North Carolina § 143B-168 - 15. Use of State funds.

§ 143B-168. 15. Use of State funds.

State funds allocated to local projects for services to children and families shall be used to meet assessed needs, expand coverage, and improve the quality of these services. The local plan shall address the assessed needs of all children to the extent feasible. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the needs of both young children below poverty who remain in the home, as well as the needs of young children below poverty who require services beyond those offered in child care settings, be addressed. Therefore, as local partnerships address the assessed needs of all children, they should devote an appropriate amount of their State allocations, considering these needs and other available resources, to meet the needs of children below poverty and their families. Depending on local, regional, or statewide needs, funds may be used to support activities and services that shall be made available and accessible to providers, children, and families on a voluntary basis. Of the funds allocated to local partnerships for direct services, seventy percent (70%) of the funds spent in each year shall be used in child care related activities and early childhood education programs that improve access to child care and early childhood education services, develop new child care and early childhood education services, and improve the quality of child care and early childhood education services in all settings. Long-term plans for local projects that do not receive their full allocation in the first year, other than those selected in 1993, should consider how to meet the assessed needs of low-income children and families within their neighborhoods or communities. These plans also should reflect a process to meet these needs as additional allocations and other resources are received. State funds designated for start-up and related activities may be used for capital expenses or to support activities and services for children, families, and providers. State funds designated to support direct services for children, families, and providers shall not be used for major capital expenses unless the North Carolina Partnership approves this use of State funds based upon a finding that a local partnership has demonstrated that (i) this use is a clear priority need for the local plan, (ii) it is necessary to enable the local partnership to provide services and activities to underserved children and families, and (iii) the local partnership will not otherwise be able to meet this priority need by using State or federal funds available to that local partnership. The funds approved for capital projects in any two consecutive fiscal years may not exceed ten percent (10%) of the total funds for direct services allocated to a local partnership in those two consecutive fiscal years. State funds allocated to local partnerships shall not supplant current expenditures by counties on behalf of young children and their families, and maintenance of current efforts on behalf of these children and families shall be sustained. State funds shall not be applied without the Secretary's approval where State or federal funding sources, such as Head Start, are available or could be made available to that county. Repealed by Session Laws 2001-424, s. 21.75(g), effective July 1, 2001. Not less than thirty percent (30%) of the funds spent in each year of each local partnership's direct services allocation shall be used to expand child care subsidies. To the extent practicable, these funds shall be used to enhance the affordability, availability, and quality of child care services as described in this section. The North Carolina Partnership may increase this percentage requirement up to a maximum of fifty percent (50%) when, based upon a significant local waiting list for subsidized child care, the North Carolina Partnership determines a higher percentage is justified. Local partnerships shall spend an amount for child care subsidies that provides at least fifty-two million dollars ($52,000,000) for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) maintenance of effort requirement and the Child Care Development Fund and Block Grant match requirement. Funds allocated under this section shall supplement and not supplant any federal or State funds allocated to Department of Defense-certified child care facilities licensed under G.S. 110-106.2. State funds allocated to local partnerships that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall remain available to the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., to reallocate to local partnerships. History (1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 766, s. 1; 1995, c. 509, s. 97; 1996, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 18, s. 24.29(e); 1997-443, s. 11.55(n); 1997-506, s. 60; 1998-212, s. 12.37B(a), (b); 1999-237, s. 11.48(o); 2000-67, ss. 11.28(c), 11.28(d); 2001-424, s. 21.75(g); 2008-123, s. 2; 2014-100, s. 12B.2(b); 2015-241, s. 12B.9(b).) Child Care Allocation Formula. - Session Laws 2017-57, s. 11B.5(a)-(c), provides: "(a) The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (Division), shall allocate child care subsidy voucher funds to pay the costs of necessary child care for minor children of needy families. The mandatory thirty percent (30%) North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., subsidy allocation under G.S. 143B-168.15(g) shall constitute the base amount for each county's child care subsidy allocation. The Department of Health and Human Services shall use the following method when allocating federal and State child care funds, not including the aggregate mandatory thirty percent (30%) North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., subsidy allocation: "(1) Funds shall be allocated to a county based upon the projected cost of serving children under age 11 in families with all parents working who earn less than the applicable federal poverty level percentage set forth in Section 11B.3(a) of this act. "(2) The Division may withhold up to two percent (2%) of available funds from the allocation formula for (i) preventing termination of services throughout the fiscal year and (ii) repayment of any federal funds identified by counties as overpayments, including overpayments due to fraud. The Division shall allocate to counties any funds withheld before the end of the fiscal year when the Division determines the funds are not needed for the purposes described in this subdivision. The Division shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division, which report shall include each of the following: "a. The amount of funds used for preventing termination of services and the repayment of any federal funds. "b. The date the remaining funds were distributed to counties. "c. As a result of funds withheld under this subdivision and after funds have been distributed, any counties that did not receive at least the amount the counties received the previous year and the amount by which funds were decreased. "The Division shall submit a report in each year of the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium 30 days after the funds withheld pursuant to this subdivision are distributed but no later than April 1 of each respective year. "(3) The Division shall set aside four percent (4%) of child care subsidy allocations for vulnerable populations, which include a child identified as having special needs and a child whose application for assistance indicates that the child and the child's family is experiencing homelessness or is in a temporary living situation. A child identified by this subdivision shall be given priority for receiving services until such time as set-aside allocations for vulnerable populations are exhausted. "(b) The Division may reallocate unused child care subsidy voucher funds in order to meet the child care needs of low-income families. Any reallocation of funds shall be based upon the expenditures of all child care subsidy voucher funding, including North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., funds within a county. Counties shall manage service levels within the funds allocated to the counties. A county with a spending coefficient over one hundred percent (100%) shall submit a plan to the Division for managing the county's allocation before receiving any reallocated funds. "(c) When implementing the formula under subsection (a) of this section, the Division shall include the market rate increase in the formula process rather than calculating the increases outside of the formula process. Additionally, the Department shall do the following: "(1) Implement the final one-third change in a county's allocation beginning fiscal year 2018-2019. A county's initial allocation shall be the county's expenditure in the previous fiscal year or a prorated share of the county's previous fiscal year expenditures if sufficient funds are not available. With the exception of market rate increases consistent with any increases approved by the General Assembly, a county whose spending coefficient is less than ninety-two percent (92%) in the previous fiscal year shall receive its prior year's expenditure as its allocation and shall not receive an increase in its allocation in the following year. A county whose spending coefficient is at least ninety-two percent (92%) in the previous fiscal year shall receive, at a minimum, the amount it expended in the previous fiscal year and may receive additional funding, if available. The Division may waive this requirement and allow an increase if the spending coefficient is below ninety-two percent (92%) due to extraordinary circumstances, such as a State or federal disaster declaration in the affected county. By October 1 of each year, the Division shall report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division the counties that received a waiver pursuant to this subdivision and the reasons for the waiver. "(2) Effective immediately following the next new decennial census data release, implement (i) one-third of the change in a county's allocation in the year following the data release, (ii) an additional one-third of the change in a county's allocation beginning two years after the initial change under this subdivision, and (iii) the final one-third change in a county's allocation beginning the following two years thereafter." For earlier provisions on similar and related subjects, see Session Laws 1999-237, s. 11.48(i), as amended by Session Laws 2000-67, s. 11.28(g); Session Laws 2001-424, s. 21.69(a)-(d); Session Laws 2006-66, s. 37; Session Laws 2007-323, s. 10.16(a)-(c); Session Laws 2009-451, s. 10.2(a)-(c); Session Laws 2011-145, s. 10.2(a)-(c), as amended by Session Laws 2012-142, s. 10.2A; Session Laws 2013-360, s. 12B.4(a)-(c), as amended by Session Laws 2014-100, s. 12B.4; and Session Laws 2015-241, s. 12B.3. Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2014-100, s. 12B.5, provides: "Effective January 1, 2015, the Department shall implement an adjustment to child care market rates based upon the 2013 Child Care Market Rate Study. Three- to five-star rated child care centers and three- to five-star rated child care homes shall receive twenty-five percent (25%) of the recommended rate adjustments as defined in the 2013 Child Care Market Rate Study." Session Laws 2014-100, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2014.'" Session Laws 2014-100, s. 38.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2014-2015 fiscal year." Session Laws 2014-100, s. 38.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2015-51, s. 1(a), (b), provides: "(a) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) and the Division of Social Services (DSS), implement a process requiring child care subsidy recipients to participate in child support services programs. To that end, DCDEE and DSS shall develop a plan requiring a custodial parent or other relative or person with primary custody of the child who is receiving child care subsidy payments to cooperate with county child support services programs as a condition of receiving child care subsidy payments. In developing the plan, the DCDEE and DSS shall, at a minimum, consider each of the following: "(1) The number of child care subsidy cases that would be referred to county child support services programs. "(2) Whether there are any disparities between child support services programs administered directly by the county department of social services versus those programs administered by a vendor through a contract with the county department of social services, specifically as related to maintaining consistent communication. "(3) The access and exchange of information between county child support services programs/systems and child care subsidy services/systems and any differences that may create a conflict in coordinating child care subsidy payments with child support services. "(4) Any implementation issues related to IV-D child support cases versus non-IV-D child support cases. "(5) Any impact on the families involved and the need to incorporate good cause exceptions for cooperation with county child support services programs similar to those for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid. "(6) Any costs to implement the plan, including any automation costs associated with connecting the child care subsidy payments system to the child support payments system. "(7) The development of any forms needed to implement the plan. "(8) Transition time needed to implement the plan and to coordinate any interface with current systems, such as the North Carolina Automated Collection and Tracking System (NC ACTS) and North Carolina Families Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST). "(9) Any training needs and costs associated with training. "(10) Other states that have implemented a similar plan as proposed in this section. "(11) Other programs of public assistance in this State requiring coordination with child support services programs. "(12) The need to update any current policies or procedures related to child care subsidy payments and child support payments. "(13) Any other issues DCDEE or DSS deem relevant. "(b) The Division of Child Development and Early Education and the Division of Social Services shall submit a report on the plan, along with any recommendations, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division no later than February 1, 2016." Session Laws 2015-214, s. 4.1, provides: "Revise Child Care Subsidy Policy Definition. - Effective September 1, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education, shall revise its child care subsidy policy to exclude from the policy's definition of 'income unit' a nonparent relative caretaker, and the caretaker's spouse and child, if applicable, when the parent of the child receiving child care subsidy does not live in the home with the child." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 12B.9(c), provides: "Department of Defense-certified child care facilities licensed pursuant to G.S. 110-106.2, as enacted in subsection (a) of this section, may participate in the State-subsidized child care program that provides for the purchase of care in child care facilities for minor children in needy families; provided, that funds allocated from the State-subsidized child care program to Department of Defense-certified child care facilities shall supplement and not supplant funds allocated in accordance with G.S. 143B-168.15(g). Payment rates and fees for military families who choose Department of Defense-certified child care facilities and who are eligible to receive subsidized child care shall be as set forth in Section 12B.2 of this act." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 11B.7(a)-(c), provides: "(a) Beginning January 1, 2018, or 30 days from the date the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Care, approves the revised Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) plan, or whichever occurs later, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) and the Division of Social Services (DSS), shall implement a one-year statewide demonstration project in accordance with S.L. 2015-51 requiring a custodial parent or other relative or person with primary custody of the child who is receiving child care subsidy payments to cooperate with the county child support services program as a condition of receiving child care subsidy payments. DCDEE and DSS shall conduct the demonstration project in at least three counties, but no more than six, that represent the three regions of the State in both rural and urban settings. DCDEE and DSS may solicit counties to volunteer for the demonstration project. In selecting counties to participate in the demonstration project, DCDEE and DSS shall (i) consider the various methods counties employ in receiving and processing child care subsidy applications and (ii) compare the data from the counties participating in the demonstration project to counties that are similarly sized and situated that do not participate in the demonstration project. "(b) The statewide demonstration project shall include, at a minimum, the components described in Section 1(a) of S.L. 2015-51, as well as any criteria DCDEE and DSS identified in its report as submitted to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services dated February 1, 2016. Specifically, as identified in that report, DCDEE and DSS shall consider, at a minimum, each of the following factors in evaluating the demonstration project: "(1) The number and percentage of applicants for whom the requirement to participate in child support services was presented who actually submitted a child support application and applied for and received subsidized child care assistance. "(2) The number and percentage of families exempted from the requirement under subdivision (1) of this subsection through good-cause exceptions. "(3) The number and percentage of families that initially receive child support payments but become ineligible for subsidized child care assistance as a result of their increased income or family status. "(4) The number and percentage of families enrolled in the subsidized child care assistance program at the beginning of the demonstration project that exit the program due to imposed requirements for child support cooperation. "(5) The number and percentage of applicants who declined to apply or withdrew their application as a result of the requirement to cooperate with child support services. "(6) The number and percentage of child care subsidy recipients who begin receiving child support or, if receiving child support, the average increase in the recipients' child support received due to imposed requirements for child support cooperation. "(c) The Division of Child Development and Early Education and the Division of Social Services shall report on the results of the demonstration project to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division no later than March 1, 2019, or if the CCDF plan is approved after January 1, 2018, no later than three months from the date the one-year demonstration project is completed, whichever occurs later. The report shall include, at a minimum, each of the following: "(1) The factors evaluated under subsection (a) of this section. "(2) A detailed project plan and any costs associated with implementing the plan, specifically, any technology needs. "(3) Any recommendations for or challenges with sustaining the plan long term." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 11B.9(a)-(c), as amended by Session Laws 2018-5, s. 11B.5, provides: "(a) Funds allocated to the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., from the Department of Health and Human Services, shall be used to increase access to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, an early literacy program that mails age-appropriate books on a monthly basis to children registered for the program, with the intent that, upon full implementation, access to the program shall be statewide. "(b) The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., may use up to one percent (1%) of the funds for statewide program management and up to one percent (1%) of the funds for program evaluation. Funds appropriated under this section shall not be subject to administrative costs requirements under Section 11B.8(b) of this act, nor shall these funds be subject to the child care services funding requirements under G.S. 143B-168.15(b), child care subsidy expansion requirements under G.S. 143B-168.15(g), or the match requirements under Section 11B.8(d) of this act. "(c) The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., shall report on the success of the early literacy initiative, including any recommendations, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services by March 1, 2018. The report shall include participation rates for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2017.'" Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2018.'" Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2018-2019 fiscal year." Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.7, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2008-123, s. 2, effective July 1, 2008, added subsection (h). Session Laws 2014-100, s. 12B.2(b), effective July 1, 2014, added the last sentence in subsection (g). Session Laws 2015-241, s. 12B.9(b), effective January 1, 2016, added the last sentence in subsection (g).