Title: S.L. 1975-929
Category: Introduced Bills

General Assembly of North Carolina	1975

NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1975 SESSION

CHAPTER 929
HOUSE BILL 456

AN ACT TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY-BASED ALTERNATIVES TO STATE TRAINING SCHOOLS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is hereby amended to add Part 20 to Article 3 to read as follows:
"Part 20. Technical Advisory Committee on Delinquency Prevention and Youth Services.
"§ 143B-204.  Legislative intent. — The General Assembly hereby declares its intent to reduce the number of children committed by the courts for delinquency to institutions operated by the Division of Youth Development, Department of Human Resources or other State agencies. The primary intent of this act is to provide a comprehensive plan for the development of community-based alternatives to training school commitment so that 'status offenders' (defined by this act to include 'those juveniles guilty of offenses which would not be violations of the law if committed by an adult) may be eliminated from the Youth Development institutions of this State. Additionally it is the intent of this legislation to provide noninstitutional disposition options in any case before the juvenile court where such disposition is deemed to be in the best interest of the child and the community.
The policy and intent of the General Assembly in delinquency prevention and community-based services can be summarized as follows:
(1)	Such programs should be planned and organized at the community level within the State, and such planning efforts should include appropriate representation from local government, local agencies serving families and children (both public and private), local business leaders, citizens with an interest in youth problems, youth representatives, and others as may be appropriate in a particular community. The role of the State should be to provide technical assistance, access to funding, program information, and to assist local leadership in appropriate planning.
(2)	When a child is adjudicated to be within the juvenile jurisdiction of the district court such child should be carefully evaluated through the available community-level resources (including mental health, social services, public health and other available medical services, public schools, and others as appropriate) prior to the juvenile hearing dealing with disposition so that the disposition of the court may be made with an understanding of the needs of the child and after consideration of the resources available to meet these needs.
(3)	It is contrary to the policy of the State for a court to separate a child from his own family or commit a child to an institution or training school without a careful evaluation of the needs of the child.
(4)	The General Assembly finds that State and local government should be responsive to the need for community-based services which would provide a viable alternative to commitment to an institution or training school. The General Assembly intends that State government should be responsive to this need through the Department of Human Resources by helping public and private local groups to plan, develop and fund community-based programs, both residential and nonresidential. It is recognized that such efforts will require the cooperation of several major State departments in addition to Human Resources, such as Public Instruction, Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Governor's Committee on Law and Order.
(5)	It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources in conjunction with the Technical Advisory Committee described in Section 143B-206 of this bill develop a funding mechanism that will provide State support for programs that meet the standards as developed under the provisions of this act.
"§ 143B-205.  Duties of Secretary of Human Resources. — It shall be the duty of the Secretary of Human Resources to arrange for the appropriate unit or units of the Department of Human Resources to implement Part 20, Article 3, of this Chapter as follows:
(1)	To designate the appropriate unit of the Department of Human Resources to be responsible for coordination of State-level services in relation to delinquency prevention and youth services so that any citizen may go to one place in State government to receive services or access to services;
(2)	To provide staff services to the Technical Advisory Committee on Delinquency Prevention and Youth Services created by Part 20;
(3)	To arrange appropriate coordination and planning within the child-serving agencies of the Department of Human Resources and promote interdepartmental coordination by regular interaction with the Technical Advisory Committee;
(4)	To assist local governments and private service agencies in the development of community-based programs, and to provide information on the availability of potential funding sources and whatever assistance may be requested in making application for needed funding;
(5)	To approve yearly program evaluations and to make recommendations to the General Assembly concerning continuation funding that might be supported by that evaluation;
(6)	To approve program evaluation standards by which all programs developed under the provisions of this act may be objectively evaluated.
	Such standards as may be developed for the purpose of program evaluation shall be in addition to any current standards as may be applicable under the existing authority of the Social Services Commission and the Department of Human Resources.
	Minimum operating standards as well as program evaluation standards as may be needed for new program models designed to fulfill the intent of this act, may be developed at the discretion of the Secretary either by the Social Services Commission or the Technical Advisory Committee.
(7)	To develop in coordination with the Technical Advisory Committee as described in Section 143B-206 of this act a formula for funding on a matching basis community-based services as provided for in this act. This formula shall be based upon the county's or counties' relative ability to fund community-based programs for juveniles.
Local governments receiving State matching funds for programs under the provisions of this act must maintain the same overall level of effort that existed at the time of the filing of the County Assessment of Youth Needs with the Department of Human Resources as provided in Section 143B-209 of this act.
"§ 143B-206.  Technical Advisory Committee on Delinquency Prevention and Youth Services. — There is hereby created the Technical Advisory Committee on Delinquency Prevention and Youth Services to advise and assist the Secretary of Human Resources in the development of delinquency prevention programs and community-based services for youth, both residential and nonresidential, which shall have the following duties:
(1)	To provide yearly program evaluation of the effectiveness of delinquency prevention programs and community-based services developed or supported under provisions of this act, and, based on the findings of that evaluation, to make recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources on the yearly budget requests for continuation funding;
(2)	To advise and assist the Secretary of Human Resources in the development of a program which would coordinate the resources of State government within the appropriate departments to provide technical assistance to local areas within the State to assist them in planning delinquency prevention programs and community-based services for youth, including but not limited to the following: study local youth needs; gather data on children within the juvenile jurisdiction of the district court; evaluate resources for providing services or care to these children; provide information about various program models which might be appropriate in relation to the needs of youth; help in planning for evaluation; and other assistance as may be appropriate;
(3)	To develop and recommend to the Secretary of Human Resources the program evaluation standards for delinquency prevention programs and community-based programs, both residential and nonresidential;
(4)	To advise and assist the Secretary of Human Resources in encouraging the development of delinquency prevention programs and community-based services by private groups so that such programs can be responsive to local needs, so that local leadership and private groups can be responsible for their programs, and so that programs which meet State standards can be assisted by State and federal funding and so that available private funds can be appropriately utilized along with available State and federal funds;
(5)	To advise and assist the Secretary of Human Resources in development of programs which have a plan for evaluation from the beginning so that successful program models can be replicated as appropriate;
(6)	To advise and assist the Secretary of Human Resources in the development of delinquency prevention programs and community-based services under public auspices where there is no local private leadership.
"§ 143B-207.  Composition of Technical Advisory Committee on Delinquency Prevention and Youth Services. — The Committee shall consist of 14 members who shall be appointed as follows:
(1)	Two members shall be appointed by the Governor who shall be citizens who are parents and have some knowledge about juvenile delinquency, its prevention, and community-based services;
(2)	Four members shall be appointed by the General Assembly, two by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and two by the President of the Senate, who shall be members of the General Assembly with an interest in youth problems;
(3)	Two members shall be appointed by the Secretary of Human Resources who shall be personnel employed by the Department of Human Resources with knowledge about delinquency prevention programs, community-based services, child care, and licensing;
(4)	Two members shall be appointed by the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, including at least one chief court counselor from the local level;
(5)	Two members shall be appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, one of whom shall be a person from a local public school administrative unit with knowledge about school attendance problems, learning problems of children, alternative school programs, and other school programs to provide individualized instruction;
(6)	Two members shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Governor's Committee on Law and Order who shall be members of said Committee who are knowledgeable about juvenile delinquency and federal funds available for juvenile services.
All appointments shall be for a term of two years, to begin on or before July 1, 1975. Any vacancy arising for any cause other than the expiration of the term shall be filled by the original appointing authority for the unexpired term. The Committee should include representation of racial minorities and women. The Committee shall elect its chairman and other officers as may be needed from among the membership of the Committee. Members of the Technical Advisory Committee may receive travel and per diem expenses as authorized for members of State committees under G.S. 138-5.
"§ 143B-208.  Purchase of care or services from programs meeting State standards. — The Department of Human Resources and any other appropriate State or local agency are hereby authorized to purchase care or services from public or private agencies providing delinquency prevention programs or community-based services, provided the program meets the State standards as authorized by G.S. 143B-205. As institutional populations are reduced, the Department of Human Resources may divert State funds appropriated for institutional programs to purchase such services, pursuant to the provisions of the Executive Budget Act.
The Technical Advisory Committee shall prepare an annual report on the progress of the community-based programs of this State which shall include the most current institutional populations of children being served by the various departments of State government which shall include comparative costs of all child serving agencies. Such report shall be submitted to the Governor, the General Assembly and the various State departments providing services to children.
"§ 143B-209.  County assessment of youth needs. — The board of county commissioners of each participating county shall conduct or arrange for a study of youth needs in the county, giving particular attention to the need for delinquency prevention programs and community-based services (residential or nonresidential) which would provide an alternative to commitment to training school. The board of county commissioners may delegate the responsibility to any appropriate board or department of county government, or it may contract with an appropriate private agency or group for the study. Adjoining counties may cooperate in conducting such study on a regional basis, utilizing appropriate public or private resources.
The board of county commissioners of any county may request technical assistance from the Secretary of Human Resources in conducting such study. Each participating county shall develop a study plan for submission to the Secretary of Human Resources by January 1, 1976. Each participating county shall file a report of preliminary findings from such study to the Secretary of Human Resources by January 1, 1977, and its full report by January 1, 1978. Each participating county shall plan for a continuing assessment of youth needs in the county or region with annual reports to the Secretary of Human Resources.
"§ 143B-210.  Prevent the commitment of noncriminal juvenile offenders to juvenile institutions for delinquents. — To fully implement the legislative intent and purpose of this act, G.S. 7A-278(2) is rewritten to omit the words 'or a child who has violated the conditions of his probation under this Article' so that it reads as follows:
(2)	'Delinquent child' includes any child who has committed any criminal offense under State law or under an ordinance of local government, including violations of the motor vehicle laws."
Sec. 2.  There is hereby appropriated from the General Fund of the State the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for the 1975-1976 fiscal year and fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for the 1776-1977 fiscal year to the Department of Human Resources for the administrative cost of the community-based services program.
Sec. 3.  This act shall become effective upon ratification, except that G.S. 143B-210 shall become effective on July 1, 1977.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 26th day of June, 1975.

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