NC budget writers propose law enforcement raises, more prosecutors, school safety funding, and child welfare reforms in public safety plan.
Guidelines from the NC Division of Social Services direct case workers to assess whether a child is at risk from parents who refuse to affirm gender identity.
NC House unanimously passes Dominique Moody Safety Act after Mecklenburg DSS failures exposed in six-year-old’s death.
House Oversight leaders are calling for a criminal review of Mecklenburg DSS officials after findings of systemic child welfare failures.
NC lawmakers weigh DSS reforms after DHHS found repeated failures in Mecklenburg’s handling of abuse reports before Dominique Moody’s death.
We know more than we ever have about how to identify the children most at risk. Dominique Moody’s death has given NC both the reason and the opportunity to put that knowledge to work.
A child does not remain in that kind of danger for that long unless institutions miss the need for deeper scrutiny.
“Is it better to be in the emergency room, or is it better be in my office?” asked the official. “You have no security, no food, maybe no shower. Where's it better for the kid to be?”
We are long past due for legislation that prioritizes placing our state’s most vulnerable children with stable families, whether blood relatives or not.
A settlement could be on the way for a federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s use of in-patient psychiatric treatment for children in foster care. Lawyers on both sides of the dispute filed paperwork Monday seeking to delay court proceedings through July 15.
A federal judge has denied North Carolina state officials’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the state’s use of in-patient psychiatric treatment for children in foster care. Plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit in December 2022. Critics want the state to shift its focus away from the treatment centers to provide more support services in the children’s home communities.
