Articles in the Social Services category

Child welfare records maintained by a department of social services (DSS) contain sensitive information that parties in various proceedings are often interested in seeing. A complex web of state and federal law governs the disclosure of these records – more than I can cover here. For purposes of this post, it’s sufficient to know that G.S. 108A-80 is a broadly applicable confidentiality statute that applies to DSS and covers client information generally. Absent limited statutory exceptions, G.S. 108A-80(a) prohibits disclosure of information related to individuals who apply for or receive public assistance or social services, including child welfare services.

Child welfare information is also subject to an additional set of confidentiality restrictions under Chapter 7B of the North Carolina General Statutes. For example, G.S. 7B-302 makes information that is obtained by DSS related to a juvenile’s alleged abuse, neglect, or dependency (A/N/D) confidential. Similarly, G.S. 7B-2901(b) requires DSS to maintain confidential records of juveniles it has in its custody. Both statutes provide exceptions to the confidentiality requirement.

This post explores how the exceptions in G.S. 7B-302 and 7B-2901(b) apply when a party—either in a North Carolina civil case where DSS is not a party or in a criminal or delinquency matter—wants DSS child welfare records about someone other than themselves. Note that in this post I use the term ‘DSS records’ to refer to child welfare records maintained by DSS, including those from juvenile A/N/D proceedings.

In North Carolina, each county department of social services (DSS) is responsible for receiving and evaluating reports of alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation of disabled adults. See G.S. 108A-102 and […]

Session Law 2025-16 (HB 612) was signed into law on June 26, 2025. It makes numerous changes related to child welfare, many of which are discussed by my colleague Sara […]

I wrote recently about substantial upcoming changes to North Carolina’s child fatality prevention system. As part of those systemic changes in S.L. 2023-124, the General Assembly is establishing new Citizen […]

Many of the confidentiality laws that apply to North Carolina’s social services agencies, mental health facilities, healthcare providers, local health departments, and substance use disorder treatment providers permit disclosure of […]

*This post was written by Adult Protection Network Director Kristy Preston. Earlier this year, the UNC School of Government’s Adult Protection Network held six training events known as the “2024 […]

Recently, the North Carolina Court of Appeals rendered a decision in In re A.K., __ N.C. App. __ (August 6, 2024), which touches on multiple issues relevant to juvenile abuse, neglect, dependency (AND) practitioners. (I blogged about one of those issues – a parent’s right to be represented by a retained attorney of their choosing, regardless of the attorney’s AND experience – here. My colleague Sara DePasquale published a blog about another issue: considering a family’s culture, including religion and language, in an AND proceeding.) This post will explore a third issue raised in the opinion: the appointment of a Rule 17 guardian ad litem (GAL) to an incompetent respondent parent.

In state fiscal year 2022-2023, county departments of social services in North Carolina received 35,400 reports alleging the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults. Fifty-six counties across the state […]

Across North Carolina, there are 55 child advocacy centers (CACs) providing services to children who have experienced maltreatment, including physical or sexual abuse. County departments of social services and local […]

Imagine a Department of Social Services (DSS) receives a report alleging a juvenile was abused by her father. Following an investigation, DSS substantiates the report. At this point, does placing […]