(a) The department, in consultation with the program administrators, may contract with one or more qualified organizations to assist the department in ensuring that grantees implement the program as established under Section 123491 and to conduct an annual evaluation of the implementation of the grant program on a statewide basis. The first evaluation shall be due 12 months after the award of grants pursuant to Section 123492.
(b) (1) In conducting its monitoring and evaluation activities, the department shall be guided by program performance standards developed by the department in consultation with the Nurse-Family Partnership program.
(2) The annual evaluation shall contain, but not be limited to, the extent to which each grantee participating in the program has done each of the following:
(A) Recruited a population of low-income, first-time mothers.
(B) Enrolled families early in pregnancy and followed them through the second birthday of the child.
(C) Conducted visits that are of comparable frequency, duration, and content as those delivered in the randomized clinical trials of the program.
(D) Assessed the health and well-being of the mothers and children enrolled in the program according to common indicators of maternal, child, and family health.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 728, Sec. 109. (SB 71) Effective January 1, 2013.)