(a) Each county that chooses to participate in the California Families and Children Home Visit Program shall develop and submit to the Office of Child Abuse Prevention a three-year plan for phasing in a home visit program for eligible families.

(b) Each implementation plan shall include:

(1) The method of determining, and a description of the at-risk population served. Counties shall assess local community needs, and make modifications that are consistent with the California Safe and Healthy Families Model Program, or its successor.

(2) A clearly defined mission statement, and specific goals and objectives that are consistent with the mission statement.

(3) A proposed voluntary home visit service delivery model, incorporating the key components and standards of the California Safe and Healthy Families Model Program, or its successor. The essential components and standards of the California Safe and Healthy Families Program Model include:

(A) A comprehensive service array that includes, but is not limited to, systematic assessment, individualized family service planning, intensive home visiting, child health and development monitoring and intervention, center-based activities that serve parents, infants, and older siblings, linkage to health care and other community resources, and an on-going problem solving case coordination.

(B) Services provided by a multidisciplinary team, that includes appropriate supervision to home visitors and other team members, management of the caseload, and ensuring that service quality is maintained.

(C) Caseloads that are balanced in size, not to exceed 25 cases per home visitor, and intensity (service intensity varies with client need).

(D) On-going training and skill development.

(E) An approach to implementation that addresses relationships with existing service systems.

(4) A description of how home visit “best practices” are incorporated into a proposed model.

(5) A description of how the applicant proposes to coordinate and collaborate with other community service providers including community-based organizations, schools, religious organizations, community police, health care districts, and welfare and social service agencies.

(6) Provisions for families participating in the voluntary home visit program, to provide informed consent and to ensure the confidentiality of the records pertaining to the program.

(7) Specified quality assurance and improvement processes.

(8) Projected results by which positive outcomes and the success of the home visit program is to be measured.

(c) The Office of Child Abuse Prevention shall evaluate implementation plans and award implementation grants to selected voluntary home visit programs. In order to ensure that implementation proposals reflect the prevention and early intervention focus of home visits, the Office of Child Abuse Prevention shall develop proposed criteria for awarding implementation grants in accordance with each plan’s addressing of those elements set forth in subdivision (b).

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