GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1008

Short Title:  Rebuilding Our Villages Funds.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senator McKoy.

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Referred to:  Appropriations

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May 4, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES FOR COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY-BASED STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  (a) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Human Resources the sum of three million dollars ($3,000,000) for the 1995-96 fiscal year to establish the Rebuilding Our Villages Program, a program that will award grants to eligible applicants in rural and urban areas to assist them in creating community-based strategies aimed at reducing dependency and increasing personal responsibility among youth and young adults.
(b)	The Department of Human Resources shall establish guidelines and criteria for awarding grants and implementing the program.  Eligible applicants can apply for grants ranging from five thousand dollars ($5,000) to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the 1995-96 fiscal year to implement the goals of their programs.  Grants shall be used to work with young mothers and fathers, pregnant teens, school dropouts, and youths-at-risk.
(c)	In establishing guidelines and criteria for eligible applicants, the Department of Human Resources shall establish guidelines to allow churches to apply for grants based on the following:
(1)	The church must be incorporated;
(2)	The grant must be used for a secular purpose;
(3)	The church must keep the grant funds in a separate fund and not be commingled with funds used for a religious purpose; and
(4)	The grant must not be restricted to members of a specific religious group.
(d)	Organizations receiving grants must report on their programs to the Department of Human Resources biannually.  The Department of Human Resources must report annually to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations and to the Fiscal Research Division on the program.
(e)  The Department of Human Resources shall use no more than sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) for the 1995-96 fiscal year for administrative costs in implementing this program.
(f)  Churches receiving the grants pursuant to this act shall not use the funds to advance religion.  The Department of Human Resources shall not set guidelines to administer the program in a manner that inhibits religion.
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1995.