A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to direct the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) program to coordinate workforce development Efforts to increase the number of dental care providers serving the special needs population.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  The North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program shall coordinate efforts to increase the number of dental care providers serving the special needs population.   These efforts shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1)	Working with the dental schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Carolina University, the North Carolina Community College System, and current dental providers serving the special needs population to identify opportunities to increase the dental care workforce supply that is available and willing to treat the special needs population. These opportunities shall include, but are not limited to, options that could be undertaken without additional funding.
(2)	Working with the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners to explore the feasibility of allowing dental students, dental hygiene students, and assisting students the opportunity to receive training in long‑term care facilities under the direction of nonprofit special care dental organizations.
SECTION 1.(b)  The North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program shall report its findings and recommendations to the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging and the Public Health Study Commission on or before August 1, 2011.
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.