GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

EXTRA SESSION 1994

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 209

Short Title:  Parental Involvement Program Funds.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives McAllister; Wainwright, H. Hunter, and Burton.
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Referred to:  Education.
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February 14, 1994

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT PILOT PROGRAM TO SERVE AS A LONG-TERM MEASURE TO PREVENT CRIME.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. (a)	There is appropriated from the General Fund to Aid to Local School Administrative Units the sum of two hundred eighty thousand dollars ($280,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to establish the Parental Involvement Pilot Program.  The purpose of the Parental Involvement Pilot Program is to provide grants for four locally designed innovative local programs to prevent crime by helping the parents of children who are at risk of academic failure learn the parenting skills necessary to enable the parents to help their children become successful as students and as citizens.  These funds shall be used for grants of seventy thousand dollars ($70,000) per year.  These funds may be used for continuing or noncontinuing expenses.
(b)	A local board of education or a local, private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation may apply for a grant.  If a nonprofit corporation applies for the grant, it must get the approval of the local board of education for the use of any school facilities or other resources to implement its program.
(c)	Grant applicants shall submit to the State Board of Education an application that includes the following information:
(1)	An assessment of local problems with regard to students at risk of academic failure in the geographic area to be served by the grant.
(2)	A detailed plan for providing parenting classes at an elementary school located in an area with a high concentration of children from birth through the sixth grade who are at risk of academic failure.  The plan shall provide for home visits by the program coordinator or the instructors of the parenting classes.  The plan shall include the number of parents to whom the classes will be offered each year, the subjects that will be covered, and the anticipated benefits to parents and their children of these classes.
(3)	A statement of how the grant funds would be used to provide a program coordinator and otherwise to benefit the parents and their children.
(4)	A plan for reporting regularly to the State Board of Education on the effectiveness of the local program in meeting the needs of children at risk of academic failure by providing instruction to their parents.
(d)	In selecting pilot program sites, the State Board of Education shall consider (i) the severity of the local problems with regard to children at risk of academic failure in the geographic area to be served and (ii) the likelihood that the proposed plan will enable those children to achieve success in school and gain the skills and self-esteem necessary to make them productive citizens.
Sec. 2.  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the Department of Human Resources, in conjunction with the Social Services Commission, shall ensure that parents receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children pursuant to Part 2 of Article 2 of Chapter 108A of the General Statutes shall attend parenting classes offered by a Parental Involvement Pilot Program, as a condition of receiving cash assistance under Aid to Families with Dependent Children, if (i) the site of the classes is within one mile of the parents' residence and (ii) the Division of Social Services determines that the parents would benefit from the classes.  This section applies only to the extent that (i) the Department of Human Resources and the Social Services Commission have adopted rules and complied with federal laws, regulations, and policies necessary to implement this section, and (ii) the Department of Human Resources has applied for and received any federal waivers necessary to implement this section.
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1994.