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North Carolina

45 children who have provided notice about their experiences of sexual harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Counties must develop a local plan addressing how the Option will be implemented and operated locally to state office by the end of the current fiscal year June 30, 2023. The protocol must include, at a minimum:

• The qualified family violence agencies/individuals within the community who will accept referrals for Work First participants. • The individual/agency responsible for screening/assessment; • The worker within the agency responsible for giving notifications; • Crisis intervention procedures.

Each county must designate an individual(s) within DSS or get the assistance of an outside agency to conduct screenings and/or assessments. The individual conducting the assessment must be trained in family violence. Although there is no licensing procedure for family violence professionals, counties should carefully select the individuals/agencies who will be responsible for conducting in-depth assessments. In making the selection, consult with 1 or more of the following: The Council for Women, the NC Coalition against Domestic Violence, or the local domestic violence program in the county or area recognized by the NC Council for Women.

TRAINING

State Work First (TANF) office will develop and disseminate Domestic Violence training to all 100 counties by 09/30/23. State office monitoring team will ensure all counties have received the material and trained their TANF staff through quarterly compliance visits. Counties will require all Work First staff and agencies who serve Work First participants to complete Domestic Violence training before speaking with participants about Family Violence/Domestic Violence option. The training will include the following: (1) the dynamics of domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual assault and stalking; (2) state procedures designed to prevent domestic violence and other forms of gender- based violence and assist survivors; and (3) procedures to ensure confidentiality of survivors’ personal information. A standardized training packet will be available for use by counties from the Division of Social Services. Individuals/agencies with whom the county contracts for family violence services must also be trained on the Option and Work First. All Work First personnel including county staff, and Work First contract staff must complete Domestic Violence training annually and it is the counties responsibility to record county staff/contractor completion.

ENFORCEMENT (state level) State office will incorporate the new Domestic Violence requirement into existing Monitoring plans when conducting county reviews to ensure compliance with this requirement.

LOCAL DEMONSTRATIONS OR PILOT PROGRAMS