| 13 | 13 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
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| 14 | 14 | | AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE NORTH CAROLINA PARTNERSHIP FOR 2 |
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| 15 | 15 | | CHILDREN, INC., TO EXPAND MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | FOR CHILDREN, FAMILIES, AND STAFF IN CHILD CARE FACILITY SETTINGS 4 |
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| 17 | 17 | | AND TO ESTABLISH THE NORTH CAROLINA PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN , 5 |
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| 18 | 18 | | INC., SPECIAL FUND. 6 |
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| 19 | 19 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1.(a) There is appropriated from the ARPA Temporary Savings Fund, 8 |
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| 21 | 21 | | established in Section 1.3(a) of S.L. 2023-7, to the Department of Health and Human Services, 9 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Division of Child Development and Early Education, the sum of seven million five hundred 10 |
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| 23 | 23 | | thousand dollars ($7,500,000) in nonrecurring funds for each fiscal year of the 2025-2027 fiscal 11 |
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| 24 | 24 | | biennium to be allocated to the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., (NCPC) to expand 12 |
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| 25 | 25 | | mental and behavioral health services for children, families, and staff in child care facility settings 13 |
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| 26 | 26 | | and out-of-school programs. The NCPC shall spend the funds appropriated in this act in the 14 |
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| 27 | 27 | | following budget codes: PSC 5415 Health Care Access and Support, PSC 5505 Parent Education, 15 |
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| 28 | 28 | | PSC 3125 Quality Child Care, and PSC 5509 Parents as Teachers. The NCPC shall distribute the 16 |
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| 29 | 29 | | funds appropriated in this act to local partnerships, as determined by the NCPC. These funds 17 |
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| 30 | 30 | | shall supplement and not supplant existing Smart Start partnership behavioral health spending. 18 |
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| 31 | 31 | | Funds appropriated in this act shall not revert at the end of the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium but 19 |
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| 32 | 32 | | shall remain available for costs associated with mental and behavioral health initiatives described 20 |
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| 33 | 33 | | in this subsection until expended. 21 |
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| 34 | 34 | | SECTION 1.(b) The NCPC shall submit a progress report on the mental and 22 |
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| 35 | 35 | | behavioral health initiatives described in subsection (a) of this section to the Joint Legislative 23 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, the Secretary of the Department of Health 24 |
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| 37 | 37 | | and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division by March 15, 2026, and a final report by 25 |
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| 38 | 38 | | November 15, 2027. The progress report and final report shall include all of the following: 26 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (1) The name of each local partnership that received funds. 27 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (2) The number of children served by each local partnership. 28 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (3) The types of mental and behavioral health services provided by each local 29 |
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| 42 | 42 | | partnership. 30 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (4) Recommendations for continuing and/or expanding mental and behavioral 31 |
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| 44 | 44 | | health initiatives for children, families, and staff in child care facility settings. 32 |
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| 45 | 45 | | SECTION 1.(c) Additional funds allocated in this act to the North Carolina 33 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Partnership for Children, Inc., from the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of 34 |
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| 47 | | - | Child Development and Early Education, for each year of the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium are not 35 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 |
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| 48 | | - | Page 2 House Bill 542-First Edition |
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| 49 | | - | subject to the administrative cost requirements under Section 9D.5(b) of S.L. 2023-134, child 1 |
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| 50 | | - | care services funding requirements under G.S. 143B-168.15(b), child care subsidy expansion 2 |
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| 51 | | - | requirements under G.S. 143B-168.15(g), or match requirements under Section 9D.5(d) of S.L. 3 |
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| 52 | | - | 2023-134. 4 |
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| 53 | | - | SECTION 2. G.S. 143B-168.15(h) reads as rewritten: 5 |
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| 54 | | - | "(h) The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., Special Fund is hereby established 6 |
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| 55 | | - | as an interest-bearing, nonreverting special fund in the Department of Health and Human 7 |
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| 56 | | - | Services. Funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Department for Smart Start and the 8 |
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| 57 | | - | North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., (NCPC) shall be deposited in the Fund and shall 9 |
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| 58 | | - | be used by the NCPC and local partnerships exclusively for the purposes authorized in this 10 |
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| 59 | | - | section, unless otherwise expressly provided by law. State funds allocated to local partnerships 11 |
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| 60 | | - | that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available to the 12 |
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| 61 | | - | North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., to reallocate to local partnerships. Notwithstanding 13 |
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| 62 | | - | G.S. 147-86.11 or any other provision of law to the contrary, the NCPC shall be allowed to hold 14 |
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| 63 | | - | cash in excess of incurred expenditures at the end of each fiscal year up to five million dollars 15 |
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| 64 | | - | ($5,000,000). Not later than August 1 of each year, the NCPC shall provide to the Department of 16 |
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| 65 | | - | Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education, a financial 17 |
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| 66 | | - | status report for the preceding fiscal year that includes all actual expenditures and remaining cash 18 |
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| 67 | | - | on hand." 19 |
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| 68 | | - | SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law. 20 |
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| 47 | + | Child Development and Early Education, for each year of the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium are not 35 |
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| 48 | + | subject to the administrative cost requirements under Section 9D.5(b) of S.L. 2023-134, child 36 |
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| 49 | + | H.B. 542 |
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| 50 | + | Mar 26, 2025 |
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| 51 | + | HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 |
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| 52 | + | Page 2 DRH30215-LUa-85 |
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| 53 | + | care services funding requirements under G.S. 143B-168.15(b), child care subsidy expansion 1 |
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| 54 | + | requirements under G.S. 143B-168.15(g), or match requirements under Section 9D.5(d) of S.L. 2 |
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| 55 | + | 2023-134. 3 |
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| 56 | + | SECTION 2. G.S. 143B-168.15(h) reads as rewritten: 4 |
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| 57 | + | "(h) The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., Special Fund is hereby established 5 |
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| 58 | + | as an interest-bearing, nonreverting special fund in the Department of Health and Human 6 |
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| 59 | + | Services. Funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Department for Smart Start and the 7 |
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| 60 | + | North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., (NCPC) shall be deposited in the Fund and shall 8 |
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| 61 | + | be used by the NCPC and local partnerships exclusively for the purposes authorized in this 9 |
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| 62 | + | section, unless otherwise expressly provided by law. State funds allocated to local partnerships 10 |
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| 63 | + | that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available to the 11 |
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| 64 | + | North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., to reallocate to local partnerships. Notwithstanding 12 |
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| 65 | + | G.S. 147-86.11 or any other provision of law to the contrary, the NCPC shall be allowed to hold 13 |
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| 66 | + | cash in excess of incurred expenditures at the end of each fiscal year up to five million dollars 14 |
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| 67 | + | ($5,000,000). Not later than August 1 of each year, the NCPC shall provide to the Department of 15 |
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| 68 | + | Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education, a financial 16 |
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| 69 | + | status report for the preceding fiscal year that includes all actual expenditures and remaining cash 17 |
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| 70 | + | on hand." 18 |
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| 71 | + | SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law. 19 |
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