20 CAR Part 578 — Rules for Life Choices Lifeline and Continuum of Care Program

Chapter XV

Subchapter A

Subpart 1

20 CAR § 578-101 Purpose {#sec-20-car-578-101 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-101}

20 CAR § 578-101. Purpose.

The purpose of the Life Choices Lifeline and Continuum of Care Program is to provide a statewide telemedicine network and care program to provide community outreach, direct services, support, social services case management, care coordination, consultation, and referrals to:

(1) Encourage healthy childbirth;

(2) Support childbirth as an alternative to abortion;

(3) Promote family formation;

(4) Aid in successful parenting;

(5) Assist parents in establishing successful parenting techniques; and

(6) Increase families’ economic self-sufficiency.

20 CAR § 578-102 Definitions {#sec-20-car-578-102 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-102}

20 CAR § 578-102. Definitions.

As used in this part:

(1)(A) “Abortion” means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman, with knowledge that the termination by any of those means will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the unborn child.

(B) An act is not an abortion if it is performed with the intent to:

(i) Save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child;

(ii) Remove a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion; or

(iii) Remove an ectopic pregnancy;

(2) “Abuse” means the same as defined in Arkansas Code § 12-18-103;

(3)(A) “Agency” means any entity that contracts with the Department of Human Services to provide the services required by the Life Choices Lifeline and Continuum of Care Program.

(B) The terms “agency” and “provider” are used interchangeably;

(4) “Assault” means the act or offense described in Arkansas Code §§ 5-13-204 – 5-13-207;

(5) “Care agent” means a person employed by an agency or provider to perform the services required by the Life Choices Lifeline and Continuum of Care Program;

(6) “Human trafficking” means the act or offense described in the Human Trafficking Act of 2013, Arkansas Code § 5-18-101 et seq.;

(7)(A) “Medical emergency” means a condition that, based on the good faith clinical judgment of the physician, has complicated the medical condition of the pregnant woman so as to necessitate the immediate termination of the pregnancy to avert the woman’s death, or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.

(B) Acts taken to address medical emergencies are not prohibited by this part;

(8) “Neglect” means the same as defined in Arkansas Code § 12-18-103;

(9) “Participant” means an eligible individual who elects to receive services through the Life Choices Lifeline and Continuum of Care Program; and

(10) “Sexual assault” means an act or offense described in Arkansas Code § 5-14-101 et seq., except for a misdemeanor violation of sexual indecency with a child, found at Arkansas Code § 5-14-110.

Subpart 2

20 CAR § 578-201 Components {#sec-20-car-578-201 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-201}

20 CAR § 578-201. Components.

The Life Choices Lifeline and Continuum of Care Program shall consist of at least the following components:

(1) Direct-to-participant marketing within Arkansas;

(2) Participant outreach;

(3) Direct services, supports, social services case management, and referrals provided to participants;

(4) Administrative support and expenses directly attributable to the development of or ongoing support of healthy pregnancy services and care plan coordination services of the program; and

(5) A statewide telemedicine support network to facilitate the services and resources described in 20 CAR § 578-205.

20 CAR § 578-202 Eligibility {#sec-20-car-578-202 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-202}

20 CAR § 578-202. Eligibility.

(a) The Life Choices Lifeline and Continuum of Care Program is available to residents of all counties of the State of Arkansas who meet the eligibility criteria set out below, including residents in rural areas that may currently lack access to healthy pregnancy program services and care coordination services.

(b) To be eligible to receive services through the program as a participant, an individual shall, at the time of initial contact with the program, be:

(1) A resident of the state who is a biological parent of an unborn child or adoptive parent of a child under two (2) years of age;

(2) A pregnant woman seeking to obtain an abortion in this state; or

(3) A parent or legal guardian of a pregnant minor residing in the state.

(c) Existing participants of the program whose pregnancy is terminated before birth are eligible to continue to receive services from the program for six (6) months after the date of termination.

20 CAR § 578-203 Provider requirements {#sec-20-car-578-203 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-203}

20 CAR § 578-203. Provider requirements.

A provider of Life Choices Lifeline and Continuum of Care Program services cannot:

(1) Be an abortion provider;

(2) Assist women in obtaining an abortion, refer women to an abortion provider, recommend abortion, promote abortion, refer for abortion, facilitate abortion, or take any other action that directly or indirectly advises a woman to obtain or assists a woman in obtaining an abortion;

(3) Own or operate an abortion provider or entity that:

(A) Assists women in obtaining an abortion;

(B) Refers women to an abortion provider;

(C) Recommends abortion; or

(D) Promotes abortion;

(4) Employ a person who has performed an abortion in the last two (2) years; or

(5) Have a director, board member, officer, or employee who would otherwise be prohibited from providing services under this section.

20 CAR § 578-204 Care agent requirements {#sec-20-car-578-204 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-204}

20 CAR § 578-204. Care agent requirements.

Care agents employed by the agency to offer the required services:

(1) Must have the qualification specified by that service;

(2) Must not have performed an abortion in the last two (2) years or served as a director, board member, officer, volunteer, or employee for an entity excluded from being an agency as set out in 20 CAR § 578-203;

(3) Must agree to maintain the confidentiality of information obtained from participants while providing required services;

(4) Must complete a required training program using standardized curriculum regarding recognizing signs that an individual may have been a victim of human trafficking and providing appropriate assistance to that person; and

(5) Must not:

(A) Refer a participant to an abortion provider;

(B) Recommend abortion; or

(C) Take any other action that directly or indirectly advises a woman to obtain or assists a woman in obtaining an abortion.

20 CAR § 578-205 Required services {#sec-20-car-578-205 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-205}

20 CAR § 578-205. Required services.

(a)(1) Program services may be provided, as appropriate, in person through existing facilities or remotely through a telephonic system or other comparable technological system.

(2) Any technological or telephonic system used must maintain the confidentiality of participant information obtained while providing program services, including security of data in compliance with HIPAA and HITECH, and all state or federal privacy laws.

(b) No agency shall be:

(1) Required to refer a woman for any social or medical service to which the employee or agency has a conscience objection;

(2) Prohibited from discussing abortion or related topics; or

(3) Prevented from recording information voluntarily disclosed by the participant to provide the participant support, either immediately or on an ongoing basis.

(c) The agency must maintain a call answer rate of eighty percent (80%) within twenty (20) seconds.

(d) Program services offered by the agency must be free to participants and must include:

(1)(A) Healthy pregnancy program services.

(B) These services must be provided by a licensed nurse, community health worker, or other individual of equivalent expertise.

(C) These services must:

(i) Assess and evaluate participants' needs related to pregnancy and parenting;

(ii) Assist participants in obtaining medical and mental health care; and

(iii) Provide medically accurate, pregnancy-related medical information to participants;

(2)(A) Care plan coordination services.

(B) These services must be provided by:

(i) Licensed social workers;

(ii) Nurses;

(iii) Community health workers;

(iv) Licensed professional counselors; or

(v) Other individuals of equivalent experience.

(C) These services must:

(i) Develop a care plan, resources, and supports for participants to address identified needs;

(ii) Refer participants to local resources including without limitation state and federal benefits programs and local charitable organizations;

(iii) Assist participants in applying for state and federal benefit programs;

(iv) Assist participants in accomplishing the elements of the care plan;

(v) Assist participants in relation to postpartum depression and related referrals;

(vi) Assist participants in obtaining pediatric care and postpartum care; and

(vii) Assist participants in obtaining substance abuse treatment and alcohol abuse treatment; and

(3) Resource access assistance offer, which includes:

(A) Education on public and private resources available to address the socioeconomic needs of the participant; and

(B) Screening and assistance in obtaining services to address:

(i) Abuse;

(ii) Assault;

(iii) Sexual assault;

(iv) Neglect;

(v) Coercion; and

(vi) Human trafficking.

History

• Codification Notes: "HIPAA" means the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which was enacted as Pub. L. No. 104-191."HITECH" means the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which was enacted by Title XIII of Division A and Title IV of Division B of Pub. L. No. 111-5. Authorities: Arkansas Code § 20-8-1001; Arkansas Code § 20-8-1003

20 CAR § 578-206 Excluded services {#sec-20-car-578-206 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-206}

20 CAR § 578-206. Excluded services.

An agency may not provide or prescribe abortion services or abortion aid, nor take any action that directly or indirectly advises a woman to obtain or assists a woman in obtaining an abortion.

Subpart 3

20 CAR § 578-301 Monthly report {#sec-20-car-578-301 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-301}

20 CAR § 578-301. Monthly report.

An agency shall provide to the Division of Medical Services a monthly report that contains:

(1) The number of unique individuals who contacted the agency;

(2) The number of individuals who were eligible to receive services and the number who enrolled as participants;

(3) The number of individuals who obtained care plan coordination services;

(4) The number of individuals who obtained healthy pregnancy program services;

(5) The number of participants who obtained other resource access assistance offer services;

(6) The number of pregnant women who indicated a need for assistance as victims of:

(A) Assault;

(B) Sexual assault;

(C) Abuse;

(D) Neglect; or

(E) Human trafficking;

(7) The number of individuals receiving services who identified a need for support in one (1) or more of the following areas:

(A) Abuse, assault, sexual assault, coercion, or neglect;

(B) Education or training for a professional certification;

(C) Housing assistance;

(D) Employment assistance;

(E) Resume development;

(F) Childcare;

(G) Adoption services;

(H) Financial assistance;

(I) Substance abuse treatment and alcohol abuse treatment;

(J) Mental health care;

(K) Medical care;

(L) Human trafficking; or

(M) Health benefit plan coverage; and

(8) The number of each service, resource, or referral provided by the agency.

20 CAR § 578-302 Annual report {#sec-20-car-578-302 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-302}

20 CAR § 578-302. Annual report.

By September 1 of each year, the agency must submit an annual report for the previous fiscal year, to be compiled for the General Assembly that includes:

(1) The number of participants served by the agency; and

(2) The types of referrals and services, both required and optional, provided to participants.

20 CAR § 578-303 Confidentiality of the reports {#sec-20-car-578-303 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-20-part-578--20 CAR § 578-303}

20 CAR § 578-303. Confidentiality of the reports.

(a) All personally identifiable information used in or to create the reports detailed in this subpart is confidential and is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, Arkansas Code § 25-19-101 et seq.

(b) Disclosures may only be made in accordance with Arkansas Code § 20-16-2410(b).