§972.1. Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative

            A.(1) The Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative is hereby created, within the Department of Children and Family Services, to act as a statewide social service program to enhance and increase resources that promote childbirth instead of abortion for women facing unplanned pregnancies and to offer a full range of services, including pregnancy support services, parenting help, and adoption assistance.

            (2) The department shall implement a program by contracting with a single nonprofit organization to serve as general contractor to manage the provision of services under the Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative. The general contractor shall subcontract on a fee-for-service basis with existing nonprofit pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, maternity homes, and social service organizations to provide services that promote childbirth instead of abortion. The general contractor shall not provide any direct client services. The department shall impose no other requirements on the Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative general contractor except those contained in this Section and in its standard terms and conditions.

            (3) The general contractor selected by the department shall include as part of its program budget marketing expenses to make Louisiana residents aware of the Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative's services, as well as funds to develop and promote a website that provides a geographically indexed list of available nonprofit subcontractors that provide services.

            B.(1) The program established by the Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative shall provide only the following services:

            (a) Counseling or mentoring intended to improve the pregnancy or parenting situation, including care coordination for prenatal services, providing educational materials and information about pregnancy and parenting.

            (b) Referrals intended to improve the pregnancy or parenting situation, including referrals to parish and social service programs; referrals for child care, transportation, housing, and state and federal benefit programs; and referrals that connect clients to health programs.

            (c) Classes intended to improve the pregnancy or parenting situation, including classes on life skills, healthy pregnancies, budgeting, parenting, stress management, job training, and job placement.

            (d) Material items intended to improve the pregnancy or parenting situation, including but not limited to car seats, cribs, maternity clothes, infant diapers, and formula.

            (2) Program subcontractors may provide services in addition to the services provided for in this Subsection, but the services shall not be funded through the Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative.

            (3) The provision and delivery of services under the program shall be dependent on participant needs, as assessed by the nonprofit organization providing the services and not otherwise prioritized by any state agency.

            C.(1) Program services shall be made available to any Louisiana resident who is:

            (a) A pregnant woman.

            (b) The biological father of an unborn child.

            (c) The biological or adoptive parent or legal guardian of a child thirty-six months of age or younger.

            (d) A program participant who has experienced the loss of a child.

            (e) An immediate family member of a current biological parent who is a program participant.

            (2) Program services shall be available to participants only during pregnancy and continuing for up to thirty-six months after birth of the child.

            D. The department shall include as a condition of the contract with the nonprofit organization selected as general contractor to provide program services that the nonprofit organization shall submit a report to the department on or before seventy-five days after the close of the state fiscal year, reporting on the administration of the program during the prior fiscal year. The report shall include all of the following:

            (1) The number of clients served by the program.

            (2) The number of clients who received counseling or mentoring and the amount of counseling or mentoring received.

            (3) The number of clients who received classes and the amount of classes received.

            (4) The number of clients who received referrals and the amount of referrals received.

            (5) The number of clients who received material items and the amount of material items received.

            (6) Any other information that shows the success of the contractor's administration of the program.

            E.(1) The Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative shall be implemented effective August 1, 2024. The Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative shall replace the Louisiana Alternatives to Abortion Program administered by the department. The Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative shall be funded in a separate line-item of the General Appropriations Act or receive all funds appropriated for the Louisiana Alternatives to Abortion Program.

            (2) The department shall ensure that contracts with providers of the Louisiana Alternatives to Abortion Program in effect prior to August 1, 2024, remain under contract during the transition provided for in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection.

            (3) The Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Care Initiative and any funds appropriated or expended therefor shall not be used to perform, induce, or assist in the performing or inducing of abortions or be used to promote abortions or refer for abortions, and funds appropriated or expended for the program shall not be provided to organizations or affiliates of organizations that perform or induce abortions, assist in the performing or inducing of abortions, or promote abortions or refer for abortions.

            F. The department shall promulgate all rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this Section. The rules shall include but not be limited to appropriate oversight provisions and penalties for failure to achieve program objectives as provided for in this Section, measures to ensure the clinical efficacy and financial viability of the program, and benchmarks to achieve best practice outcomes. The department shall report annually to the legislature on the status of the program.

            Acts 2024, No. 329, §1, eff. May 28, 2024.