A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require drug screening for applicants for or recipients of temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) benefits.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 108A‑29.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 108A‑29.1.  Drug testing for Work First Program recipients.
(a)	The Department shall develop a program to screen each applicant or recipient who is otherwise eligible for Work First Program assistance under this Article, and then test, using a urine dipstick five‑panel test, each one whom the Department has reasonable cause to believe, based on the screening, engages in illegal use of controlled substances. Any applicant or recipient who is found to have tested positive for the use of a controlled substance that was not prescribed for the applicant or recipient by a licensed health care provider, or who refuses to submit to a test, shall, after an administrative hearing conducted by the Department in accordance with Chapter 150A of the General Statutes, be declared ineligible for Work First Program assistance for a period of three years from the date of the administrative hearing decision. However, the applicant or recipient may become eligible if, after having been referred by the Department, the applicant or recipient enters and successfully completes a substance abuse treatment program and does not test positive for illegal use of a controlled substance in the six‑month period beginning on the date of entry into the rehabilitation or treatment program. The applicant or recipient shall continue to receive benefits while participating in the treatment program. The Department may test the applicant or recipient for illegal drug use at random or set intervals, at the Department's discretion, after the applicant or recipient completes the treatment program. If the applicant or recipient tests positive for the use of illegal drugs a second time, then the applicant or recipient shall be declared ineligible for Work First Program assistance for a period of three years from the date of the administrative hearing decision. The Department shall refer an applicant or recipient who tested positive for the use of a controlled substance under this section to an appropriate substance abuse treatment program approved by the Department.
(b)	Case workers of applicants or recipients shall be required to report or cause a report to be made to child protective services in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes for suspected child abuse as a result of drug abuse in instances where the case worker has knowledge of either of the following:
(1)	An applicant or recipient has tested positive for the illegal use of a controlled substance.
(2)	An applicant or recipient has refused to be tested for the illegal use of a controlled substance.
(c)	Other members of a household, including a person who has been declared ineligible for Work First Program assistance shall, if otherwise eligible, continue to receive Work First Program assistance benefits, and the benefits shall be paid to a protective payee pursuant to G.S. 108A‑38.
(d)	The Social Services Commission shall adopt rules pertaining to the screening and testing of applicants and recipients under this section.
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SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.