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Administration of Justice Bulletin No. 98/03 December 1998 <br /> <br />disclosed only to Nor~ Carolina judges for the par- <br />pose of ascertaining whether a person charged with an <br />offense has been granted an expunction, <br /> After a persen's juvenile record is expunged, that <br />person and his or her parent may not be found guilty of <br />perjury or of giving a false statement for failing to <br />acknowledge the record. <br /> <br />Disclosure of Information about Juveniles <br /> <br />Information Sharing among Agencies <br />New G.S. 7B-3100 directs the Office of Juvenile <br />Justice, after consultation with the Conference of Chief <br />District Court Judges, to adopt rules designating local <br />agencies that are authorized to share information rele- <br />vant to any case in which a petition has been filed <br />alleging thai a juvenile is undisciplined, delinquent, <br />abused, neglected, or dependent. Former GS. 7A- <br />675(h). much of which is retained in the new section, <br />applied only to abuse, neglect, and dependency cases, <br />and dixected the chief district court judge in each dis- <br />trict to designate the agencies by administrative order. <br />Information that agencies share pursuant to the section <br />may be used only for the protection of the juvenile and <br />others or to improve the educational opportunities of <br />the juvenile, <br /> <br /> Disclosure by or to Schools <br /> <br /> Information that is shared by schools pursuant to <br />GS. 7B-3100. described above, must be released in <br />accordance wSth the federal Family Educational Pdghts <br />and Privacy Act. An amendment to GS. 115C-404(b) <br />prohibits a school's use of information gamed pursuant <br />to GS. 7B-3100 as the sole basis for a decision to sus- <br />pend or expel a student. The new code, in G.S. 7B- <br />3101. continues the requirement that court counselors <br />notify, schools of certain occurrences in cases of juve- <br />niles alleged or found to be delinquent for felony <br />offenses. Amendments to G.S. 115C-404(a) specify <br />when a school must destroy information it obtains un- <br />der either G.S. 7B-3100 or G.S. 7B-3101. <br /> <br />Studies and Other Agency Directives <br /> <br /> In addition to statutory, duties described earlier, <br />S.L. 1998-202 (or, where specified, S.L. 1998-212) <br />imposes a number of specific responsibilities on state <br />agencies and departments. <br /> <br /> Training on New Juvenile Code <br /> <br /> Training on the provisions of the new luvenile <br />Code must be provided by July t., 1.999, as follows. <br /> <br /> · The Office nf Juvenile Justice (OJJ) must <br /> provide training for juvenile court counselors <br /> and other OJJ personnel. <br /> · The Administrative Office of the Courts <br /> (AOC) must provide training for court per- <br /> sonnel, including judges and district attor- <br /> neys. The AOC may contract with qualifiod <br /> educational institutions to provide the <br /> training. <br /> · The Department of Justice must provide <br /> training for'law enforcement perse nnel <br /> throughout the state. <br /> <br /> Minority Sensitivity Training <br /> The Office of Juvenile Justice (OS J) must ensure <br />that all juvenile court counselors and other OJJ per- <br />sonnel receive minority sensitivity training and must <br />conduct the training annually. The training must be in <br />effect by May 1., 1999, and the OJJ may contract with <br />qualified educational institutions to provide the <br />training. <br /> The Department of Justice must develop guide- <br />lines for minority sensitivity training for all law <br />enforcement personnel throughout the state and, except <br />where local law enforcement already' has training that <br />satisfies the gmdelines, conduct the training annually~ <br />The guidelines and training must be in effect by May <br />I, 1999. <br /> In addition, both the OJJ and the Department of <br />Justice must ensure that all personnel who work with <br />minority juveniles in the juvenile justice system are <br />taught to communicate effectively with nunority juve- <br />niles and to recognize and address their needs. <br /> S.L. 1998-202 requires the Chief Justice of the <br />state Supreme Court to consider ensuring that all <br />judges who hear juvenile cases receive minority sensi- <br />tivity training. <br /> <br /> Assessment of Treatment of Minority <br /> Juveniles <br /> The Office of Juvenile Justice (O J J) must study <br />the overrepresentation of racial minorities in the juve- <br />nile justice gstem: compare the dispositions for mi- <br />nority juveniles adjudicated delinquent or undisci- <br />plined with the dispositions for nonminority juveniles: <br />compare the services made available to minority and <br />nonminority juveniles and theft families; and make <br />recommendations as to how any disparities should be <br /> <br />24 <br /> <br /> <br />