S537 - Licensing & HHS Amends & Rural Health Stable. (SL 2019-240)

Overview: S.L. 2019-240 amended a wide range of laws in the health and human services area as outlined below.

• Establishes a new adult care home payment methodology.
• Amends the Licensed Professional Counselors Act effective January 1, 2020.
• Amends the Substance Abuse Professional Practice Act effective October 1, 2019, for licenses granted or renewed on or after that date and for applications for licenses on or after that date; the changes to the structure of the Board effective July 1, 2020.
• Amends the Social Worker Certification and Licensure Act effective January 1, 2021.
• Clarifies the Medicaid subrogation statute.
• Makes technical and clarifying changes to social services reform and the child support enforcement program effective July 1, 2020.
• Changes to the name of the Vocational State Rehabilitation Council.
• Repeals the Employee Assistance Professionals Article.
• Makes technical and conforming changes the adoption preplacement assessment.
• Expands immunity for cooperating in child abuse and neglect reports and assessments.
• Amends laws pertaining to Department of Health and Human Services law enforcement and the joint security force for various facilities.
• Adds a definition for "security recordings" to the mental health statutes.
• Makes a clarifying change to the NC REACH Program.
• Adds a definition for "Traumatic Brain Injury" to the mental health statutes.
• Adds a Continuing Care Retirement Community representative to the Medical Care Commission.
• Postpones the NC FAST Case-Management Functionality for child welfare and aging and adult services.
• Implements statutes pertaining to criminal history record checks for child care institutions.
• Makes technical and conforming changes to involuntary commitment statutes.
• Enacts statutes to address rural health care stabilization.

Except as outlined above, the remainder of this act became effective November 6, 2019.