NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1975 SESSION
CHAPTER 931
HOUSE BILL 520
AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS ON A MATCHING BASIS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES TO ENABLE IT TO DEVELOP ONE OR MORE MODEL HOMES PROVIDING JUVENILE DETENTION SERVICES ON A REGIONAL BASIS.
Whereas, the 1974 Session of the 1973 General Assembly enacted legislation to make juvenile detention care available on a statewide basis including rural areas, which legislation is codified as Article 6 of Chapter 134 of the General Statutes; and
Whereas, this legislation makes the Department of Human Resources responsible for the development and administration of regional detention homes to serve rural areas and G.S. 134-39 authorizes said department to develop one or more pilot programs to demonstrate that quality juvenile detention care which meets State standards may be offered on a regional basis which would meet the needs of the cooperating counties in the region; and
Whereas, there is no existing regional juvenile detention home providing quality detention care so that it would be beneficial to the State to establish a model detention program to serve as a model for planning and operation of a quality program; and
Whereas, a large number of children continue to be confined in local jails in North Carolina, demonstrating the need for expansion of juvenile detention resources on a regional basis; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. There is hereby appropriated from the General Fund of the State of North Carolina to the North Carolina Department of Administration the sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) for the fiscal year 1976-77 for the purpose of enabling the Department of Human Resources to plan and award contracts with one or more units of local governments for the construction of one or more model homes to provide regional juvenile detention care, and which juvenile detention centers are to serve as models for development of regional detention resources within the State.
Sec. 2. The capital funds appropriated herein are to be administered on a matching basis by the North Carolina Department of Human Resources according to the following criteria:
(1) The funds shall be invested in one or more model juvenile detention programs in a region or regions which lack a juvenile detention home, after evaluation of the need for such services in various parts of the State.
(2) To obtain an allocation of the funds appropriated in Section 1, the local unit of government shall match each dollar of State funds with a dollar of regional or local funds raised from public or private sources; provided, however, the value of land, services, equipment and buildings may be included in determining the amount of local amount of matching money, and shall be subject to the agreement of the Department of Administration.
(3) In locating the one or more model juvenile detention homes, the department shall consider the need of the region for detention services, the capacity of the counties to plan together to develop the detention home, the extent of regional interest in such a resource, and other variables that would bring the greatest return for the State funds invested.
(4) The Department of Human Resources shall consider any plans and proposed contracts between one or more counties within a region and the Department of Human Resources shall prepare recommendations of the plans and contract which shall be submitted to the Advisory Budget Commission for approval. No such contract shall provide for State expenditures beyond the appropriations made by the General Assembly.
Sec. 3. This act shall become effective July 1, 1975.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 26th day of June, 1975.