GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

HOUSE BILL 302

RATIFIED BILL

AN ACT to broaden the exemption from Charitable licensing requirements for certain nonProfit adult residential treatment facilities and to Extend the sunset on A waiver relating to ALTERNATIVE STAFFING REQUIREMENTS FOR FACILITIES THAT USE ELECTRONIC  SUPERVISION DEVICES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 122C-22 reads as rewritten:

"§ 122C-22.  Exclusions from licensure; deemed status.

(a)        The following are excluded from the provisions of this Article and are not required to obtain licensure under this Article:

(1)        Physicians and psychologists engaged in private office practice;

(2)        General hospitals licensed under Article 5 of Chapter 131E of the General Statutes, that operate special units for the mentally ill, developmentally disabled, or substance abusers;

(3)        State and federally operated facilities;

(4)        Adult care homes licensed under Chapter 131D of the General Statutes;

(5)        Developmental child care centers licensed under Article 7 of Chapter 110 of the General Statutes;

(6)        Persons subject to licensure under rules of the Social Services Commission;

(7)        Persons subject to rules and regulations of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services;

(8)        Facilities that provide occasional respite care for not more than two individuals at a time; provided that the primary purpose of the facility is other than as defined in G.S. 122C-3(14);

(9)        Twenty-four-hour nonprofit facilities established for the purposes of shelter care and recovery from alcohol or other drug addiction through a 12-step, self-help, peer role modeling, and self-governance approach;

(10)      Inpatient chemical dependency or substance abuse facilities that provide services exclusively to inmates of the Department of Correction, as described in G.S. 148-19.1; and

(11)      A charitable, nonprofit, faith-based, adult residential treatment facility that does not receive any federal or State funding and is part of an international organization serving at least 50 countries that helps persons ages 18 through 40 overcome life-controlling problems and is a religious organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

…."

SECTION 2.  Section 4 of S.L. 2009-490 reads as rewritten:

"SECTION 4.  The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation shall establish a pilot program to study the use of electronic supervision devices as an alternative means of supervision during sleep hours at facilities for children and adolescents who have a primary diagnosis of mental illness and/or emotional disturbance.  The pilot program shall be implemented at a facility currently authorized to waive the requirement set forth in 10A NCAC 27G .1704(c) or any related or subsequent rule or regulation by the Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services setting minimum overnight staffing requirements. The waiver shall remain in effect until December 31, 2012; December 31, 2015; however, the Division reserves the right to rescind the waiver if, at the time of the facility's license renewal, there are outstanding deficiencies that have remained uncorrected upon follow-up survey, that are related to electronic supervision."

SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2012.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 6^th day of June, 2012.

                                                                    s/  Tom Apodaca

                                                                         Presiding Officer of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Thom Tillis

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                        _____________________________________

                                                                         Beverly E. Perdue

                                                                         Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2012