The bill amends the Rhode Island Family Home-Visiting Act to enhance the state's home-visiting services for families with young children. It adds the First Connections family home-visiting program as a recognized provider within the statute and modifies the Department of Health's annual reporting requirements regarding family home-visiting programs. The report will now include components of the state's family home-visiting system, such as state and federal funding amounts and sources, and will be shared with the General Assembly and made publicly available on the department's website.

The bill requires the annual report to detail the number of families served by First Connections, demographic data on families served, duration of participation, cross-departmental coordination, and benefits aimed at expanding access to First Connections and existing evidence-based family home-visiting programs in Rhode Island. It also mandates the inclusion of a projected three-year estimate of available federal MIECHV grant funds, the state match required to access the full federal MIECHV grant, and projected Medicaid fee-for-service billing strategies to sustain the programs.

Additionally, the report must outline the total annual federal MIECHV funding available, received, and spent by the state on direct home-visiting services, as well as the total funding for each program model by source for the last five years. It will also address implementation successes and challenges related to funding, provider contracts, staffing, and family enrollment and retention.

The bill directs the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to pursue a Medicaid state plan amendment to increase Medicaid payment rates for family home visiting services by the amount recommended in the 2025 social and human service programs review report. Rate increases are to be implemented on or before October 1, 2026. Furthermore, the state is required to allocate the minimum amount necessary to draw down the maximum federal MIECHV funds available for Rhode Island, which will be used to fund home-visiting services. The act is set to take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
7794: 23-13.7-2