North Carolina HB 1144: CARES Act Funds for Winston-Salem.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 1144

Short Title: Dominique Moody Safety Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Cunningham, Chesser, Colvin, and Lambeth (Primary
Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Judiciary 2, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and
Operations of the House
May 4, 2026
*H1144-v-1*
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 for each regional social services department that conducts escalation assessments, 12
consistent with this section, of juveniles that have a history of child protective services attention 13
due to a combination of safety and risk factors. The purpose of the team is to do all of the 14
following: 15
(1) Support county departments of social services. 16
(2) Provide an additional level of review to ensure child safety statewide. 17
(3) Provide quality assurance of the child protective services history of a family 18
who has returned to the attention of child protective services, including 19
assessing the quality of prior service intervention and further decisions of 20
services provided to ensure the safety and well-being of juveniles moving 21
forward with the family. 22
(b) Staff. – The team is staffed by the Division, including the assigned manager and 23
escalation specialists. The team shall collaborate and coordinate with (i) the director of the 24
regional social services department, (ii) the director of the county department of social services 25
where the juvenile subject to the escalation notification form resides, and (iii) local law 26
enforcement. 27
"§ 108A-15.26. Definitions. 28
The following definitions apply in this Part: 29
(1) Caretaker. – As defined in G.S. 7B-101. 30
(2) Division. – The Division of Social Services of the Department of Health and 31
Human Services. 32
(3) Extensive child welfare history. – Any one or more of the following: 33

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 1144-First Edition
a. Involvement of a medically complex juvenile who requires 1
subspecialty care by two or more specialties. 2
b. Receipt of a second report for medical neglect within six months of 3
the current report. 4
c. Involvement of a juvenile that requires devices to sustain their 5
function, such as a tracheostomy or gastric tube, who has had three or 6
more prior cases for concerns of medical neglect. 7
d. Families with five or more child protective services cases with 8
concerns for neglect regardless of case decision or families that have 9
three or more cases, if any of those cases involved concerns for abuse. 10
e. Families that have three or more prior child protective services reports 11
with concerns for domestic violence or active or current drug activity. 12
f. Any report on an active temporary safety provider or kinship care 13
provider. 14
g. Cases in which there exists a previous child protective services history 15
with the family and involves a near fatality of a juvenile. 16
h. Any case that has had a prior history involving a child fatality as a 17
result of concerns for abuse or neglect and there is a new child in the 18
residence. 19
i. Multiple prior involvements with child welfare services, including 20
in-home services or permanency planning. 21
(4) Juvenile. – As defined in G.S. 7B-101. 22
(5) Near fatality. – As defined in G.S. 7B-2902. 23
(6) Team. – The Child Welfare Case Escalation Team. 24
"§ 108A-15.27. Criteria for team involvement. 25
(a) Criteria. – The director of the county department of social services shall proceed 26
through the process for notification of the Child Welfare Case Escalation Team under subsection 27
(b) of this section if a county department of social services receives a report of abuse or neglect 28
to screen under Article 3 of Subchapter I of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes that meets any of 29
the following criteria: 30
(1) Extensive child welfare history. 31
(2) Three or more reports within a 12-month period involving the same or similar 32
allegations that were screened out that indicate a pattern of concern despite 33
prior screening decisions. 34
(3) History of prior removal and placement into foster care, such as previous 35
removal of juveniles from the home due to similar or identical allegations. 36
(4) Three or more substantiated findings involving the family that demonstrate a 37
pattern consistent with chronic or habitual neglect. 38
(5) Ongoing medical