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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR HHGAC

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/16/07

HB 168/HHGACS

SHORT TITLE Statewide Home Visiting Program

SB

ANALYST Lucero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$50.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Substitutes HB 168, Relates to SB 59 “NORTHERN NM HOME VISITATION PROGRAMS"

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Department of Health (DOH)

Public Education Department (PED)

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Health and Government Affairs Committee substitute for House Bill 168 appropriates

fifty thousand ($50,000) from the general fund to Children, Youth and Families Department for

expenditure in 2008 to develop a comprehensive, long-range plan to phase in a statewide system

of universal voluntary home visiting that serves new families during pregnancy and continuing

for up to three years. The bill also mandates that a home visiting system development group

shall be established consisting of staff from Children, Youth and Families Department,

Department of Health, Human Services Department, Higher Education Department and Public

Education Department and other early childhood experts, and other early childhood experts, and

the group shall report to the legislative health and human services committee by November 1,

2007.

House Bill 168/HHGACS – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of fifty thousand ($50,000) contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the

general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year

2008 shall revert to the general fund.

The PED estimates that participation on the home visiting system development group will

require approximately 250 hours of staff time (Educator Administrator-A @$25.50/hour X 250

hours X 30% benefits). Total cost is $8,287.50 plus travel costs of approximately $500.00.

There could be an additional impact depending on what resources PED would be requesting to

contribute as part of this group.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Home visiting is a preventive strategy used to offer parents and families better pregnancy and

birth outcomes, increased time between pregnancies, improved child health and safety, parenting

skills, and improved economic well-being. Children receiving home visiting show improvements

in academic skills, are more likely to complete high school, less likely to abuse drugs, more

likely to be employed and less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system.

Mothers face a variety of obstacles including being teens, having less than a high school

education, being single, living at or below the poverty level, and health disparities. The latter

include, access to and use of prenatal care, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, being overweight,

and family stressors such as homelessness or jail time. These disparities often disproportionately

affect racial and ethnic minorities. A statewide home visiting initiative would be able to address

these issues.

Access to voluntary home visiting is a priority of the Lieutenant Governor’s Early Childhood

Action Network (ECAN), a statewide, multi-agency, multidisciplinary working group that is

aimed at assuring that all newborns and their families are connected with essential services at the

local level. Home visiting is a prevention strategy used by states and communities to improve

the health and well being of infants and their families and to maximize each child’s potential and

readiness to succeed in life.

In New Mexico, home visiting services are fragmented, provided by several agencies and funded

through various mechanisms. HB168s proposes appropriating funds to develop a comprehensive,

long-range plan for a statewide system of universal voluntary home visiting. A coordinated plan

could help to assure that all home visiting programs or providers work together so that the

families of New Mexico receive services seamlessly.

Research has shown that new families who receive intensive home visits starting during

pregnancy and continuing to age 3, have improved short-term outcomes including better

pregnancy and birth outcomes, increased pregnancy intervals, improved child health and safety,

reduction of emergency room use and improved preschool readiness. Parents in families

receiving home visiting have better parenting skills, improved economic well-being, and

enhanced maternal life courses. Children receiving home visiting show improvements in

academic skills, are more likely to complete high school, less likely to abuse drugs, more likely

to be employed and less likely to be involved with the criminal justice system. Investment in

evidence-based home visiting programs has demonstrated significant returns on investment

returning from $6,000 to $17,200 per youth

House Bill 168/HHGACS – Page

3

(

http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org;http://www.rand.org/

pubs/research_briefs/RB9145/index1.html)

In Washington State, Nurse Family Partnership

Home Visiting programs resulted in savings of $2.88 for every $1 invested. In New Mexico, an

estimated 10-11% of all mothers received at least one home visit in the years 1997-2000 and an

estimated 25% of first time or teen mothers receive at least one home visit

(

www.health.state.nm.us/phd/prams/home.html

).

This request was not submitted by CYFD to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for

review and is not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY08.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

HB168s is related to the Governor’s Performance and Accountability Contract, Goal 2: Improve

Health Outcomes and Family Support for New Mexicans; Task 2.5, Improve health,

developmental, and educational outcomes of newborns.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

None for Medicaid. Because this appropriation is not for services, there would be no additional

federal funding leveraged through Medicaid. However, one of the reasons for the development

group and for HSD’s participation in the group is to explore leveraging federal matching funds

through Medicaid for at least some of the home visiting services currently provided by CYFD.

Any balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the GF.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

HB168s is a substitution for HB168. HB168 would have appropriated $1,500.000 to CYFD to

develop a statewide home visiting program, including creation of an agency coordinating

council.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The bill calls for a long-range plan to be developed and reported to HHS, it is not clear if the

development group continues after the report has been completed.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

None identified at this time

ALTERNATIVES

None identified at this time

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Status Quo

DL/csd