(a) The department shall allocate funds to local health jurisdictions for sexually transmitted disease prevention and control activities in accordance, to the extent possible, with the following:

(1) Local health jurisdictions shall be prioritized based on population and incidence of sexually transmitted diseases.

(2) Funds shall be allocated to prioritized local health jurisdictions in a manner that balances the need to spread funding to as many local health jurisdictions and community-based organizations as possible and the need to provide meaningful activities to each recipient. No less than 50 percent of the funds allocated to local health jurisdictions shall be provided to community-based organizations for purposes consistent with this section, provided that there are community-based organizations in the jurisdiction that provide these activities.

(3) Each local health jurisdiction shall demonstrate to the department that the community-based organization recipient has done all of the following:

(A) Identified priority target populations.

(B) Satisfactorily described its outreach protocols.

(C) Included community resources for prevention and control activities.

(4) The department shall develop measures for each local health jurisdiction funded pursuant to this section to demonstrate accountability.

(b) In awarding funds pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall authorize local health jurisdictions to include innovative and impactful prevention and control activities, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Voluntary screening for sexually transmitted diseases among inmates and wards of county adult and juvenile correctional facilities. The department may provide assistance or guidance to the local health jurisdiction if necessary to secure participation by other county agencies.

(2) Technology, telehealth, and digital platforms and applications to enhance immediate access to screening, testing, and treatment, as well as partner activities in order to speed activities and to reduce administrative costs.

(3) State-of-the-art testing modalities that ensure swift and accurate screening for, and diagnosis of, sexually transmitted diseases.

(4) Community-based testing and disease investigation.

(c) The department shall monitor activities in funded local health jurisdictions, based on the accountability measures required under paragraph (4) of subdivision (a), in order to assess the effectiveness of prevention and control activities efforts.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the activities identified in this section are to enhance the activities that are already provided. Therefore, nothing in this section shall be construed to require the department to replace existing activities with the activities provided for in subdivision (a) or to prevent the department from adding new activities as may be appropriate.

(e) This section shall be operative only if funds are explicitly appropriated in the annual Budget Act specifically for purposes of this section.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 38, Sec. 18. (SB 78) Effective June 27, 2019. Section conditionally operative by its own provisions. Conditionally inoperative December 31, 2021, pursuant to Section 120512.)