North Carolina SB 280: Private School Security Act.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 6
SENATE BILL 280
Judiciary Committee Substitute Adopted 4/30/25
Third Edition Engrossed 5/7/25
House Committee Substitute Favorable 6/16/26
House Committee Substitute #2 Favorable 6/17/26
Sixth Edition Engrossed 6/17/26

Short Title: Dominique Moody Act. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
March 13, 2025
*S280-v-6*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO THE LAWS REGARDING ABUSE, 2
NEGLECT, AND DEPENDENCY CASES FOR JUVENILES. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
5
PART I. CHILD WELFARE CASE ESCALATION TEAM 6
SECTION 1.(a) Article 1 of Chapter 108A of the General Statutes is amended by 7
adding a new Part to read: 8
"Part 2C. Child Welfare Case Escalation Team. 9
"§ 108A-15.25. Child Welfare Case Escalation Team. 10
(a) Child Welfare Case Escalation Team. – The Division shall maintain a team of 11
representatives that conducts escalation assessments, consistent with this section, of juveniles 12
that have a history of child protective services attention due to a combination of safety and risk 13
factors. The purpose of the team is to do all of the following: 14
(1) Support county departments of social services. 15
(2) Provide an additional level of review to ensure child safety statewide. 16
(3) Provide quality assurance of the child protective services history of a family 17
who has returned to the attention of child protective services, including 18
assessing the quality of prior service intervention and further decisions of 19
services provided to ensure the safety and well-being of juveniles moving 20
forward with the family. 21
(b) Staff. – The team is staffed by the Division, including the assigned manager and 22
escalation specialists. The team shall collaborate and coordinate with (i) regional safety manager, 23
(ii) the director of the county department of social services where the juvenile subject to the 24
escalation notification form resides, and (iii) local law enforcement. 25
"§ 108A-15.26. Definitions. 26
The following definitions apply in this Part: 27
(1) Caretaker. – As defined in G.S. 7B-101. 28
(2) Division. – The Division of Social Services of the Department of Health and 29
Human Services. 30
(3) Extensive child welfare history. – Any one or more of the following: 31

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 280-Sixth Edition
a. Involvement of a medically complex juvenile with any prior child 1
welfare history who requires subspecialty care by two or more 2
specialties. 3
b. Receipt of a second report for medical neglect within six months of 4
the current report. 5
c. Involvement of a juvenile that requires devices to sustain their 6
function, such as a tracheostomy or gastric tube, who has had three or 7
more prior cases for concerns of medical neglect. 8
d. Families with five or more child protective services cases with 9
concerns for neglect regardless of case decision or families that have 10
three or more cases, if any of those cases involved concerns for abuse. 11
e. Families that have three or more prior child protective services reports 12
with concerns for domestic violence or active or current drug activity. 13
f. Any report on an active temporary safety provider, kinship care 14
provider, or legal guardian. 15
g. Cases in which there exists a previous child protective services history 16
with the family and involves a near fatality of a juvenile. 17
h. Any case that has had a prior history involving a child fatality as a 18
result of concerns for abuse or neglect where any child currently 19
resides in the home. 20
i. Multiple prior involvements with child welfare services, including 21
in-home services or permanency planning. 22
(4) High-risk home. – A home or individual that meets any of the following 23
criteria: 24
a. Extensive child welfare history. 25
b. Two or more known screened out reports alleging abuse or neglect of 26
any juvenile that indicate a pattern of concern despite prior screening 27
decisions. 28
c. History of prior removal and placement of any juvenile into foster or 29
kinship care. 30
d. Two or more substantiated or unsubstantiated reports that demonstrate 31
a pattern consistent with chronic or habitual neglect or abuse of any 32
juvenile. 33
e. Ongoing medical or mental health neglect, such as repeated reports of 34
failing to address any juvenile's medical or mental health needs, with 35
allegations consistent across multiple reports and time frames. 36
(5) Juvenile. – As defined in G.S. 7B-101. 37
(6) Near fatality. – As defined in G.S. 7B-2902. 38
(7) Team. – The Child Welfare Case Escalation Team. 39
"§ 108A-15.27. Child Welfare Case Escalation Team initial procedure. 40
(a) Criteria. – The director of the county department of social services shall proceed 41
through the process of notification of the Child Welfare Case Escalation Team under subsection 42
(b) of this section if a county department of social services receives a report of abuse