GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1993 SESSION

CHAPTER 357
SENATE BILL 496

AN ACT TO IMPLEMENT A RECOMMENDATION OF THE CHILD FATALITY TASK FORCE TO ESTABLISH AN INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE TO DEVELOP A CHILD MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATION PLAN.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  (a) There is established an interagency committee to develop a collaborative plan to provide and pay for medical and mental health evaluations to all children suspected of being abused or neglected, regardless of whether the evaluations are eligible for reimbursement through child protective services agencies.  The plan shall include how best to use existing resources to pay for the evaluations and shall also include a recommendation for the amount of new funding needed, if existing resources cannot cover all children.
(b)	The committee shall consist of one representative from each of the following:
(1)	The Child Medical Evaluation Program, The University of North Carolina, to be appointed by the Director of that program;
(2)	The Division of Medical Assistance, Department of Human Resources, to be appointed by the Secretary of Human Resources;
(3)	The Assistance Program for Victims of Rape and Sex Offenses, Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, to be appointed by the Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety;
(4)	The Division of Maternal and Child Health, Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, to be appointed by the Secretary of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources;
(5)	The Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, Department of Human Resources, to be appointed by the Secretary of Human Resources;
(6)	The Office of Rural Health and Resource Development, Department of Human Resources, to be appointed by the Secretary of Human Resources;
(7)	The Division of Social Services, Department of Human Resources, to be appointed by the Secretary of Human Resources; and
(8)	The Department of Insurance, to be appointed by the Commissioner of Insurance.
The Secretary of Human Resources also may request any appropriate individual to be a member of the committee.  The Secretary of Human Resources, or the Secretary's designee, shall call the meetings of the committee.
(c)	The Department of Human Resources shall provide meeting rooms, telephone, office space, equipment, supplies, and clerical services to the committee without charge.
(d)	The committee shall report the plan it develops, together with any legislative proposals, to the General Assembly and the Child Fatality Task Force by March 15, 1994.
Sec.  2.  This act becomes effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 16th day of July, 1993.

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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives