GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

EXTRA SESSION 1994

S	1 

SENATE BILL 19*

Short Title:  Family Resource Center Grants.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senators Martin of Guilford, Perdue; Conder, Walker, Marshall, Harris, Kerr, Cooper, Kaplan, Gunter, Odom, Daniel, Lucas, Speed, Warren, Lee, Albertson, Winner of Mecklenburg, Plyler, Gulley, Sands, Seymour, Ward, Parnell, Tally, Plexico, and Hoyle.
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Referred to:  Juveniles/Prevention.
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February 9, 1994

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER GRANT PROGRAM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. A new Part is added to Article 3 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes to read:
"Part 4B. Family Resource Center Grant Program.
"§ 143B-151.  Intent; purpose.
(a)	It is the intent of the General Assembly to encourage and support broad-based collaboration among public and private agencies and among people who reflect the racial and socioeconomic diversity in communities to develop initiatives that (i) prepare children to learn effectively and to have a successful school experience, (ii) enhance the ability of families to become advocates for and supporters of education for the children in their families, and (iii) enhance the ability of families to function as nurturing and effective family units.
(b)	The purpose of the family resource centers is to provide services to children from birth through elementary school-age and to their families that:
(1)	Enhance the children's health and ability to attain academic and social success;
(2)	Ensure a successful transition from early childhood education programs and child care to the public schools; and
(3)	Mobilize public and private community resources to help children and families in need.
"§ 143B-151.1.  Family Resources Grant Program; creation; administration.
(a)	There is created in the Department of Human Resources a Family Resources Grant Program.  The program shall provide family resource center grants for counties for which applications are approved by the Department of Human Resources.   Applications to establish a family resource center shall be submitted to the Department on behalf of the children and families living in an elementary school attendance district to serve the needs of those children and families.
(b)	The program shall be administered by the Division of Family Development of the Department of Human Resources.
"§ 143B-151.2.  Selection of elementary schools.
(a)	It is the intent of the General Assembly that the selection of elementary schools serves chiefly as a means to identify the children and families to be served by a family resource center.
(b)	The county 'Smart Start Team', which is the local nonprofit organization that coordinates the local Smart Start demonstration project or that meets the statutory requirements for such an organization, and the local board of education shall jointly identify the elementary school.  If a local school administrative unit is located in more than one county, the local board of education and the Smart Start Team for the county in which the majority of the students in the unit live shall jointly identify the elementary school.
If there is more than one local school administrative unit located in a county, the Smart Start Team and each of the local boards of education shall jointly identify no more elementary schools than one in each of the units to be served by a single family resource center.  In the case of the Nash-Rocky Mount School Administrative Unit, the Nash County Smart Start Team and the board of education shall identify no more than one elementary school in Nash County and one in Edgecombe County to be served by a single family resource center.
(c)	A school selected shall be a school serving a disproportionate number of low-income children as determined by the percentage of students participating in the federal subsidized lunch program.  No school shall be selected unless at least twenty-five percent (25%) of its students are eligible for subsidized lunches.
"§ 143B-151.3.  Development of grant applications.
(a)	Once the elementary school or schools have been selected, a Family Resource Center Team  shall develop the application.
(b)	If there is one local school administrative unit located in the county, the Family Resource Center Team shall consist of (i) two members appointed by the local board of education, one of whom shall be the principal or other representative of the school, (ii) two members appointed by the Smart Start Team, and (iii) two members appointed by the board of county commissioners.  These six initial members shall appoint seven additional members from parents of children who attend or, upon reaching school age, would attend the school or schools that will be served by the family resource center.
If there are two local school administrative units located in the county, the Family Resource Center Team shall consist of (i)	one member appointed by each of the local boards of education, including at least one principal or other representative of each school identified, (ii) two members appointed by the Smart Start Team, and (iii) two members appointed by the board of county commissioners. These six initial members shall appoint seven additional members from parents of children who attend or, upon reaching school age, would attend the school or schools that will be served by the family resource center.
If there are three local school administrative units located in the county, the Family Resource Center Team shall consist of (i)	one member appointed by each of the local boards of education, including at least one principal or other representative of each school identified, (ii) three appointed by the Smart Start Team, and (iii) three appointed by the board of county commissioners.  These nine initial members shall appoint 10 additional members from parents of children who attend or, upon reaching school age, would attend the school or schools that will be served by the family resource center.
If a local school administrative unit is located in more than one county, the board of commissioners of the county in which the majority of the students in the unit live shall appoint the team members appointed by the commissioners.
(c)	In preparing the application, the Family Resource Center Team shall consult with the board of county commissioners, the county Smart Start Team, any Save Our Students Program Neighborhood Councils for middle schools that have attendance districts that overlap with the attendance districts of the identified elementary schools, and the local boards of education of the units in which the identified elementary schools are located.
The Family Resource Center Team shall also coordinate the family resource center's activities with those groups once a grant is received.
(d)	The grant application shall:
(1)	Provide for the establishment of a family resource center that is in or reasonably near one of the elementary schools selected for the county;
(2)	Designate the local school administrative unit, other unit of local government, or the nonprofit corporation that is to receive the grant and administer the family resource center; and
(3)	Provide that the Family Resource Center Team shall monitor the operation of the family resource center.
(e)	The Family Resource Center Team shall submit the application to the board of county commissioners for its endorsement.  If the board endorses the application, the Family Resource Center Team shall submit it to the Secretary of Human Resources.
"§ 143B-151.4.  Award of grants.
(a)	The Secretary of Human Resources shall award grants for the 1994-95 fiscal year on the basis of one per county.
(b)	If funding to expand the program becomes available in subsequent years, additional family resource centers shall be funded based on:
(1)	The quality and performance of the existing family resource center; and
(2)	Need, as determined by the percentage of students participating in the subsidized lunch program.
"§ 143B-151.5.  Evaluation report annually to General Assembly.
The Department of Human Resources shall develop procedures to evaluate the family resource center program and may contract with a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina or with a nonprofit agency to carry out an evaluation.  The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly on the implementation and the effectiveness of the Family Resource Center Program.
"§ 143B-151.6.  Powers and duties of State agencies.
(a)	The Department of Human Resources, the Department of Public Instruction, and the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources shall jointly develop an application selection process and guidelines for the program.  In developing this process, the agencies shall consult with a wide range of individuals, including low-income parents of children from birth through elementary school age, and appropriate public and private organizations and groups.
(b)	The Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction and the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, shall adopt any rules or guidelines necessary to implement this Article.
(c)	The Division of Family Development of the Department of Human Resources shall provide administrative and technical support and training to counties."
Sec. 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Human Resources the sum of four million three hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($4,325,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to implement the provisions of this act.
Of these funds:
(1)	$100,000 shall be used by the Department of Human Resources for training, materials, and consultation services.
(2)	$3,750,000 shall be used for grants for up to $37,500 per county to begin implementation of the family resource center grants established in Section 1 of this act.  The grants shall be awarded for the six months beginning January 1, 1995.  These grants shall be based on the guidelines established under Section 1 of this act.
(3)	$325,000 shall be used by the Division of Family Development, Department of Human Resources, to administer the program and to provide technical assistance to applicants and to family resource centers.
(4)	$150,000 shall be used to evaluate the Family Resource Center Program."
Sec. 3.  Section 1 of this act is effective upon ratification.  Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 1994.