Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1556



By Senator Gibson





6-01874-21 20211556__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to maternal health care services;
3 creating s. 383.52, F.S.; defining terms; requiring
4 the Department of Health to develop and implement the
5 Prevention of Maternal Mortality Grant Program by a
6 specified date; providing eligibility criteria;
7 requiring the department to conduct certain outreach
8 and technical assistance to eligible entities;
9 requiring the department to give special consideration
10 to certain eligible entities; requiring the department
11 to provide certain technical assistance to grant
12 recipients; requiring the department to submit a
13 report to the Governor and Legislature by a specified
14 date; requiring the department to adopt rules;
15 creating s. 383.53, F.S.; requiring the department to
16 award grants to certain training programs; providing
17 for an application; providing reporting requirements
18 for grant recipients and the department; requiring the
19 department, in consultation with the Office of Program
20 Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
21 (OPPAGA), to conduct a certain study and submit a
22 report to the Governor and Legislature by a specified
23 date; requiring the department to adopt rules;
24 creating s. 383.54, F.S.; defining terms; requiring
25 the department to award grants to certain eligible
26 entities by a specified date; requiring that grant
27 funds be used for specified activities; providing
28 limitations on the award of such grants; providing
29 requirements for such grants and grant applications;
30 authorizing the department to coordinate with other
31 state agencies to ensure that grant recipients have
32 access to reliable broadband technology; requiring the
33 department to provide certain technical assistance to
34 eligible entities and grant recipients; requiring the
35 department, in coordination with certain stakeholders,
36 to develop a strategic plan to research and evaluate
37 certain models; providing reporting requirements for
38 grant recipients and the department; requiring the
39 department to adopt rules; creating s. 383.55, F.S.;
40 defining the terms “department” and “eligible entity”;
41 requiring the department to develop and implement the
42 Investments in Digital Tools to Promote Equity in
43 Maternal Health Outcomes Program by a specified date;
44 providing eligibility criteria; providing for an
45 application; providing limitations on the award of
46 such grants; requiring the department to provide
47 certain technical assistance to eligible entities;
48 providing reporting requirements for grant recipients
49 and the department; requiring the department, in
50 consultation with OPPAGA, to conduct a certain study
51 and submit a report to the Governor and Legislature by
52 a specified date; requiring the department to adopt
53 rules; providing an effective date.
54
55 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
56
57 Section 1. Section 383.52, Florida Statutes, is created to
58 read:
59 383.52 Prevention of Maternal Mortality Grant Program.—
60 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
61 (a) “Culturally congruent” means in agreement with the
62 preferred cultural values, beliefs, worldview, and practices of
63 the health care consumer and other stakeholders.
64 (b) “Department” means the Department of Health.
65 (c) “Postpartum” means the 1-year period beginning on the
66 last day of a woman’s pregnancy.
67 (2) PROGRAM.—By July 1, 2022, the department shall develop
68 and implement the Prevention of Maternal Mortality Grant Program
69 to award grants to eligible entities to establish or expand
70 programs to prevent maternal mortality and severe maternal
71 morbidity among black women.
72 (3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to seek a grant under this
73 section, an entity must be a community-based organization
74 offering programs and resources aligned with evidence-based
75 practices for improving maternal health outcomes for black
76 women.
77 (4) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—
78 (a) Beginning July 1, 2021, the department shall:
79 1. Conduct outreach to encourage eligible entities to apply
80 for grants under this section; and
81 2. Provide technical assistance to eligible entities on
82 best practices for applying for grants under this section.
83 (b) In conducting outreach, the department shall give
84 special consideration to eligible entities that:
85 1. Are based in, and provide support for, communities with
86 high rates of adverse maternal health outcomes and significant
87 racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes;
88 2. Are led by black women; and
89 3. Offer programs and resources that are aligned with
90 evidence-based practices for improving maternal health outcomes
91 for black women.
92 (5) AWARDS.—In awarding grants under this section, the
93 department shall give special consideration to eligible entities
94 that meet all of the following criteria:
95 (a) Meet the criteria specified in paragraph (4)(b).
96 (b) Offer programs and resources designed in consultation
97 with and intended for black women.
98 (c) Offer programs and resources in the communities in
99 which they are located which include any of the following
100 activities:
101 1. Promotion of maternal mental health and maternal
102 substance use disorder treatments that are aligned with
103 evidence-based practices for improving maternal mental health
104 outcomes for black women.
105 2. Addressing social determinants of health for women in
106 the prenatal and postpartum periods, including, but not limited
107 to, any of the following:
108 a. Inadequate housing.
109 b. Transportation barriers.
110 c. Poor nutrition.
111 d. Lack of access to healthy foods.
112 e. Need for lactation support.
113 f. Need for lead abatement and other efforts to improve air
114 and water quality.
115 g. Lack of access to child care.
116 h. Need for car seat installation.
117 i. Need for wellness and stress management programs.
118 j. Need for coordination across safety net and social
119 support services and programs.
120 3. Promotion of evidence-based health literacy and
121 pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting education for women in the
122 prenatal and postpartum periods.
123 4. Providing support from doulas and other perinatal health
124 workers to women from pregnancy through the postpartum period.
125 5. Providing culturally congruent training to perinatal
126 health workers such as doulas, community health workers, peer
127 supporters, certified lactation consultants, nutritionists and
128 dietitians, social workers, home visitors, and navigators.
129 6. Conducting or supporting research on issues affecting
130 black maternal health.
131 7. Development of other programs and resources that address
132 community-specific needs for women in the prenatal and
133 postpartum periods and are aligned with evidence-based practices
134 for improving maternal health outcomes for black women.
135 (6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The department shall provide to
136 grant recipients under this section technical assistance
137 regarding all of the following:
138 (a) Capacity building to establish or expand programs to
139 prevent adverse maternal health outcomes among black women.
140 (b) Best practices in data collection, measurement,
141 evaluation, and reporting.
142 (c) Planning for sustaining programs to prevent maternal
143 mortality and severe maternal morbidity among black women when
144 the grant expires.
145 (7) REPORT.—By July 1, 2023, and each year thereafter, the
146 department shall submit a report to the Governor, the President
147 of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
148 which includes all of the following:
149 (a) Assessment of the effectiveness of outreach efforts
150 during the application process in diversifying the pool of grant
151 recipients.
152 (b) Recommendations for future outreach efforts to
153 diversify the pool of grant recipients for department grant
154 programs and funding opportunities.
155 (c) Assessment of the effectiveness of programs funded by
156 grants awarded under this section in improving maternal health
157 outcomes for black women.
158 (d) Recommendations for future department grant programs
159 and funding opportunities that deliver funding to community
160 based organizations to improve maternal health outcomes for
161 black women through programs and resources that are aligned with
162 evidence-based practices for improving maternal health outcomes
163 for black women.
164 (8) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement
165 this section.
166 Section 2. Section 383.53, Florida Statutes, is created to
167 read:
168 383.53 Training programs for employees in maternity care
169 settings.—
170 (1) GRANTS.—The Department of Health shall award grants to
171 training programs that reduce and prevent bias, racism, and
172 discrimination in maternity care settings. In awarding grants
173 under this section, the department shall give special
174 consideration to programs that would:
175 (a) Apply to all birthing professionals and any employees
176 who interact with pregnant and postpartum women, as the term
177 “postpartum” is defined in s. 383.52(1), in the provider
178 setting, including front desk employees, technicians,
179 schedulers, health care professionals, hospital or health system
180 administrators, and security staff;
181 (b) Emphasize periodic, as opposed to one-time, trainings
182 for all birthing professionals and employees described in
183 paragraph (a);
184 (c) Address implicit bias and explicit bias;
185 (d) Be delivered in continuing education settings for
186 providers maintaining their licenses, with a preference for
187 training programs that provide continuing education units and
188 continuing medical education;
189 (e) Include trauma-informed care best practices and an
190 emphasis on shared decisionmaking between providers and
191 patients;
192 (f) Include a service-learning component that sends
193 providers to work in underserved communities to better
194 understand patients’ life experiences;
195 (g) Be delivered in undergraduate degree programs, such as
196 biology and premedicine, which generally lead to enrollment in
197 or are prerequisite programs for medical schools;
198 (h) Be delivered in settings where providers of the federal
199 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and
200 Children would receive the training;
201 (i) Integrate bias training in obstetric emergency
202 simulation trainings;
203 (j) Offer training to all maternity care providers on the
204 value of racially, ethnically, and professionally diverse
205 maternity care teams to provide culturally congruent care as
206 defined in s. 383.52(1), including doulas, community health
207 workers, peer supporters, certified lactation consultants,
208 nutritionists and dietitians, social workers, home visitors, and
209 navigators; or
210 (k) Be based on one or more programs designed by a
211 historically black college or university.
212 (2) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this section, an
213 entity shall submit an application at such time, in such manner,
214 and containing such information as the department may require.
215 (3) REPORTING.—Each recipient of a grant under this section
216 shall annually submit to the department a report on the status
217 of activities conducted under the grant, including, as
218 applicable, a description of the impact of training provided
219 through the grant on patient outcomes and patient experiences
220 for minority women and their families.
221 (4) BEST PRACTICES.—Based on the annual reports submitted
222 pursuant to subsection (3), the department:
223 (a) Shall produce an annual report on the findings
224 resulting from programs funded through this section;
225 (b) Shall disseminate such report to all recipients of
226 grants under this section and to the public; and
227 (c) May include in such report findings on best practices
228 for improving patient outcomes and patient experiences for
229 minority women and their families in maternity care settings.
230 (5) STUDY.—
231 (a) The department, in consultation with the Office of
232 Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, shall
233 conduct a study on the design and implementation of programs to
234 reduce and prevent bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity
235 care settings.
236 (b) The study may include:
237 1. The development of a scorecard for programs designed to
238 reduce and prevent bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity
239 care settings to assess the effectiveness of such programs in
240 improving patient outcomes and patient experiences for minority
241 women and their families.
242 2. Determination of the types of training to reduce and
243 prevent bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity care
244 settings which are demonstrated to improve patient outcomes or
245 patient experiences for minority women and their families.
246 (c) By December 1, 2022, the department, in coordination
247 with the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
248 Accountability, shall submit a report to the Governor, the
249 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
250 Representatives which includes findings and recommendations
251 based on the study required by this subsection.
252 (6) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement
253 this section.
254 Section 3. Section 383.54, Florida Statutes, is created to
255 read:
256 383.54 Expanding capacity for positive maternal health
257 outcomes.—
258 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
259 (a) “Department” means the Department of Health.
260 (b) “Eligible entity” means an entity that provides, or
261 supports the provision of, maternal health care services or
262 other evidence-based services for pregnant and postpartum women:
263 1. In health professional shortage areas;
264 2. In areas with high rates of adverse maternal health
265 outcomes and significant racial and ethnic disparities in
266 maternal health outcomes; or
267 3. Medically underserved populations.
268
269 The term includes entities leading, or capable of leading, a
270 technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity-building
271 model or engaging in technology-enabled collaborative training
272 of participants in such model.
273 (c) “Health professional shortage area” means a geographic
274 area designated as such by the Health Resources and Services
275 Administration of the United States Department of Health and
276 Human Services.
277 (d) “Indigenous population” means any Indian tribe, band,
278 nation, tribal organization, urban Indian organization, or other
279 organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible
280 for services provided to Indians by the United States Secretary
281 of the Interior because of their status as Indians. The term
282 includes any Alaskan native village as defined in 43 U.S.C. s.
283 1602(c), the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as that
284 definition existed on the effective date of this act.
285 (e) “Maternal mortality” means a death occurring during
286 pregnancy or the postpartum period which is caused by pregnancy
287 or childbirth complications.
288 (f) “Medically underserved population” means the population
289 of an urban or rural area designated by the United States
290 Secretary of Health and Human Services as an area with a
291 shortage of personal health care services or a population group
292 designated by the United States Secretary of Health and Human
293 Services as having a shortage of such services.
294