Section 1
Makes funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, for each year of the 2025-27 fiscal biennium for Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship (CPCF), a non-profit organization, subject to the following requirements:
(1) CPCF must establish a competitive grant process for awarding grants authorized by SL 2023-134, Section 9H.11(a)(1) through (a)(3), that includes a request for application (RFA) process to allow pregnancy centers to apply for and receive a grant authorized by this section on a competitive basis. RFA application must include specified components, including explanation of the applicant’s operations and staff, specific activities and services provided, and a description of all medical equipment. CPCF’s plan for administering the grant must also include a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities, services, and programs for which grant funds are being requested, a plan to monitor compliance, and a plan to detect grantee fraud and abuse.
(2) No later than July 1st of each year (beginning in 2026), CPCF must announce the recipients of the grant awards and allocate funds to grantees. After granting awards, CPCF must submit a report on grant awards, including specified elements, to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Joint Legislative Commission on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division.
(3) CPCF may not use more than 10% of the total amount of funds allocated for the 2023-25 fiscal biennium and not more than 15% of the total amount of funds for administrative purposes.
(4) Funds allocated to CPCF must be used for nonsectarian, nonreligious purposes only.
(5) No later than July 1st of each year (beginning in 2026), CPCF must report annually to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Joint Legislative Commission on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division regarding monitoring activities by CPCF to ensure that grant funds are spent for the purposes for which they were requested, technical assistance CPCF provided to applicants or grantees, and a detailed breakdown of funds expended by CPCF for administrative purposes related to the competitive grant process.
(6) No later than July 1st of each year (beginning in 2026), each pregnancy center that is awarded grant funds through the competitive grant process must report to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Joint Legislative Commission on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division on a number of specified topics related to its activities and clients served.
Section 2
Adds a new GS 131E-269.5 requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (the Department) to adopt rules establishing performance centers for pregnancy centers (defined in the new statute) operating in the State. The rules must, at a minimum, establish monitoring and reporting requirements to allow the Department to assess periodically whether pregnancy centers are adhering to the established performance standards. The reporting requirements must, at a minimum, require pregnancy centers to report annually to the Department specified information for the preceding five-year period, including itemized annual expenditures, all contracts and agreements entered into with the State or CPCF, and copies of Internal Revenue Service Form 990. The Department must take appropriate administrative action to recover any grant funds or state appropriations disbursed to a pregnancy center for any fiscal year in which the Department determines that the pregnancy center is out of compliance with the performance standards, and aggrieved pregnancy centers may appeal Department final determinations regarding compliance with performance standards as provided in GS Chapter 150B, Article 3.
Act would become effective July 1, 2025.