AN ACT to appropriate funds to the community colleges system office for a vocational rehabilitation pilot program.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  Program; Purpose. – The State Board of Community Colleges shall establish the Vocational Rehabilitation Pilot Program (Program) for the 2023‑2024 to 2025‑2026 academic years. The purpose of the Program is to provide support services to community college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to help the students reach their goals for employment and independence without duplicating the existing vocational support network.

SECTION 1.(b)  Use of Funds; Selection. – Community colleges may apply to the State Board of Community Colleges to participate in the Program. The State Board, in consultation with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services of the Department of Health and Human Services (DVR), shall select community colleges to participate in the Program. As part of the Program, the Community Colleges System Office shall contract with DVR to place student counselors at selected community colleges in the State. Funds provided for this purpose may be used to meet any applicable federal matching requirements for student counselors and for costs related to administration of the Program.

SECTION 1.(c)  Report. – No later than March 15, 2024, and each year thereafter in which funds are expended during the Program, the State Board of Community Colleges, in consultation with DVR, shall report on the impact of the Program on participants, including at least the following information:

(1)        The mental health and well‑being of participants.

(2)        Job placements of participants.

SECTION 2.  Appropriation. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Community Colleges System Office the sum of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2023‑2024 fiscal year to implement the Vocational Rehabilitation Pilot Program established pursuant to Section 1 of this act. These funds shall not revert at the end of the 2023‑2024 fiscal year but shall remain available until the end of the 2025‑2026 fiscal year.

SECTION 3.  Effective Date. – This act becomes effective July 1, 2023.