§ 108A-77.2.  (Effective July 1, 2024) Entity; eligibility.

(a) In order to receive State funds or federal funds administered or distributed by a State agency or any other funds appropriated or allocated by the North Carolina General Assembly, a Child Advocacy Center must satisfy all of the following requirements:

(1) Be in good standing with State standards set forth by Children's Advocacy Centers of North Carolina, Inc. Children's Advocacy Centers of North Carolina, Inc., will notify State partners, including the Department of Health and Human Services, when a determination is made that a Children's Advocacy Center is no longer in good standing with Children's Advocacy Centers of North Carolina, Inc.

(2) Be an independent agency, which may be a nonprofit or affiliated with an umbrella organization, such as a hospital or another human or victim service agency, or a part of a governmental entity, with sound administrative policies and procedures designed to ensure quality of services and sustainability, which, at a minimum, include policies governing job descriptions, personnel, financial management, document retention and destruction, and safety and security, and maintains appropriate commercial directors and officers and professional liability insurance.

(3) Provide a child-friendly, trauma-informed space for children suspected to be victims of child maltreatment and their appropriate caregivers.

(4) Conduct on-site interviews of children by a forensic interviewer in referred cases of suspected child maltreatment.

(5) Maintain a multidisciplinary team, the members of which meet on a regularly scheduled basis and are routinely involved in investigations and multidisciplinary team interventions.

(6) Have a written interagency agreement signed by authorized representatives of all multidisciplinary team participants that commits the signed parties to the multidisciplinary model for the investigation of child maltreatment. The agreement must be reviewed and signed annually.

(7) Provide a space for multidisciplinary team meetings.

(8) Establish and maintain written protocols, which comply with State and national standards and State and federal laws, governing (i) multidisciplinary team case review, (ii) access to medical and mental health treatment, (iii) confidentiality of medical and mental health records, (iv) confidentiality of a department's protective services information and records, (v) information sharing among multidisciplinary team members that complies with State and federal laws and rules for the participating entities, (vi) functions of the multidisciplinary team, (vii) roles and responsibilities of multidisciplinary team members and their interaction in the Children's Advocacy Center, (viii) victim support, and (ix) advocacy services. These protocols must be reviewed every three years and updated as needed to reflect current practice.

(9) Have a designated staff that is supervised and approved by the Children's Advocacy Center's Board of Directors or other governing entity.

(10) Provide case tracking of child maltreatment cases served through the Children's Advocacy Center, according to written protocols. A Children's Advocacy Center shall also track and be able to retrieve statistical data on the number of child maltreatment cases seen at the center by sex, race, age, type of maltreatment, relationship of the alleged offender to the child, multidisciplinary team involvement and outcomes, charge disposition, child protection outcomes, and status and follow-through of medical and mental health referrals to the extent this information was available and known to the Children's Advocacy Center.

(11) Provide or refer child medical evaluations and law enforcement child medical evaluations, as requested by a department or a law enforcement agency.

(12) Provide mental health services or referrals for those mental health services, which will be provided by licensed mental health professionals who deliver trauma-focused, evidence-supported treatment and who meet State standards.

(13) Provide training for various disciplines in the community that deal with child maltreatment.

(14) Provide victim support and advocacy that meets State and national standards.

(15) Maintain diversity, equity, and inclusion by completing a community assessment every three years, which, at a minimum, shall do all of the following:

a. Determine the demographics of the community, clients, and the Children's Advocacy Center's staff and board.

b. Identify underserved populations.

c. Identify and address gaps in services to underserved populations.

d. Develop strategies for outreach to underserved populations.

e. Monitor effectiveness of outreach and intervention strategies and services that are tailored to meet the unique needs of all children.

(16) Provide annual trainings or educational opportunities for multidisciplinary team members' professional development.

(17) Ensure that Children's Advocacy Center employees and volunteers are properly screened and trained in accordance with State and national standards.

(18) Provide all services to a child client regardless of the child or child's family's ability to pay for those services.

(b) Children's Advocacy Centers of North Carolina, Inc., shall be responsible for tracking and documenting compliance with all of the requirements of this section and any funds it administers to an eligible Children's Advocacy Center. (2023-96, s. 1(a).)