessing early infant development and parent-child interaction in a manner consistent with the program.

(l) Provide data on operations, results, and expenditures in the formats and with the frequencies specified by the department.

(m) Collaborate with other home visiting and family support programs in the community to avoid duplication of services and complement and integrate with existing services to the extent practicable.

(n) Demonstrate that adoption of the Nurse-Family Partnership program is supported by a local governmental or government-affiliated community planning board, decisionmaking board, or advisory body responsible for assuring the availability of effective, coordinated services for families and children in the community.

(o) Provide cash or in-kind matching funds in the amount of 100 percent of the grant award.

(p) Prohibit the use of moneys received for the program as a match for grants currently administered by the department.

(Added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 878, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2007.)