North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H165 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
2	2		SESSION 2025
3		-	H 1
4		-	HOUSE BILL 165
	3	+	H D
	4	+	HOUSE BILL DRH30076-NBa-40
	5	+
5	6
6	7
7	8		Short Title: Child and Family Welfare Ombudsman Office. (Public)
8		-	Sponsors: Representatives Torbett and Loftis (Primary Sponsors).
9		-	For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
10		-	Referred to: Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
11		-	February 24, 2025
12		-	H165 -v-1
	9	+	Sponsors: Representative Torbett.
	10	+	Referred to:
	11	+
	12	+	DRH30076 -NBa-40
13	13		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
14	14		AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE CHILD AND FAMILY WELFARE OMBUDSMAN OFFICE 2
15	15		WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. 3
16	16		The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
17	17		SECTION 1. Article 3 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by adding 5
18	18		a new Part to read: 6
19	19		"Part 6A. Child and Family Welfare Ombudsman Office. 7
20	20		"§ 143B-156.1. Child and Family Welfare Ombudsman Office. 8
21	21		(a) Establishment. – There is hereby established the Child and Family Welfare 9
22	22		Ombudsman Office within the Department of Health and Human Services. The Office shall 10
23	23		report directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Office shall focus on youth, 11
24	24		birth families, and resource parents that are directly involved in the North Carolina child welfare 12
25	25		system, including (i) assisting foster parents with issues, (ii) resolving conflicts related to the 13
26	26		licensing of family and therapeutic foster homes, (iii) placing children in foster care and assisting 14
27	27		in adoption procedures, and (iv) providing support and information to assist the foster care 15
28	28		process, and (v) other related matters. The Office shall advocate on behalf of these populations 16
29	29		in this State and support their rights to ensure their voices are heard and concerns are addressed. 17
30	30		The Secretary shall select a person who is qualified with unique or lived experience, with a 18
31	31		familiarity with State and federal laws and rules regarding foster care to serve as the Ombuds. 19
32	32		Any additional staff shall also have work or lived experience in the foster care space. The Office 20
33	33		shall coordinate with all State and federal agencies, including the Department of Health and 21
34	34		Human Services, the Social Services Commission, and local county departments of social 22
35	35		services, to effectuate the purpose of the Office as described in this Part. 23
36	36		(b) Powers and Duties. – The Office shall also have the following powers and duties: 24
37	37		(1) Gather information through interviews and directly access case information 25
38	38		within court and State databases. 26
39	39		(2) Disseminate and advertise information to resource parents on the rights of 27
40	40		resource parents in this State and seek to educate resource parents about State 28
41	41		and federal laws and rules applicable to their situation. 29
42	42		(3) Investigate and attempt to resolve hindrances and issues for families or 30
43	43		individuals seeking approval for licensure as a family foster home or 31
44	44		therapeutic foster home and current resource parents navigating compliance 32
45	45		with existing State and federal laws and rules. 33
46		-	(4) Assist resource parents with waiver applications for licensure, if applicable. 34 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
47		-	Page 2 House Bill 165-First Edition
48		-	(5) Offer classes or instructional videos to resource parents to assist in the 1
49		-	licensure process. 2
50		-	(6) Identify resources for resource parents seeking licensure approval, 3
51		-	modification of foster homes, or other support resources. 4
52		-	(7) Gather and review all relevant information when receiving a complaint or 5
53		-	inquiry. 6
54		-	(8) Formulate a process for mediation between parties. 7
55		-	(9) Work with all local county departments of social services to provide outreach 8
56		-	information to youth, families, and resource parents. 9
57		-	(c) Neutrality. – In exercising duties under this Part, the Office shall operate in a neutral 10
58		-	manner and complete comprehensive, unbiased views of matters using all relevant information 11
59		-	to make recommendations for action, if necessary. The Office shall prioritize and determine the 12
60		-	Office's scope of work and focus internally, without the interference of any other agency. The 13
61		-	Office shall develop and maintain a credible review process for all casework undertaken. 14
62		-	(d) Confidentiality. – All communication between the Office and prospective resource 15
63		-	parents or individuals seeking assistance from the Office shall be confidential and shall not be 16
64		-	considered public records under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes. 17
65		-	(e) Whistleblower Protection. – It is the policy of this State that persons in the foster care 18
66		-	system have the right to report violations of law or ethical concerns to the Office for the protection 19
67		-	of the public. Therefore, no person, firm, corporation, or unincorporated association, or a 20
68		-	stakeholder, may subject a person to adverse action, termination, demotion, compensation 21
69		-	reduction, or hostile work environment for reporting a violation of law or ethical concerns to the 22
70		-	Office. The Office shall conduct a review of every report and determine the correct action to take 23
71		-	to protect the whistleblower depending on the circumstances of each report, including referring 24
72		-	the report to the proper law enforcement agency or the Office of the Attorney General for review. 25
73		-	(f) Reporting. – By October 1 of each year, the Office shall compile data and submit it 26
74		-	to the Office of the Governor and the Department of Health and Human Services detailing the 27
75		-	number of inquiries and complaints handled by the Office and trends in recurring issues for 28
76		-	resource parents and local county departments of social services, including quantitative and 29
77		-	qualitative data. The Office shall make all reports available on their public website. Any 30
78		-	information contained in the report shall not be able to be used to identify any individual or 31
79		-	resource parent. The Office shall use the data to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Oversight 32
80		-	Committee on Health and Human Services no later than November 1 of each year." 33
81		-	SECTION 2. There is appropriated the recurring sum of one hundred thirty-seven 34
82		-	thousand dollars ($137,000) for the 2025-2026 fiscal year and one hundred forty-five thousand 35
83		-	dollars ($145,000) for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to the Department of Health and Human Services 36
84		-	to establish the Child and Family Welfare Ombudsman Office and hire one full-time equivalent 37
85		-	employee. 38
86		-	SECTION 3. The Department of Health and Human Services shall have the Office 39
87		-	operational by January 1, 2026, and shall engage in appropriate rulemaking to implement the 40
88		-	provisions of this act. 41
89		-	SECTION 4. Section 1 and Section 2 of this act become effective July 1, 2025. The 42
90		-	remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law. 43
	46	+	(4) Assist resource parents with waiver applications for licensure, if applicable. 34
	47	+	(5) Offer classes or instructional videos to resource parents to assist in the 35
	48	+	licensure process. 36
	49	+	H.B. 165
	50	+	Feb 21, 2025
	51	+	HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
	52	+	Page 2 DRH30076-NBa-40
	53	+	(6) Identify resources for resource parents seeking licensure approval, 1
	54	+	modification of foster homes, or other support resources. 2
	55	+	(7) Gather and review all relevant information when receiving a complaint or 3
	56	+	inquiry. 4
	57	+	(8) Formulate a process for mediation between parties. 5
	58	+	(9) Work with all local county departments of social services to provide outreach 6
	59	+	information to youth, families, and resource parents. 7
	60	+	(c) Neutrality. – In exercising duties under this Part, the Office shall operate in a neutral 8
	61	+	manner and complete comprehensive, unbiased views of matters using all relevant information 9
	62	+	to make recommendations for action, if necessary. The Office shall prioritize and determine the 10
	63	+	Office's scope of work and focus internally, without the interference of any other agency. The 11
	64	+	Office shall develop and maintain a credible review process for all casework undertaken. 12
	65	+	(d) Confidentiality. – All communication between the Office and prospective resource 13
	66	+	parents or individuals seeking assistance from the Office shall be confidential and shall not be 14
	67	+	considered public records under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes. 15
	68	+	(e) Whistleblower Protection. – It is the policy of this State that persons in the foster care 16
	69	+	system have the right to report violations of law or ethical concerns to the Office for the protection 17
	70	+	of the public. Therefore, no person, firm, corporation, or unincorporated association, or a 18
	71	+	stakeholder, may subject a person to adverse action, termination, demotion, compensation 19
	72	+	reduction, or hostile work environment for reporting a violation of law or ethical concerns to the 20
	73	+	Office. The Office shall conduct a review of every report and determine the correct action to take 21
	74	+	to protect the whistleblower depending on the circumstances of each report, including referring 22
	75	+	the report to the proper law enforcement agency or the Office of the Attorney General for review. 23
	76	+	(f) Reporting. – By October 1 of each year, the Office shall compile data and submit it 24
	77	+	to the Office of the Governor and the Department of Health and Human Services detailing the 25
	78	+	number of inquiries and complaints handled by the Office and trends in recurring issues for 26
	79	+	resource parents and local county departments of social services, including quantitative and 27
	80	+	qualitative data. The Office shall make all reports available on their public website. Any 28
	81	+	information contained in the report shall not be able to be used to identify any individual or 29
	82	+	resource parent. The Office shall use the data to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Oversight 30
	83	+	Committee on Health and Human Services no later than November 1 of each year." 31
	84	+	SECTION 2. There is appropriated the recurring sum of one hundred thirty-seven 32
	85	+	thousand dollars ($137,000) for the 2025-2026 fiscal year and one hundred forty-five thousand 33
	86	+	dollars ($145,000) for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to the Department of Health and Human Services 34
	87	+	to establish the Child and Family Welfare Ombudsman Office and hire one full-time equivalent 35
	88	+	employee. 36
	89	+	SECTION 3. The Department of Health and Human Services shall have the Office 37
	90	+	operational by January 1, 2026, and shall engage in appropriate rulemaking to implement the 38
	91	+	provisions of this act. 39
	92	+	SECTION 4. Section 1 and Section 2 of this act become effective July 1, 2025. The 40
	93	+	remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law. 41