The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) About 26 percent of California’s children under the age of 18 years live in families with incomes below the federal poverty line, an increase of 56 percent since 1980. Poverty is associated with numerous problems, including low educational performance, poor nutrition, the mistreatment of children, and juvenile delinquency.

(b) State vital statistics data indicate that about 33 percent of California’s children were born out-of-wedlock in 1991, an increase of 61 percent since 1980. Growing up in a single parent household is associated with greater likelihood of living in poverty, higher school dropout rates, higher incidence of teenage pregnancy, and reduced levels of employment.

(c) Research has found that poor parenting practices and family stress can increase the incidence of child behavior problems in children as young as three years of age. These behavioral problems can affect a variety of children’s life outcomes including success in school and incidence of juvenile delinquency.

(d) Over one-fourth of California’s children speak a foreign language.

(e) California’s children are becoming more culturally and ethnically diverse.

(f) Recent findings in the area of brain development research indicate that inadequate parent-child interaction can negatively affect the cognitive development of children.

(g) High quality voluntary home visit programs have been shown to improve a variety of parental and child outcomes. Specifically, these outcomes include reductions in poor birth outcomes, reductions in the mistreatment of children, reductions of and greater spacing between pregnancies, reduced use of welfare, and increased amounts of parental employment. Studies show that low-income, single parents exhibit the largest improvements over the long run from these programs.

(h) Research also shows that home visit programs that address a broad array of family needs are more likely to improve life outcomes for families and children. Examples of improved life outcomes include reductions in the mistreatment of children, increased rates of school completion, reduced incidence of teenage pregnancy, reduced interaction with the juvenile justice system, and improved health.

(i) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this chapter, to establish a high-quality voluntary home visiting program for at-risk families.

(Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 329, Sec. 41. Effective August 21, 1998.)