Like every other state, North Carolina has a mandatory reporting law for child abuse and neglect. North Carolina’s law requires any person or institution with cause to suspect a child is abused, neglected, or dependent due to circumstances created by a parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker to make a report to the county child welfare department (typically, a department of social services (DSS)) where the child resides or is found. G.S. 7B-301. Additionally, any person or institution with cause to suspect a juvenile is a victim of human trafficking (sex or labor trafficking), regardless of whether the circumstances were created by a parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker, is mandated to report abuse and neglect to the DSS where the child resides or is found. See G.S. 7B-301; -101(1) (defining “abused juveniles”), (9) (defining “dependent juvenile”), and (15) (defining “neglected juvenile”).
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Tag: abuse neglect and dependency
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The Lumbee Tribe of NC Is Fully Federally Recognized; ICWA Now Applies in A/N/D and TPR Actions for Indian Children Affiliated with the Lumbee
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina (Lumbee) has received full federal recognition through the Lumbee Fairness Act, which was included in the National Defense Authorization Act. The law was signed by the President, granting full federal recognition to the Lumbee on December 18, 2025. This is an extraordinary time for the Lumbee, who will have access to services and resources (such as support with education, health care, and housing) from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as well as the right to self-governance.
One immediate change is the application of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to the Lumbee. This change impacts abuse, neglect, dependency (A/N/D) and termination of parental rights (TPR) action. (It also impacts all adoptions of minors (including stepparent adoptions but that is beyond the scope of this post)
There are additional protections ICWA provides in A/N/D and TPR proceedings when an Indian child is involved. An Indian child now includes a juvenile who is either (1) a member of the Lumbee or (2) eligible for membership with the Lumbee and who have a biological parent who is a member of a fully federally recognized Indian tribe. See 25 U.S.C. 1903(4) & 25 C.F.R. 23.2 (definition of “Indian child”). There are new steps the court and participants must follow when an Indian child who is affiliated with the Lumbee is the subject of the suit. Although these changes are effective now (and started on December 18, 2025), this is a time of significant transition for the Lumbee, where procedures and policies are being created and implemented. Continue Reading
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Disclosure of Child Welfare Records in Cases Where DSS is Not a Party
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. Continue Reading
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The Fostering Care in NC Act: Changes to Child Welfare Effective October 1, 2025, Part 2, and an On-Demand Webinar on the Legislative Changes
This is my third post discussing S.L. 2025-16, the Fostering Care in NC Act. The various sections of this significant 32-page session law have different effective dates: June 26, 2025, October 1, 2025, December 1, 2025, and April 1, 2026. This post discusses two significant changes to child welfare law that are effective October 1st:
- the right to seek expungement from the Responsible Individuals List (RIL) through a district court action under the new G.S. 7B-325, and
- post-adoption contact agreement and orders between parents and prospective adoptive parents for children who are in DSS custody through an order entered in an abuse, neglect, or dependency (A/N/D) action under the new G.S. 7B-909.2, -909.3 and 50-13.2B.
Because the changes made in S.L. 2025-16 and some other shorter session laws addressing child welfare are so numerous, my colleague, Kristi Nickodem, and I made a 1.5 hour on-demand webinar discussing these changes. It is free of charge and can be viewed at any time. There are no continuing education credit hours available. You can view the webinar at https://vimeo.com/1121169767. The end of this post has a list of all the posts addressing the legislative changes discussed in the webinar. Continue Reading
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The Fostering Care in NC Act: Changes to Child Welfare Effective October 1, 2025, Part 1
This is my second post discussing S.L. 2025-16, the Fostering Care in NC Act. The various sections of this significant 32-page session law have different effective dates. Some sections became effective on June 26, 2025 and are discussed in my previous post – https://civil.sog.unc.edu/the-fostering-care-in-nc-act-changes-to-child-welfare-and-dss-that-are-effective-now/ – and my colleague’s post discussing changes to DHHS oversight https://civil.sog.unc.edu/state-oversight-of-county-departments-of-social-services-changes-in-session-law-2025-16/).
Other sections are effective on October 1, 2025. The focus of this blog is on most of the provisions in Part I of S.L. 2025-16 that become effective on October 1, which is not that far away. Continue Reading
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Circulating Draft Orders in Juvenile Abuse, Neglect, Dependency Proceedings
Assume a hearing in a juvenile abuse, neglect, or dependency (AND) matter has just concluded. The judge announced the broad strokes of their ruling from the bench. Questions about who is responsible for drafting the order, the need to circulate the order, what happens when a draft order is received by the judge, and the effect on this process if a party appears pro se are discussed in this post. Continue Reading
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The Fostering Care in NC Act: Changes to Child Welfare and DSS that Are Effective Now
On June 26, 2025, H612 was signed by the Governor and became S.L. 2025-16. This session law makes significant amendments to the laws addressing juvenile abuse, neglect, and dependency (A/N/D) and the oversight provided by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) over county departments of social services (DSS). The session law also affects termination of parental rights, adoptions of minors, permanent no contact orders, felony child abuse, and criminal history checks for applicants for city and county jobs that involve working with children. Finally, this session law enacts a guardianship assistance program for certain children who were in DSS custody when guardianship was ordered. The various sections of this significant 32-page session law have different effective dates, with some sections effective on June 26, 2025 and others not effective until as late as April 1, 2026. This blog only summarizes the changes that are effective now. Continue Reading
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A/N/D and TPR Cases: The Role of the Child’s Guardian ad Litem
In abuse, neglect, dependency (A/N/D) and termination of parental rights (TPR) proceedings, the child who is the subject of the action is a party. G.S. 7B-401.1(f); -601; -1104. In most actions, the child is represented by a guardian ad litem (GAL). See G.S. 7B-601; -1108(b)–(c). This post provides an overview of the rights and duties of the child’s GAL, which are addressed in statute and case law. Continue Reading
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NC Supreme Court Opinion Clarifies and Changes Findings Required in A/N/D Orders
On December 13, 2024, the NC Supreme Court published In re L.L., an appeal of a permanency planning order (PPO) that awarded custody to a non-parent. In the PPO, the court awarded permanent custody to the child’s foster parents rather than the child’s maternal grandfather. In achieving this permanent plan, the court eliminated reunification with the child’s mother as a permanent plan. The issues for appeal focused on whether the trial court made the necessary statutory findings for placement with a non-relative and for eliminating reunification as a permanent plan. The Court of Appeals held the required findings were not made. See 291 N.C. App. 402 (2023) (unpublished). The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and addressed what findings are required for both non-relative placement and the elimination of reunification as a permanent plan. The answer may surprise you and will have an impact on court orders moving forward. Continue Reading
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N.C. Supreme Court Clarifies When and How to Preserve Parents’ Constitutionally Protected Rights for an A/N/D Appeal
Five-year-old Katy* has experienced a lot in her young life. As a baby in her mother’s care, Katy was exposed to substance use and domestic violence, leading to a county department of social services (DSS) petition alleging Katy was neglected. DSS and Katy’s parents established a safety plan for her to live with her father. Katy was later adjudicated neglected. At initial disposition, the trial court was asked for the first time to consider removing Katy from her father, who was not the subject of allegations in the petition, based on concerns over his criminal history. The trial court agreed with DSS, granting temporary custody of Katy to paternal relatives. In re K.C., __ N.C. __ (Dec. 13, 2024).
The initial disposition order included that both of Katy’s parents acted inconsistent with their constitutional rights as parents. Sl.Op. at 5. The father appealed, arguing that the court erred by drawing this conclusion without receiving evidence and without discussion from any party on the issue. Applying a de novo review of this conclusion of law, a divided Court of Appeals panel agreed, vacated the disposition order, and remanded the case for further proceedings. Id. Our Supreme Court granted DSS’ petition for discretionary review and raised the issue of whether the father had preserved the constitutional claims for appeal – which the Court held he had not. Sl.Op. 6-7. Read on to learn what it means for parents and their attorneys.