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: prosecutor
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The 2024 Adult Protection Multidisciplinary Team Booster Shot Series: Key Takeaways
*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 Adult Protection Multidisciplinary Team Booster Shot Series” in regional locations across North Carolina including Transylvania, Alexander, Guilford, Robeson, Onslow, and Beaufort counties. The series aimed to foster collaboration, share resources, and address common challenges faced by adult protection multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). An MDT is a group of professionals in a geographic region who commit to working together toward a common goal. An adult protection MDT works to find ways to prevent and respond to adult abuse, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, self-neglect and caretaker neglect, and exploitation, including financial exploitation.
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New Resources for Protecting Vulnerable Adults in North Carolina
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 have addressed this problem through creating adult protection multidisciplinary teams (MDTs)—groups of professionals from different disciplines who work together to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, and exploitation of disabled and/or older adults. An additional 38 North Carolina counties are currently working to form adult protection MDTs. The School of Government’s Adult Protection Network is excited to announce a redesigned Adult Protection Network website with new resources for those in the adult protection field, including new online trainings and an MDT Toolkit with template documents for adult protection MDTs.
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