FILED SENATE
Feb 11, 2021
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
S.B. 88
SESSION 2021 PRINCIPAL CLERK
S D
SENATE BILL DRS35040-LUz-34
Short Title: NC FAST Child Welfare Case Mgmt./PED Study. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Krawiec and Burgin (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TO
3 IMPLEMENT VARIOUS CHANGES REGARDING THE CHILD WELFARE CASE
4 MANAGEMENT COMPONENT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA FAMILIES ACCESSING
5 SERVICES THROUGH TECHNOLOGY (NC FAST) SYSTEM, AS RECOMMENDED
6 BY THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM EVALUATION OVERSIGHT
7 COMMITTEE.
8 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
9 SECTION 1.(a) Statewide Practice Model/Standardized Business Processes. – No
10 later than June 30, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) shall
11 contract with a qualified organization to implement a statewide child welfare practice model. The
12 organization shall have experience in assisting states with enhancing child welfare capacity to
13 design and be able to assist the State in piloting a training model for county departments of social
14 services. The training program developed by the organization, in consultation with the
15 Department, shall operationalize the principles of the practice model and promote standardization
16 of business processes such that the program design can be replicated across the State to ensure a
17 more uniform delivery of child welfare services, when practicable.
18 SECTION 1.(b) Culture Change Readiness Training. – No later than December 31,
19 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) shall ensure the organization
20 contracted under subsection (a) of this section conducts culture change readiness training that:
21 (1) Identifies ways to efficiently use existing county resources in implementing
22 the child welfare case management component of the North Carolina Families
23 Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST) system.
24 (2) Assists counties in determining what, if any, additional resources may be
25 required to successfully implement the child welfare case management
26 component of NC FAST, including, but not limited to, technology needs, such
27 as tablets, and staff needs.
28 (3) In assessing resources, takes into consideration creating tailored,
29 county-specific plans to enhance the provision of child welfare services in
30 those counties.
31 SECTION 2.(a) Additional Staff for NC FAST. – If the General Assembly
32 appropriates funds for the North Carolina Families Accessing Services through Technology (NC
33 FAST) system for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the Department of Information Technology, in
34 collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall assign a staff person to
35 the child welfare case management component of the NC FAST project to provide additional
36 oversight to ensure, at a minimum, the following:
*DRS35040-LUz-34*
 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 (1) Adequate progress towards goals.
2 (2) Additional reporting to the Department of Information Technology and the
3 General Assembly regarding progress on implementing the child welfare case
4 management component of NC FAST.
5 (3) Efficient use of funding.
6 (4) Protection of taxpayer investment.
7 SECTION 2.(b) The requirements of subsection (a) of this section shall be
8 implemented within one month from the enactment of legislation appropriating funds for NC
9 FAST.
10 SECTION 3. Usability of Certain NC FAST Software/Report. – The Department of
11 Health and Human Services (Department) shall prioritize usability with any future vendor
12 contracts regarding software for the child welfare case management component of the North
13 Carolina Families Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST) system. The Department
14 shall submit a report to the House Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, the
15 Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research
16 Division on the requirements of this section by April 30, 2022.
17 SECTION 4. Software Proof of Concept. – The Department of Health and Human
18 Services (Department) shall require that any vendor providing additional software due to its
19 pending request for information for the child welfare case management component of the North
20 Carolina Families Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST) system provide a free
21 proof of concept that demonstrates the ability of that vendor's technology to successfully work
22 with NC FAST. In implementing this section, the Department shall design a proof of concept
23 with a set of use cases and features the Department wants to validate and require the vendor to
24 demonstrate that those use cases and features are, in fact, valid. The Department shall implement
25 the requirements of this section by April 30, 2022. For purposes of this section, "use cases" means
26 a methodology used in system analysis to identify, clarify, and organize system requirements and
27 consists of a set of possible sequences of interactions between systems and users in a particular
28 environment and related to a particular goal.
29 SECTION 5. Effective Date. – This act is effective when it becomes law.
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