The department shall expand the Child Health and Disability Prevention (CHDP) Program contained in Article 6 (commencing with Section 124025) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 as follows:
(a) Any child between birth and 90 days after entrance into first grade, all persons under 21 years of age who are eligible for the California Medical Assistance Program, and any person under 19 years of age whose family income is not more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level shall be eligible for services under the program in the county of which they are a resident. The department shall adopt regulations specifying which age groups shall be given certain types of screening tests and recommendations for referral.
(b) The first source of referral under the program shall be the child’s usual source of health care. If referral is required and no regular source of health care can be identified, the facility or provider providing health screening and evaluation services shall provide a list of three qualified sources of care, without prejudice for or against any specific source.
(c) The department shall issue protocols for an antitobacco education component of the child health and disability prevention medical examination. The protocols shall include the following: dissuading children from beginning to smoke, encouraging smoking cessation, and providing information on the health effects of tobacco use on the user, children, and nonsmokers. The protocols shall also include a focus on health promotion, disease prevention, and risk reduction, utilizing a “wellness” perspective that encourages self-esteem and positive decisionmaking techniques, and referral to an appropriate community smoking cessation program.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department shall ensure that a portion of the funds in the Child Health Disability Prevention Program budget is used to facilitate the integration of the medical and dental components of all aspects of that program.
(e) The department shall expand its support and monitoring of county child health and disability prevention program efforts to provide all of the following:
(1) Review of a representative, statistically valid, randomly selected sample of child health and disability prevention health assessments, including, but not limited to, dental assessments, which result in the discovery of conditions which require followup diagnosis and treatment, including but not limited to dental treatment, and which qualify for services under this section. The purpose of the survey and followup reviews of local programs is to determine whether necessary diagnosis and treatment services are being provided, and the degree to which those services comply with the intent of the act that added this subdivision. These survey reviews shall include all counties and shall be conducted at least three times a year.
(2) At least once a year, as part of regular visits to county child health and disability prevention programs to provide technical assistance, support services and monitoring and evaluation of program performance, department staff shall review the effectiveness of the mandated treatment program. The purpose of this review is to assure that the county is providing appropriate followup services for conditions discovered during child health and disability prevention health assessments. This review shall be done in conjunction with the ongoing survey activity of the Child Health and Disability Prevention Branch of the department and shall utilize data resulting from that activity.
(3) If the department establishes that a county has failed to provide treatment services mandated by the act that added this subdivision, the department shall require the county to submit a plan of correction within 90 days. If the department finds that substantial correction has not occurred within 90 days following receipt of the correction plan, it may require the county to enter into a contract pursuant to Section 16934.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code for the remainder of the fiscal year and the following fiscal year, and for this purpose shall withhold the same percentage of funds as are withheld from other counties participating in the program pursuant to Section 16934.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2024, or on the date certified by the department pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 124024, whichever date is later, and shall be repealed on January 1 of the year following the inoperative date.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 8. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022. Conditionally inoperative on or after July 1, 2024, by its own provisions. Repealed January 1 following the inoperative date.)