As North Carolina’s foster care laws undergo reform with the passage of HB612, signed by Gov. Josh Stein over the summer, the case of Scott and Ginger Rhoads highlights the challenges some families say they face within the system. The licensed foster parents say that in April 2022 they were denied the opportunity to legally adopt their foster child because of the color of their skin, and they have been battling Guilford County Department of Social Services in North Carolina courts ever since.
The Rhoadses took “T” in when he was an infant. For two years, the Guilford County Department of Social Services (DSS) attempted to reunite him with his biological mother, who had a history of maltreatment.
“After 28 months of trying to reunify T with his biological mother, DSS declared him abandoned,” Ginger Rhoads told Carolina Journal in an interview. “This was far past the North Carolina statute of limitations for abandonment of a child.”
Following this, Rhoads says she and her husband were ready to legally adopt T as their own. Instead, Guilford County DSS removed him from their home with 24 hours’ notice, placing him in a foster home with a single black woman. He remains in the foster care system to this day.
“They [Guilford County DSS] made it very clear to me that it was because T is black and we are white,” Rhoads said in an interview with Carolina Journal.
Carolina Journal’s repeated requests of Guilford County DSS for an interview or comment have gone unanswered as of press time.
COURT BATTLE
The Rhoadses have faced a rigorous battle against the county in court. Mrs. Rhoads says it began when she suggested that it was time to cut T’s hair. She recalls that this prompted accusations of racism from Guilford County DSS.
“It had been over a year since he had received a haircut,” Rhoads explained, adding that as a licensed cosmetologist of over 26 years, she wanted to remove the split ends from his hair.
Rhoads said she followed procedure by asking the supervising social worker first before cutting his hair, but it triggered a heated conversation with the supervising social worker.
According to her, the social worker said, “You don’t cut black hair — it sheds.”
Guilford County DSS has not returned Carolina Journal’s request for comment on this case, but Ginger claims she was painted as a racist by the agency for trying to provide T with what she felt was proper care.
“I was very frustrated with the system — frustrated that I couldn’t care for this child’s basic needs, especially when his biological mother had been gone for over a year,” said Rhoads.
After T was declared abandoned by the court, and adoption became his court-ordered plan, the Rhoadses hoped to welcome him permanently into their family.
However, they say they were told by DSS that they were incapable of caring for a child of a different race. Soon after, T was removed from their home by DSS.
Mrs. Rhoads said that she did not expect to lose T over asking for him to receive a haircut.
“I would have never dreamed that advocating for a haircut would result in this,” she said. “The loss of a child — and uprooting their whole life — over a haircut? That’s just unspeakable.”
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
Federal law has prohibited race-based removal and placement actions — such as refusing to place a child with foster or adoptive parents of a different race, or removing a child from a foster or adoptive home solely because the parents are of another race — for more than 20 years under the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA). The law asserts that the placement of a child cannot be denied or delayed on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Alongside MEPA, the Adoption Safe Families Act sought to promote adoption as the best avenue for abandoned children, especially if reunification was impossible.
Scott and Ginger Rhoads filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) against Guilford County DSS. The complaint claims that removing T from their home to be race-matched with another foster parent violated MEPA.
According to court filings, the Rhoadses allege that during an April 12, 2022, hearing, DSS employees “were clear they wanted the child removed to an African-American adoptive home due to the fact that ‘T’ is Black and the Rhoadses are white.”
The same court filing states that a DSS representative testified about the Rhoadses inability to “understand African-American culture.”
The brief emphasizes Guilford County DSS’s position, where a Guilford County DSS witness testified at the hearing that “it was not Guilford County DSS’s recommendation that ‘T’ be removed from the Rhoadses care.”
foster care overhaul law
In June 2025, NC lawmakers passed and Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 612 into law. The measure overhauls many aspects of juvenile and child welfare proceedings, including new rules for permanency planning hearings, requirements for DSS legal counsel training, and procedures for handling conflicts of interest in county DSS assessments. It also increases the authority of the state Department of Health and Human Services to oversee county offices.
Earlier this year, Rhoads penned an opinion piece in Carolina Journal urging lawmakers to ensure foster children have a voice in legal proceedings.
Additionally, the NCGA passed Senate Bill 20 in 2023, a measure known as the Care for Women, Children, and Families Act. While the bill primarily focused on abortion policy, it also contained several other provisions — including one that bars child welfare agencies from denying or delaying foster care or adoption placements on the basis of race.
Former Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the legislation, citing its abortion provisions, but the Republican-led legislature swiftly overrode his veto. As a result, the measure became law, amending state statutes to mirror federal protections under MEPA.
Rhoads has been active in these reform efforts. She helped found the nonprofit RAISE Foster Reform Coalition and has continued to advocate for changes to the state’s foster care system.
“I believe that the bills are crucial, and it’s wonderful that they passed,” Rhoads told Carolina Journal.
She pointed out that while she was grateful for the bills passing, she felt that they are flawed in nature.
“I will say that there are no enforcement clauses to these bills,” she continued. “Basically, DSS can violate any federal or state law and not be held accountable.”
The difficulty in holding agencies like DSS accountable is compounded by the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which shields state departments from being sued unless lawmakers specifically waive that protection.
While federal laws such as MEPA were designed to prevent race-based decisions in foster care, Mrs. Rhoads argues that without strong enforcement mechanisms, DSS can act without consequence.
“We’re not protecting our children by just merely suggesting,” she said.
Karen McLeod, president and CEO of Benchmarks NC, noted another challenge.
“There are 100 county DSSs, and there is a limited number of state officials to ensure that all 100 county DSSs are meeting all of the state and federal rules, regulations and laws,” said McLeod to Carolina Journal.
LEGISLATIVE PUSH FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
State Rep. Allen Chesser, R-Nash, sponsor of HB 612, the Fostering Care in NC Act, said the new law was designed to hold county DSS agencies accountable.
“We established a review process that can now be triggered by foster parents, hospital employees, or even DSS workers themselves,” Chesser explained. “That review no longer stays within the county — it can be elevated to the state or even the district attorney’s office.”
A key piece of the bill limits the shield of sovereign immunity when counties violate policy.
“We’re not removing their sovereignty if they truly believe they’re acting in the best interest of the child,” Chesser said. “But when they break from the rules, regulations, and recommendations of the state, they no longer get the financial protections that sovereign immunity provides.”
Chesser admitted the legislation was difficult to pass, but ultimately worth the fight.
“It was the most arduous process I’ve been through in the General Assembly — but building consensus among all the stakeholders was worth it.”
ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE IN NC’S FOSTER CARE SYSTEM
Mrs. Rhoads told Carolina Journal she hopes to create change in North Carolina for foster children.
“Children are our most precious gifts — and they should be treated as such. And these [foster] children are not. They are being treated as mere chess pieces,” she said.
Even with her frustrations, Mrs. Rhoads said she still holds hope for reform.
“It would be nice to be able to rest one day knowing that some of the advocacy and all of the stories we’ve told would create change in the system — change that would be long-lasting, and that children would achieve permanency in a timely fashion.”
She added that she may never have the chance to tell T that she loves him in person again.
“I want him to know that we would never abandon him and that he has a family that loves him more than he could ever imagine,” she said.
She pointed to statistics about the mental health of children in foster care, showing that they experience higher rates of mental health challenges overall, and that fewer disruptions in care can help protect against these problems.
“The recurring theme of children who have been in foster care — and all the bouncing around that happens to them — is that they don’t feel they have a home base. They trust no one because of all the broken attachments. It is my prayer that T will not be one of those statistics,” Rhoads said.