On October 1, 2026, the Dominque Moody Safety Act became effective through section 9J.15 of the 2026 Appropriations Act (S.L. 2026-41) with the enactment of G.S. 108A-15.25 through -15.28. The Act involves the creation of a child welfare case escalation team at the Division of Social Services at the NC Department of Health and Human Services (“NCDHHS”). The Act honors Dominque Moody, a 6-year-old girl who died from severe abuse and neglect after numerous reports that were made to DSS were screened out or did not result in Dominque’s removal. In an effort to prevent a system failure like this again, the Dominque Moody Act’s purpose is to have the state, through the child welfare case escalation team at NCDHHS,
- provide an additional level of review for certain reports of child abuse or neglect that are received by a county department of social services (“DSS”),
- support county DSSs, and
- provide quality assurance of the family’s prior history with child protective services when that family has new reports made to a county DSS to assist with decisions that will ensure the child’s safety and well-being. G.S. 108A-15.25.
State Oversight of County DSSs
North Carolina is in the small minority of states that has a state-supervised, county-administered social services system that includes the provision of child welfare services. Although there is one child welfare system in North Carolina, the way it functions is that each of the 100 county DSSs performs their individual child welfare functions for juveniles who are found or reside in their county. The state, through NCDHHS, supervises that work by providing training, monitoring, and technical assistance; creating forms; and developing and publishing the NC Child Welfare Manual (the state policies). NCDHHS can impose a corrective action plan when a DSS does not comply with the law. See G.S. 108A-74. In some circumstances, NCDHHS can divest the DSS director of their child welfare authority and temporarily administer child welfare services in that county during the divesture. See my colleague’s post for more information, https://civil.sog.unc.edu/2025/07/09/state-oversight-of-county-departments-of-social-services-changes-in-session-law-2025-16/.
Additionally, NCDHHS has authority to review reports of suspected abuse, neglect, or dependency that are screened out by a county DSS (meaning not acted upon) and to review a DSS decision not to file a petition in district court that alleges a juvenile is abused, neglected, or dependent. See my previous blog post, https://civil.sog.unc.edu/2026/05/04/juvenile-abuse-neglect-dependency-reporting-rights-protections-and-division-and-or-prosecutor-review/.
Now, under the Dominque Moody Safety Act, NCDHHS will also be involved with reports of abuse or neglect that involve a juvenile residing or located in a high-risk home.
Who Is a Juvenile in a High-Risk Home?
A juvenile is a minor who is 17 or younger and is not emancipated, married, or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. G.S. 108A-15.26(5); see G.S. 7B-101(14). A “high risk home” is defined at G.S. 108A-15.26(4) and involves any one of the following criteria:
- 2 or more screened out reports that allege abuse or neglect of any juvenile that indicate a pattern of concern regardless of the prior screening decisions;
- A history of prior removal and any juvenile’s placement in foster or kinship care;
- 2 or more reports (substantiated or not) that show a pattern that is consistent with chronic or habitual neglect or abuse of any juvenile;
- Ongoing medical or mental health neglect of any juvenile, such as repeated reports of the failure to address any juvenile’s medical or mental health needs with allegations that are consistent across multiple reports and time frames; or
- An extensive child welfare history, which is when any of the following criteria exists:
- Families with 5 or more child protective cases concerning neglect regardless of the case decision;
- Families with 3 or more cases if any of those cases concerned abuse;
- Families with 3 or more prior reports with concerns of domestic violence or active or current drug activity;
- A second report for medical neglect that is received within 6 months of the current report;
- Any report involving an active temporary safety provider (TSP), kinship care provider, or legal guardian;
- Cases with a previous child protective history with a family that involves a juvenile’s near fatality (which is when a physician determines a child is in serious or critical condition resulting from sickness or injury caused by abuse, neglect, or maltreatment, see G.S. 7B-2902(a)(3));
- Any case with a prior history that involves a child fatality resulting from concerns of abuse or neglect where any child currently lives in the home;
- The involvement of a medically complex juvenile with any prior child welfare history who requires subspecialty care by at least 2 subspecialities;
- Involvement of a juvenile who requires devices to sustain their function (e.g., tracheostomy or gastric tube) and has had 3 or more prior cases concerning medical neglect; and
- Multiple prior involvements with child welfare services, including in-home or permanency planning services. See G.S. 108A-15.26(3) (definition of “extensive child welfare history”).
If a juvenile resides or is located in a home where one of these criteria exist, that juvenile is in a high-risk home and the Dominque Moody Act applies.
Questions may arise about the different terminology in the definitions of “extensive child welfare history” and “high-risk home” as the statutory language uses different terms related to child welfare and child protective services – “case,” “report,” and “involvement.” None of these terms are defined. It is unclear whether a “case” or “involvement” exists only when DSS takes action beyond receiving a report. For example, a “case” could be inclusive of a report since protective services involves “the screening of reports” (see G.S. 7B-300), or a “case” could be more limited and apply only after a report has been screened in and an assessment has been initiated and does not include a screened out report alone. Until there is clarity, one may want to err on the side of caution when looking at the purpose of the Act and interpret all the terms to mean when a report is received by a county DSS.
DSS Responsibility when Receiving a Report for a Juvenile in a High-Risk Home
When a report of abuse or neglect (dependency is not included) of a juvenile living or located in a high-risk home is received by a DSS, the director must notify the child welfare case escalation team within 2 business of when the report is received. G.S. 108A-15.27(a), (b). The director completes an “escalation notification” and sends it to NCDHHS by email or through an automated process. Id. The automated process may be PATH NC.
The Child Welfare Escalation Team (“Team”) and Its Duties
The Team
The Team is staffed by NCDHHS and consists of representatives that conduct the escalation assessments. G.S. 108A-15.25. The Act provides for $550,000 in recurring funds for 6 full-time equivalent positions to staff the Team.
The Team representatives include an assigned manager and escalation specialists who must collaborate and coordinate with the regional safety manager, the DSS director where the juvenile who is the subject of the case escalation resides, and local law enforcement. G.S. 108A-15.25(b). Although the statute identifies the DSS director where the juvenile resides, the involvement of the director of the DSS who is managing the report and assessment (for example when a conflict of interest exists and a different county DSS accepts the case pursuant to G.S. 7B-302.1) may be required.
Access to Information
The Team, through the assigned escalation specialist, must coordinate with DSS to obtain access to the entire case record for the high-risk home, and upon request DSS must provide any records in their possession related to the high-risk home as well as records from the juvenile’s case. G.S. 108A-15.27(c); see G.S. 7B-302(a1)(1). The escalation specialist may also make a demand in writing for records that are in the possession of State or local law enforcement. Id. However, the custodian of criminal investigative records may seek a court order to prevent the disclosure if it believes the release of such information would jeopardize the right of the state to prosecute the defendant or the defendant’s right to a fair trial or undermine an ongoing or future investigation. Id., see G.S. 7B-302(e).
Duties
After receiving the necessary information and records, the escalation specialists must
- Assess the child welfare history that includes all reports and findings, interviews, safety plans, and services provided to the juvenile and family;
- Identify gaps in services and other areas that impact the juvenile’s safety;
- Review the current assessment’s overall safety planning for the juvenile to determine if additional steps are needed to address safety; and
- Create a chronological time line of child protective services to understand the maltreatment factors concerning the family to assist in decision making. G.S. 108A-15.28(a).
The escalation specialist and other team members must provide necessary technical assistance to DSS throughout its assessment of the report to identify any patterns or contributory factors from past history that may impact a caregiver’s ability to assess and control for present danger threats. G.S. 108A-15.28(a). Although the statute uses the term “caregiver,” the circumstances of a juvenile’s abuse or neglect are created by a parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker. See G.S. 7B-101(1), (15) (note exception for a minor victim of human trafficking). Presumably it is an individual in one of those roles that is being referred to by the term “caregiver.”
Working in collaboration with DSS, the escalation specialist must
- provide guidance about the case decision and identify needed services for the family’s case plan when considering the family’s history and interventions that were identified in the time line and
- guide current intervention steps and improve practice while raising any practice concerns and discuss that with the DSS director and regional safety manager. G.S. 108A-15.28(b).
Note, there is no statutory timeline for how quickly the Team must act and perform its duties.
It is unclear whether this Act gives the Team authority to direct DSS to file a petition in court alleging the juvenile who is the subject of the report is abused, neglected, or dependent. The Act does not expressly authorize the Team to do that; instead, it authorizes the Team to provide guidance to a DSS about a case decision from an assessment and needed services. However, a reporter, after receiving notice that a petition has not been filed in district court has the right to request a review of that decision from the county prosecutor, NCDHHS, or both, and either of those reviewing entities has the authority to direct DSS to file a petition. G.S. 7B-302(g); -305; -306. That review process is separate from the case escalation team process.
DSS Response
DSS must respond to all unaddressed safety concerns that were identified by the Team, and DSS must do so immediately or within the same day it is notified of those concerns. G.S. 108A-15.28(c).
Macro Impact
The Team and other assigned NCDHHS staff must review records to ensure that practices that are deficient have been corrected and that there is communication with DSS staff and others to improve child welfare practices across all levels of the county DSSs. G.S. 108A-15-28(d).
