North Carolina SB 1059: Social Workers' Ed. Loan Fund.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S 1

SENATE BILL 1059

Short Title: Social Workers' Ed. Loan Fund. (Public)
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Sponsors: Senators Walker; and Lee.
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Referred to: Children and Human Resources.
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May 6, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE SOCIAL WORKERS' EDUCATION LOAN FUND 2
AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
Section 1. Effective July 1, 1994, Article 3 of Chapter 143B of the General 5
Statutes is amended by adding a new Part to read: 6
"PART 4B. SOCIAL WORKERS' EDUCATION LOAN FUND. 7
"§ 143B-150.25. Social Workers' Education Loan Fund. 8
(a) There is established in the Department of Human Resources the Social 9
Workers' Education Loan Fund within the Office of the Secretary, to attract trained 10
social workers into public child welfare positions in all county departments of social 11
services in the State. The Secretary shall administer the Fund in concert with the 12
Department's responsibility for supervising public child welfare service training for the 13
professional personnel rendering these services. 14
(b) The Secretary shall ensure that all students receiving funds pursuant to this 15
section meet the following eligibility criteria: 16
(1) All students shall be enrolled in an institution of higher education in 17
North Carolina in an accredited bachelors of social work or masters of 18
social work program; 19
(2) All students shall be residents of North Carolina. For purposes of this 20
section, residency shall be determined by the same standard as 21
residency for tuition purposes pursuant to G.S. 116-143.1; 22
(3) All students shall enter into a legal agreement with the Department to 23
accept employment in public child welfare in exchange for receiving 24

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA 1993
Page 2 SENATE BILL 1059 version 1
any funds, which agreement shall include stipulation that the student is 1
willing to accept employment in rural or other need-based counties; 2
and 3
(4) Any additional criteria that the Secretary considers necessary to 4
administer the program effectively. 5
(c) The Secretary shall ensure that the loan amounts are limited as follows: 6
(1) For a student pursuing a bachelors of social work degree, four 7
thousand dollars ($4,000) per year for a maximum of four years; and 8
(2) For a student pursuing a masters of social work degree, five thousand 9
dollars ($5,000) per year for a maximum of two years. 10
(d) The Secretary shall ensure that the following loan cancellations and 11
repayment schedules apply to all funds distributed pursuant to this section: 12
(1) The individual who graduates with a bachelors of social work degree 13
or a masters of social work degree and who works for a public child 14
welfare agency in North Carolina shall have that amount of the loan 15
cancelled that is based on the amount of time employed and the 16
number of academic years funds were received. One full year of 17
employment shall cancel one academic year's loan, whether four 18
thousand dollars ($4,000) or five thousand dollars ($5,000); 19
(2) The individual who graduates with a bachelors of social work degree 20
or a masters of social work degree and who works in public child 21
welfare in North Carolina for the equivalent of the total number of 22
academic years funds were received shall have the entire loan 23
cancelled; 24
(3) The individual who graduates with a bachelors of social work degree 25
or a masters of social work degree and who does not work in public 26
child welfare in North Carolina for any or all of the equivalent of the 27
number of years funds were received shall repay the loan to the 28
Department according to a schedule prescribed by the Secretary, plus 29
ten percent (10%) annual interest; and 30
(4) The individual who does not graduate with a bachelors of social work 31
degree or a masters of social work degree shall repay the loan 32
according to a schedule prescribed by the Secretary, plus fifteen 33
percent (15%) annual interest. 34
The Secretary shall ensure that all repayments, including accrued interest, shall be 35
placed in the Fund. 36
(e) The Social Workers' Education Loan Fund established by this section shall 37
award loans for education beginning with the 1994-95 academic year." 38
Sec. 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 39
Human Resources the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal 40
year to implement this act. 41