A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA TO EXPAND THE SCHIZOPHRENIA TREATMENT AND EVALUATION PROGRAM (STEP) PROGRAM IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY AT THE UNC SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year.  These funds shall be allocated to the Department of Psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.  These funds shall be used to expand the Department of Psychiatry's Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation Program (STEP) into a community setting, to provide training for the next generation of psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, and nurses to address the current workforce crisis, to provide statewide training and consultation in evidence‑based practices, and to provide ongoing support for the STEP and OASIS clinics.
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year.  The Division shall allocate these funds to the UNC School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, to provide bridge funding for OASIS, a statewide program providing targeted, intense interventions to individuals in the early stages of schizophrenia when chronicity and disability may be most preventable.  Funds shall be used to support OASIS as foundation support ends, allowing OASIS to transition to funding through private insurance, Medicaid, State appropriations for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, and other funding streams.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2008.