Archive

• Proposed Federal Rule Change Seeks to Increase Support for Relative and Nonrelative Kinship Foster Placements

  This entry was contributed by Timothy Heinle on March 23, 2023 at 10:05 am and is filed under Child Welfare Law, Social Services.

  **UPDATED 11/10/2023** The rule changes discussed in this post were finalized and adopted on September 28, 2023 and are effective November 27, 2023. As my colleague Sara DePasquale noted in her post summarizing 2023 child welfare legislative updates, 88 Federal Register 66700 (September 28, 2023) “amends the definition of ‘foster family home’ at 45 C.F.R. 1355.20(a) for the purposes of Title IV-E eligibility to allow for states to establish a set of licensing requirements and approval standards for relative foster family homes that are different from the standards that are used to license and approve non-relative foster family homes. A relative foster home licensed with the lower standards must receive the same payment as a licensed non-relative foster home (amended 45 C.F.R. 1356.21(m)(1)). This provision will only apply if North Carolina DHHS chooses to participate.”

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  The federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is proposing regulatory changes that could have a significant impact on the placement of children removed from their parents due to suspected abuse, neglect, or dependency. This post discusses the proposed changes and the reasons supporting them and highlights the importance of relatives and nonrelative kin in juvenile abuse, neglect, dependency (A/N/D) proceedings.

  (Note that while the proposal refers generally to Title IV-E agencies, this post refers specifically to the Department of Social Services (DSS), the petitioner in North Carolina A/N/D matters. Additionally, this post cites to the ACF’s proposal but omits internal citations within the proposal. See the proposal if you are interested in the research and other sources cited to by the ACF.)

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• Human Trafficking: New SOG Resource Explaining Your Obligation to Make a Report and How the Agency Responds

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on January 18, 2023 at 9:45 am and is filed under Social Services.

  January recognizes the importance of knowing about human trafficking. The President has declared January Human Trafficking Prevention Month (see the proclamation here). The North Carolina Governor and the Chief Justice have both declared January Human Trafficking Awareness Month (see the Governor’s proclamation here and the Chief Justice’s proclamation here). The purpose of these declarations is both a recognition that human trafficking in the United States and North Carolina exists and to educate our citizens about this issue. Partnerships are required for a successful response to combat the crime of human trafficking, which involves both sex and labor trafficking. The national, state, and local responses involve the prevention of human trafficking, protection for victims and survivors, and the prosecution of traffickers.

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• Apply Now for the Upcoming Adult Protection Multidisciplinary Team Workshop

  This entry was contributed by Meredith Smith on December 16, 2022 at 7:00 am and is filed under Guardianship.

  Someone once told me that to get people really interested in a meeting you need to either make it free to attend or provide food. Well, thanks to funding from the North Carolina Judicial College, we are doing both for an upcoming workshop at the School of Government.  It will be held March 2-3, 2023, and will bring together diverse stakeholders from around North Carolina to begin the process of forming and developing adult protection multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). Each team may send up to seven people to participate in the workshop. The application period is now open and runs through January 13, 2023. You can learn details about the workshop and apply here.

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• The Rights of the Parent Who Does Not Execute a Relinquishment

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on December 8, 2022 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Adoptions.

  This blog post builds on my last post: A Guide to Relinquishments and Post-Relinquishment Review Hearings. If you remember, relinquishments involve the voluntary transfer of physical and legal custody of a minor child to an agency (a department of social services (DSS) or licensed private child-placing agency) that accepts the relinquishment for the purposes of the child’s adoption. See G.S. 48-1-101(15); 48-3-705(b). A relinquishment is executed by a parent or by a guardian of the person appointed by the clerk of superior court under a G.S. Chapter 35A proceeding.

  What happens when one parent executes a relinquishment but the other parent wants custody of their child? North Carolina statutes are silent; however, case law recognizes that the non-relinquishing parent has rights. Continue Reading

• Ongoing Support for Adult Protection Multidisciplinary Teams Now Available Through the School of Government Help Desk

  This entry was contributed by Meredith Smith on November 11, 2022 at 2:56 pm and is filed under Social Services.

  Over the past few years, faculty and staff at the School of Government collaborated with public officials across the state to develop resources and tools related to the growth and development of adult protection multidisciplinary teams (MDTs).  An adult protection MDT is a group of professionals in a geographic region who work together toward common goals related to preventing and responding to abuse, in any of its forms (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; self-neglect and caretaker neglect; and exploitation, including financial exploitation).

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• You are on Notice: Pleading Requirements, a Recent N.C. Supreme Court Opinion, and Parent Representation

  This entry was contributed by Timothy Heinle on September 21, 2022 at 1:01 pm and is filed under Child Welfare Law.

  Consider an attorney who is appointed to represent an indigent parent in a juvenile abuse, neglect, and dependency (A/N/D) proceeding. The attorney reviews the petition which was prepared using form AOC-J-130. Perhaps only the box for neglect is marked but the written allegations mirror the statutory definition of abuse. Or perhaps no boxes are checked but the petition has a prior custody order attached to it. What grounds for adjudication are alleged here? Does it matter what boxes are checked or what portions of a petition are completed? Are magic words or statutory citations required? What if this was a termination of parental rights (TPR) petition where a statutory citation for an alleged ground was not included?

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• New Ethics Opinion on Dual Role GAL–Attorney Advocates in Juvenile Proceedings

  This entry was contributed by Timothy Heinle on August 17, 2022 at 10:45 am and is filed under Child Welfare Law, Juvenile Law, Social Services.

  This post was updated on September 6, 2022 in response to helpful reader feedback regarding the nuances that exist when determining whether there is a conflict of interest for a GAL program and, if so, the possible options available to cure that conflict. The amended portion can be found in the Conflicts of Interests section below. 

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• Foster Care and Family Time – What about the Pets

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on June 1, 2022 at 9:22 am and is filed under Child Welfare Law.

  Meet Austria. She’s one of the loves of my life. We’ve been together for more than 10 ½ years. She has been a witness to my life during that time – loving me unconditionally, making me laugh daily, going on multiple daily walks as part of my own self-care, sleeping with me when I’m sick, comforting me when times are hard, vacationing with me (I’ve driven the I-95 corridor from Miami to Portland, Maine more times than I can count so she is with me during family visits), helping me transition to North Carolina, meeting friends, sharing bags of Doritos (my weakness when writing or driving), watching me leave and waiting for me to get home in her princess and the pea pile of dog beds in front of the window, and so much more. She is a joy. She is a dog of a lifetime. She is my family.

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• The New Clerks’ Manual Website is Here!

  This entry was contributed by Meredith Smith on March 22, 2022 at 7:00 am and is filed under Clerks of Superior Court.

  I’m excited to announce the launch of two major things today.

  First, the new North Carolina Clerk of Superior Court Manual Series website is now available at www.sog.unc.edu/clerksmanual.

  We took the old clerks’ manual and gave it a complete make-over in response to feedback we received from clerks of superior court. It is no longer a printable PDF volume but now is an online manual series, featuring the following eight manuals organized by subject matter:

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• Updated Abuse, Neglect, Dependency – TPR Manual and “Candyland” Are Ready!

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on March 16, 2022 at 10:56 am and is filed under Child Welfare Law.

  It is with great joy and enthusiasm that I am announcing these two updated resources for those of you who work in the area of child welfare.

  1. Abuse, Neglect, Dependency, and Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings in North Carolina (Feb. 2022), otherwise known as “the A/N/D Manual” or “the Manual.”

  This February 2022 edition of the Manual is now available on the SOG website, here. This edition replaces the 2019 edition. As those of you who work in this area know, the law is constantly changing either because of legislative changes or appellate opinions interpreting the law. The pace of the changes applying to this legal area is reflected by the fact that this edition was supposed to be a 2021 edition but because of North Carolina Supreme Court opinions published on February 11, 2022, it became the February 2022 edition. This February 2022 edition is current through February 15, 2022 for both appellate opinions issued by the North Carolina appellate courts (most of which are published) as well as legislative changes made through that date. The changes are so significant that you should not rely on any earlier editions of the Manual.

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