North Carolina HB 989: Build Safer Communities and Schools Act.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 989

Short Title: Build Safer Communities and Schools Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Clark, Logan, F. Jackson, and Budd (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 14, 2025
*H989-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO CODIFY SCHOOL SAFETY GRANTS. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
4
CODIFY SCHOOL SAFETY GRANTS 5
SECTION 1.(a) Part 3 of Article 13A of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes, as 6
enacted by S.L. 2024-57, is amended by adding a new section to read: 7
"§ 143B-1209.61. School safety grants for students in crisis, training, and equipment. 8
(a) Definitions. – For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: 9
(1) Community partner. – A public or private entity, including, but not limited to, 10
a nonprofit corporation or a local management entity/managed care 11
organization (LME/MCO), that partners with a public school unit to provide 12
services or pay for the provision of services for the unit. 13
(2) School health support personnel. – School nurses, school counselors, school 14
psychologists, and school social workers. 15
(b) Program; Purpose. – The Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools shall 16
establish the School Safety Grants Program (Program). To the extent funds are made available 17
for the Program, its purpose shall be to improve safety in public school units by providing grants 18
for (i) services for students in crisis, (ii) school safety training, and (iii) safety equipment in 19
schools. 20
(c) Grant Applications. – A public school unit may submit an application to the Executive 21
Director of the Center for Safer Schools for one or more grants pursuant to this section. The 22
application shall include an assessment, to be performed in conjunction with a local law 23
enforcement agency, of the need for improving school safety within the public school unit that 24
would receive the funding or services. The application shall identify current and ongoing needs 25
and estimated costs associated with those needs. 26
(d) Criteria and Guidelines. – The Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools 27
shall develop criteria and guidelines for the administration and use of the grants pursuant to this 28
section, including any documentation required to be submitted by applicants. In assessing grant 29
applications, the Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools shall consider at least the 30
following factors: 31
(1) The level of resources available to the public school unit that would receive 32
the funding. 33
(2) Whether the public school unit has received other grants for school safety. 34

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 989-First Edition
(3) The overall impact on student safety in the public school unit if the identified 1
needs are funded. 2
(e) Grants for Students in Crisis. – Of the funds appropriated to the State Bureau of 3
Investigation for the grants provided in this subsection, the Executive Director of the Center for 4
Safer Schools, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall award 5
grants to public school units to contract with community partners to provide or pay for the 6
provision of any of the following crisis services: 7
(1) Crisis respite services for parents or guardians of an individual student to 8
prevent more intensive or costly levels of care. 9
(2) Training and expanded services for therapeutic foster care families and 10
licensed child placement agencies that provide services to students who (i) 11
need support to manage their health, welfare, and safety and (ii) have any of 12
the following: 13
a. Cognitive or behavioral problems. 14
b. Developmental delays. 15
c. Aggressive behavior. 16
(3) Evidence-based therapy services aligned with targeted training for students 17
and their parents or guardians, including any of the following: 18
a. Parent-child interaction therapy. 19
b. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. 20
c. Dialectical behavior therapy. 21
d. Child-parent psychotherapy. 22
(4) Any other crisis service, including peer-to-peer mentoring, that is likely to 23
increase school safety. Of the funds appropriated to the Bureau for grants 24
pursuant to this subsection, the Executive Director of the Center for Safer 25
Schools shall not use more than three hundred fifty thousand dollars 26
($350,000) per fiscal year for the services identified in this subsection. 27
(f) Grants for Training to Increase School Safety. – Of the funds appropriated to the State 28
Bureau of Investigation for the grant provided in this subsection, the Executive Director of the 29
Center for Safer Schools, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, 30
shall award grants to public school units to contrac