(a) To prevent tobacco-related diseases and diminish tobacco use, the department shall establish within the department a program on tobacco use and health to reduce tobacco use in California by conducting health education interventions and behavior change programs at the state level, in the community, and other nonschool settings.
(b) The department shall conduct statewide surveillance of tobacco-related behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes and evaluate the department’s local and state tobacco control programs under this article. At a minimum, these evaluation activities shall utilize scientifically appropriate methods for monitoring the annual progress of the program in reducing the adult smoking prevalence from the 1993 benchmark rate of 20 percent and reducing cigarette consumption from the 1993 per capita benchmark rate of 4.84 packs per quarter. These surveillance and evaluation activities may include, but need not be limited to, the following:
(1) Be based on sound evaluation principles and include, to the extent feasible, elements of controlled experimental methods.
(2) Monitor the overall statewide effect of health education efforts on smoking and tobacco use, and, to the extent feasible, the resulting effects on health.
(3) Monitor the effect of the programs on individual target populations identified by this article or designated by the department as meriting special attention.
(4) Provide an evaluation of the comparative effectiveness of individual program designs that shall be used in funding decisions and program modifications.
(5) Incorporate other aspects into the evaluation that have been identified by the department in consultation with state and local advisory groups, local lead agencies, and other interested parties.
(6) Funds permitting, utilize a sample size that is adequate to produce county, regional, and ethnic specific estimates.
(c) The department shall produce or contract for, and update biennially, a description of programs determined to be effective in reducing smoking and tobacco use, and the identification of portions of target populations that need information regarding the hazards of tobacco use. The department, in consultation with the State Department of Education, shall conduct, or contract for an evaluation of the effectiveness of the tobacco use prevention and education program as implemented in the public schools that receive funding for tobacco use prevention education pursuant to Sections 104420, 104425, 104435, and 104445. The purpose of the evaluation shall be to direct the most efficient allocation of resources appropriated under this article to accomplish the maximum prevention and reduction of tobacco use. The comprehensive evaluation shall be designed to measure the extent to which programs funded pursuant to this article promote the goals identified in this article and in Proposition 99 of the November 1988 general election. All information resulting from the evaluation shall be made available to the State Department of Education for purposes of improving its ability to implement and oversee the provision of effective tobacco use prevention education programs. The evaluator shall:
(1) Assess the effectiveness of tobacco use prevention education programs designed to prevent and reduce tobacco use among students. In support of this primary goal, the evaluation shall:
(A) Report findings on the effectiveness of programs and strategies currently in use in California schools that prevent and reduce tobacco use.
(B) Select a research strategy that will identify formal and informal factors that might account for differences in tobacco use by students, including, but not limited to, formal education prevention strategies.
(C) Incorporate in the evaluation quantitative as well as qualitative data. The data shall include, but are not limited to:
(i) Student data, including attitudes, knowledge, and behavior based upon a statistically valid random sample of school districts and students.
(ii) Curriculum data, including diversity of curricula, evidence of appropriateness to grade level, gender, and ethnicity, and the extent of the inclusion of prevention approaches identified in research literature.
(iii) School data, including intensity of emphasis on tobacco use prevention and evidence of counseling or treatment referral systems.
(iv) Community data, including the existence of parent networks and the participation of community service organizations including local lead agencies, in prevention.
(2) Develop and test a regular tobacco use prevention and education information system for use by the State Department of Education, using the resulting information to establish the extent of implementation of tobacco use prevention education programs statewide and the degree of student exposure to these programs at selected grade levels.
(3) Ensure provision of a fourth administration of a statewide, biennial survey of attitudes toward tobacco and prevalence of tobacco use among public school students. To the extent possible, existing survey data shall be utilized.
(4) Provide recommendations to the Legislature and the State Department of Education on tobacco use prevention education program changes.
(5) Assist the State Department of Education in identifying and developing instructional materials and curricula in school-based programs, designed to enhance the prevention of and encouraging the cessation of the continuing use of, tobacco products. The materials and curricula shall address the specific needs of persons in grades 4 to 12, inclusive, and in adult education programs.
(d) School districts shall agree, as a condition of receiving money pursuant to this article, to participate in the evaluation if chosen by the evaluator.
(e) (1) The department shall contract with one or more qualified agencies for production and implementation of an ongoing public awareness of tobacco-related diseases by developing an information campaign using a variety of media approaches. The department shall issue a request for proposals biennially. Any media campaign funded with this part shall stress the importance of both preventing the initiation of tobacco use and quitting smoking and shall be based on professional market research and surveys necessary to determine the most effective method of diminishing tobacco use among specified target populations. Initial media efforts shall be directed to specific target populations. The contractors selected shall be provided with all available survey information resulting from ongoing programs funded under this article. Priority shall be given to minor children, ages 6 to 14, inclusive. The medium used shall be determined to be the most effective at reaching this targeted age group. With respect to the broadcast media, the message shall be aired at times expected to reach the priority age group. With respect to the print media, publications to be used shall be those that appeal to the priority age group.
(2) No media campaign funded pursuant to this article shall feature in any manner the image or voice of any elected public official or candidate for elected office, or directly represent the views of any elected public official or candidate for elected office.
(f) The department shall provide or contract for training, consultation, support, and continuing education to health professionals, and others interested in developing programs and services directed at preventing tobacco use and promoting smoking cessation, utilizing, when available and determined appropriate by the department, the expertise of universities in this state and schools of public health. The training, consultation, support, and continuing education shall include advice and support in creating a smoke-free environment.
(g) The department shall conduct an awards program to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of those communities, organizations, and groups that have fostered movement toward a smoke-free society or have reduced the consumption of tobacco.
(h) The department shall issue guidelines for local plans for education against tobacco use. The guidelines shall require local public health departments to provide services directed at preventing tobacco use and promoting smoking cessation to the target populations enumerated in Section 104360 and to persons under 19 years of age who no longer attend school and to youth attending school who are not served through State Department of Education funded programs. The guidelines shall require for each target population to be served a description of the services to be provided, an estimate of the number to be served, an estimate of the success rate, and a method to determine to what extent goals have been achieved. Beginning with the 1990–91 fiscal year, and for each fiscal year thereafter, the guidelines shall require local lead agencies to describe how local funding decisions will take into account evaluations of program effectiveness and efficiency. The guidelines shall require the submission of a budget and information on staffing configurations.
(i) By December 31, 1989, the department shall issue guidelines for fiscal year 1989–90 and by July 1, 1990, the department shall issue guidelines to local lead agencies on how to prepare a local plan for a comprehensive community intervention program against tobacco use.
(j) The department shall provide technical assistance to local lead agencies for the development of plans required by Section 104400 so that the local lead agencies are able to comply with the schedule for the submission of plans specified in Section 104400. The technical assistance shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Developing and disseminating preventive health education program options for local communities.
(2) Providing training, consultation, and technical assistance to local health departments, local advisory committees, and service providers.
(k) The department shall receive and approve local plans submitted by local lead agencies and provide technical assistance and guidance as necessary to ensure the compliance of the local lead agencies with this article. Every effort shall be made to approve or provide a list of necessary amendments to a local plan within 30 days of receipt of the local plan. The department may authorize a local lead agency to begin implementation of its local plan on a provisional basis, with final approval of the local plan contingent on satisfying conditions specified by the department.
( l) The department shall work in collaboration with the public and private sectors in implementing the activities required of the department and provide access upon request to local plans, program statistics, and other readily available information.
(m) The department shall provide staff, assistance, and support needed by the committee.
(n) In consultation with the committee, the department shall develop a comprehensive master plan for implementing tobacco education programs throughout the state for the prevention and cessation of tobacco use.
(o) The department shall consult regularly with the University of California regarding trends in the frequency and the cost of treating tobacco-related diseases and the success of research efforts to reduce tobacco use and limit its adverse health effects.
(p) The department shall establish, in consultation with the State Department of Education and county offices of education, a data collection and data management program to study effective tobacco use interventions. Under this program the department may contract for studies and evaluations in school-based and community-based programs. The department shall consult with the State Department of Education regarding the collection and evaluation of program data.
(1) The department shall require, by contract, that local lead agencies use a uniform management data and information system that will permit comparisons of workload, unit costs, and outcome measurements on a statewide basis. The department shall specify data reporting requirements for local lead agencies and their subcontractors.
(2) The department shall approve local lead agency and grantee computer software and hardware in order to ensure systemwide compatibility and capacity to expand. Departmental guidelines for local plans shall require local lead agencies to set forth their hardware and software plans and needs.
(3) The department may contract for the development or operation of a computerized management information system.
(4) The department shall consult the State Department of Education regarding computer software and hardware systems for school-based programs.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 1996.)