(1) (a) There is established the nurse home visitor program to provide regular, in-home, visiting nurse services to low-income, first-time mothers, with their consent, during their pregnancies and through their children's second birthday. The program shall provide trained visiting nurses to help educate mothers on the importance of nutrition and avoiding alcohol and drugs, including nicotine, and to assist and educate mothers in providing general care for their children and in improving health outcomes for their children. In addition, visiting nurses may help mothers in locating assistance with educational achievement and employment. Any assistance provided through the program shall be provided only with the consent of the low-income, first-time mother, and she may refuse further services at any time.

(b) The nurse home visitor program created in article 31 of title 25, C.R.S., as it existed prior to July 1, 2013, is transferred to the state department of human services. All rules, orders, and awards of the state board of health concerning the nurse home visitor program adopted prior to July 1, 2013, continue to be effective until revised, amended, repealed, or nullified pursuant to law. All grants in existence as of July 1, 2013, are valid through June 30, 2014, and may be extended or renewed beyond said date.

(2) The program shall be administered in communities throughout the state by entities selected on a competitive basis by the health sciences facility and approved by the state board. Any entity that seeks to administer the program shall submit an application to the state department as provided in section 26-6.4-106. The entities selected pursuant to section 26-6.4-107 are expected to provide services to a minimum of one hundred low-income, first-time mothers in the community in which the entity administers the program; except that the state board may grant a waiver of this requirement if the population base of the community does not have the capacity to enroll one hundred eligible families. The state board shall consult with the health sciences facility prior to granting the waiver to ensure that the entity can implement the program within the smaller community and maintain compliance with the program requirements. A mother is eligible to receive services through the program if she is pregnant with her first child, or her first child is less than one month old, and her gross annual income does not exceed two hundred percent of the federal poverty line.

(3) The state board shall promulgate, pursuant to the provisions of article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., rules to implement the program. The state board shall base the rules establishing program training requirements, program protocols, program management information systems, and program evaluation requirements on research-based model programs that have been implemented in one or more other states for a period of at least five years and have shown significant reductions in:

(a) The occurrence among families receiving services through the model program of infant behavioral impairments due to use of alcohol and other drugs, including nicotine;

(b) The number of reported incidents of child abuse and neglect among families receiving services through the model program;

(c) The number of subsequent pregnancies by mothers receiving services through the model program;

(d) The receipt of public assistance by mothers receiving services through the model program;

(e) Criminal activity engaged in by mothers receiving services through the model program and their children.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, the board shall adopt rules pursuant to which a nurse home visitation program that is in operation in the state as of July 1, 1999, may qualify for participation in the program if it can demonstrate that it has been in operation in the state for a minimum of five years and that it has achieved a reduction in the occurrences specified in subsection (3) of this section. Any program so approved is exempt from the rules adopted regarding program training requirements, program protocols, program management information systems, and program evaluation requirements so long as the program continues to demonstrate a reduction in the occurrences specified in subsection (3) of this section.

(5) The state department may propose to the state board rules concerning program applications under section 26-6.4-106. Any such proposal shall be made in consultation with the health sciences facility.