SB 280: Dominique Moody Act. - North Carolina

Edition 5 → Edition 6 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated to its sixth edition, incorporating minor formatting adjustments to indentation and spacing. A significant substantive change was made to the definition of 'High-risk home,' which now uses the phrase 'Extensive child welfare history' instead of 'History of extensive child welfare involvement,' aligning the definition with the new section title. Additionally, the text for information sharing requirements was truncated in this edition.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on establishing a Child Welfare Case Escalation Team, but the specific criteria for defining a 'High-risk home' were slightly reworded to improve consistency with the new section header.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'High-risk home' was changed from 'History of extensive child welfare involvement' to 'Extensive child welfare history' to match the new section title.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting changes were made to indentation levels in the text of the bill.

The text describing information sharing requirements was cut off mid-sentence in this version.

Edition 4 → Edition 5 · 8 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates the Child Welfare Case Escalation Team to include a new committee review step, broadens the definition of high-risk homes to include legal guardians, and clarifies criteria for medical neglect and child fatalities. These changes aim to improve safety reviews for families with complex histories by ensuring more comprehensive oversight and clearer triggers for intervention.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of the Child Welfare Case Escalation Team by adding a new review layer and modifying the criteria for identifying high-risk situations, particularly regarding medical neglect and family history.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new House Committee Substitute review step to the bill's legislative history, indicating further legislative refinement.

Revised the notification process to require the director of the county department of social services to proceed through the escalation notification process when a report involves a juvenile in a high-risk home.

Updated the list of entities the team collaborates with to include the director of the regional social services department, enhancing coordination between regional and local levels.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'Extensive child welfare history' to include involvement of medically complex juveniles with any prior child welfare history requiring subspecialty care, broadening the criteria for escalation assessments.

Modified the definition of 'High-risk home' to include legal guardians as a potential high-risk individual, expanding the pool of cases subject to escalation review.

Clarified the definition of 'Near fatality' to specify that it applies when any child currently resides in the home following a prior fatality, ensuring ongoing risk assessment for new children.

Refined the definition of 'High-risk home' to specify 'known' screened-out reports, adding a requirement for verification of screening decisions.

Expanded the definition of 'High-risk home' to include reports on active temporary safety providers, kinship care providers, or legal guardians, broadening the scope of high-risk assessments.

Edition 3 → Edition 4 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill text was completely replaced, changing the subject from allowing armed guards at private schools to establishing a new Child Welfare Case Escalation Team for high-risk juvenile cases. This represents a total shift in legislative focus from school safety to child protective services intervention.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed entirely from regulating firearm possession at nonpublic schools to creating a specialized team for reviewing complex child welfare cases.

SCOPE

All provisions regarding armed employees and volunteers at private schools were removed.

New provisions establishing a Child Welfare Case Escalation Team to assess high-risk juvenile cases were added.

DEFINITION

New definitions for 'extensive child welfare history', 'high-risk home', and 'near fatality' were introduced to guide team interventions.

TIMELINE

The bill number and session date were updated from 2025 to 2026, and the short title changed from 'Private School Security Act' to 'Dominique Moody Act'.

Edition 2 → Edition 3 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was revised to change the terminology from 'private school' to 'nonpublic school' throughout the text. This update broadens the bill's applicability to include religiously affiliated institutions like parochial schools, which were previously excluded under the narrower definition of 'private school'.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to explicitly include nonpublic schools, such as religiously affiliated institutions, ensuring they are covered under the same security provisions as other private schools.

DEFINITION

The term 'private school' was replaced with 'nonpublic school' in the short title, act description, and legal definitions to clarify that religiously affiliated schools are included.

ELIGIBILITY

Updated eligibility criteria for employees and volunteers to apply to 'nonpublic schools' rather than just 'private schools', allowing authorized staff at religious institutions to carry weapons.

Edition 1 → Edition 2 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was renumbered from Edition 1 to Edition 2 and includes a Judiciary Committee adoption date. The most significant substantive change is the addition of a new Section 3, which clarifies that public school property is not considered a place of religious worship and establishes specific conditions under which individuals with concealed handgun permits may carry weapons on educational property that also houses a place of worship. This addition creates a new legal framework for carrying firearms in hybrid school-church settings, whereas the previous version did not address this scenario.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to explicitly include educational properties that are also places of religious worship, defining specific circumstances under which concealed carry is permitted in these locations.

SCOPE

Added a new section clarifying that public school property is not a place of religious worship and defining rules for carrying concealed handguns on educational property that also contains a place of worship.

REQUIREMENT

Established new conditions for carrying firearms in hybrid school-church settings, including restrictions on carrying during school hours and requirements for posted notices prohibiting carry.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill metadata to reflect Judiciary Committee adoption on 4/30/25 and renumbered the document from Edition 1 to Edition 2.

A1: ACI-65-V-3 → Edition 1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The document changed from a technical amendment to a complete legislative bill. The new version introduces the Private School Security Act, allowing authorized employees and volunteers at private schools to carry firearms or stun guns, and permitting concealed carry at places of religious worship located on school property. It also establishes new definitions for school leadership roles and sets a December 1, 2025, effective date.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a narrow amendment to a new law covering private school security protocols and religious worship locations.

SCOPE

New provisions allowing private school employees and volunteers to carry firearms or stun guns with board authorization.

Extension of concealed carry rights to places of religious worship on school property during services.

ELIGIBILITY

Specific criteria for carrying weapons, including valid concealed handgun permits and completion of annual safety training.

DEFINITION

New definitions for 'school administrative director' and 'school board of trustees' to clarify authority.

REQUIREMENT

Requirement for schools to adopt written standard operating procedures and distribute them to parents annually.

TIMELINE

Effective date changed to December 1, 2025, replacing the previous October 1, 2026, date.

A5: ACE-64-V-3 → A1: ACI-65-V-3 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This amendment shifts the authority for child safety escalations from the 'director of the regional social services department' to a 'regional safety manager.' It introduces a new requirement for an 'escalation specialist' to coordinate with social services for immediate safety access to high-risk home records and grants them the power to demand law enforcement records. The effective dates for various sections of the act were also updated to 2026 and 2027.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include specific mandates for an escalation specialist to access and share sensitive case records between social services and law enforcement to address immediate juvenile safety risks.

REQUIREMENT

Replaced the 'director of the regional social services department' as the responsible official with a 'regional safety manager.'

Added a new provision requiring an 'escalation specialist' to coordinate with county social services to obtain full case records for high-risk homes and allowing them to demand law enforcement records.

TIMELINE

Updated the effective dates for various sections of the act to October 1, 2026, July 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027.

TECHNICAL

Removed multiple instructions to substitute the word 'private' with 'nonpublic' throughout the document.

Filed → A5: ACE-64-V-3 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to replace all instances of the term 'private school' with 'nonpublic school' to align with the legal terminology used in North Carolina's public education statutes. This change broadens the bill's applicability to include non-public institutions that are not strictly religious, such as charter schools and private academies, ensuring they are covered by the same security provisions.

Scope change

The scope of the bill was expanded from exclusively 'private schools' to include all 'nonpublic schools', thereby extending the ability for authorized employees and volunteers to carry weapons on the educational property of a wider range of non-governmental educational institutions.

SCOPE

The term 'private school' was changed to 'nonpublic school' throughout the text to ensure consistency with state education law and to include charter schools and other non-religious nonpublic institutions.

TECHNICAL

The original short title 'Private School Security Act' and the initial filing header were removed, while the amendment header and specific amendment instructions were added.

Dominique Moody Act.

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