House committee substitute to the 3rd edition replaces the content of the previous edition with the following. Changes the act’s titles.

Part I.

Enacts Part 2C, the Child Welfare Case Escalation Team, to Article 1 of GS Chapter 108A, requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Social Services (Division) to maintain a representative for each child welfare services region (Child Welfare Case Escalation Team (team)) that conducts escalation assessments of juveniles that have a history of child protective services attention due to a combination of safety and risk factors. Sets three purposes of the teams: (1) support county departments of social services (county DSS); (2) provide an additional level of review to ensure child safety statewide; and (3) provide quality assurance of the child protective services history of a family who has returned to the attention of child protective services, including assessing the quality of prior service intervention and further decisions of services provided to ensure the safety and well-being of juveniles moving forward with the family. Requires the Division to staff the team, including the assigned manager and escalation specialists. Directs the team to coordinate with the specified social services and law enforcement officials. Defines seven terms applicable to new Part 2C in GS 108A-15.26. Requires in new GS 108A-15.27 for the director of the county department of social services to notify the team when it receives a repot of abuse or neglect to screen under Article 3 of Subchapter I of GS Chapter 7B that involves a juvenile residing or located in a high risk home. Defines high risk home as a home or individual that meets any of the following: (1) history of extensive child welfare involvement, (2) two or more screened out reports alleging abuse or neglect of any juvenile that indicate a pattern of concern despite prior screening decisions, (3) history of prior removal and placement into foster or kinship care, (4) two or more substantiated or unsubstantiated reports that demonstrate a pattern consistent with chronic or habitual neglect or abuse of any juvenile, or (5) ongoing medical or mental health neglect, such as repeated reports of failing to address juveniles' medical or mental health needs with allegations consistent across multiple reports and time frames. Provides for notice and information sharing. Tasks the team escalation specialist in GS 108A-15.28, with assessing the child welfare history, identifying gaps in services and other areas that impact safety of the juvenile, reviewing the overall safety planning for the juvenile in the current assessment to determine if there are additional steps required to ensure safety, and creating a timeline of CPS interventions. Directs the escalation specialist and other team members to provide technical assistance and for the escalation specialist to collaborate with the county DSS as described. Directs the county DSS to respond to unaddressed safety concerns identified though the team’s review process immediately or within the same day of notification. Specifies that the team and other assigned and Division and DHHS staff will review records to ensure that practices that have deficiencies are corrected and there is communication with county department staff and others to improve child welfare practices at all levels across the county departments of social services. Effective October 1, 2026.

Requires that the team consist of eight full-time equivalent positions to staff and implement the team, including seven human services program consultants and one human services program manager.

Directs the Division to explore means and resources needed to automate and reduce the burden on the county workforce to alert DHHS of escalation reviews, as described. Instructs the Division to amend its protocols and rules as necessary to integrate team involvement into the entry of a private residence to ensure seamless and coordinate assistance for high-risk juveniles at risk of abuse or neglect.

Part II.

Requires the Division to adopt rules amending Subchapter 70A of the North Carolina Administrative Code and update associated Division policies, Child Protective Services Assessments Policy, Protocol, and Guidance, and the Partnership and Technology Hub for North Carolina to require directors of departments of social services to require photographs or video evidence be gathered during an initial investigative assessment response or initial family assessment response when investigating allegations that a child is an abused or neglected juvenile and to require that those photographs or video evidence be maintained as a permanent part of the case file.

Requires, in GS 7B-302, a law enforcement agency to show by clear and convincing evidence in a judicial action to prevent disclosure of information requested by the team that disclosure of the information in question will jeopardize the right of the State to prosecute a defendant or the right of a defendant to receive a fair trial or will undermine an ongoing or future investigation. Adds instances when a report alleges suspected abuse or neglect of a high-risk juvenile and the team has been activated and is assisting the county DSS in conducting the assessment at the juvenile’s residence as one of the grounds for entry of a private residence for assessment purposes. Effective October 1, 2026.

Part III.

Requires the Division to create a training program for child protective services employees and social workers employed by county DSS to recognize abuse and neglect. Requires that the training be available virtually for future trainings and continuing education. Prioritizing training specialists before disseminating the training to social workers statewide.

Part IV.

Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide recommendations to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services on reducing the State's liability and placing some liability on the county when a county DSS does not follow statutory requirements or the State's policies and procedures on providing child welfare services. Requires DOJ to provide its recommendations, including any necessary statutory changes to effectuate those recommendations, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee by March 1, 2027.

Part V.

Amends GS 7B-200 establishing exclusive, original jurisdiction over proceedings involving placement on or expungement from the RIL (was, limited to review of placement on the RIL).

Amends GS 7B-325(b) concerning petitions for expungement from the RIL. Specifies a copy of the petition is required to be delivered to the DSS director who determined the abuse or serious neglect and identified the petitioner as a responsible individual.

Part VI.

Amends GS 7B-900.1 concerning findings a court must make when transferring venue after the adjudication of a juvenile as abused, neglected, or dependent. Where current law allows for a finding that the Division Director or their designee has made a determination as to each county's responsibility for the provisions of financial support and services in the event the DSS directors involved have not reached such an agreement, alternatively allows for a finding that the Division Director has appointed a county department to assume management of the case pursuant to the Chapter's provisions governing conflicts of interest, GS 7B-302.1.

Amends GS 7B-901(d) to explicitly establish that once a court determines reunification efforts are not required, reunification is excluded as a permanent plan. Instead, requires a court to order a permanent plan as soon as possible after each party is provided a reasonable opportunity to prepare and present evidence at a permanency planning hearing. Clarifies that the court is required to hold a permanency planning hearing to address the permanent plan within 30 days from completion of the initial dispositional hearing. 

Amends GS 7B-903.1(c), concerning the requirement for DSS to make reasonable efforts to place juvenile siblings removed from the home in the same placement, to specify that the requirement applies to juvenile siblings removed and placed in DSS custody (was, nonsecure custody). 

Makes technical changes to GS 7B-906.1, GS 7B-906.2, and GS 7B-908 to clarify that a court can order one permanent plan, rather than concurrent plans, when reunification is not identified as a permanent plan. Makes a technical correction to GS 7B-906.1(e).

Amends GS 7B-909.2 governing post-adoption contact agreements to direct that the agreement and order approving the agreement are not to be filed in the underlying juvenile proceeding. Regarding disclosure of the civil record, specifies that the minor adoptee or their attorney may examine the record only after the adoptee turns 18 or is otherwise emancipated, or by court order.

Amends GS 7B-909.3, which bars appeal of an order terminating, modifying, or enforcing post-adoption contract agreements and orders. Adds a new provision granting a party the right to appeal an order finding the party in contempt of the post-adoption contract agreement order pursuant to GS Chapter 5A. Makes conforming changes to the statute's caption.

Effective October 1, 2026.

Part VII.

Amends GS 7B-1101.1 to modify the required appointment of a Rule 17 guardian ad litem (GAL) for a minor respondent parent in a termination of parental rights (TPR) proceeding. Now requires appointment of a Rule 17 GAL for any parent who is under 16 and allows for appointment for any parent who is 16 or 17 years old who is not married or otherwise emancipated on motion of any party or the court's own motion (currently, requires appointment for any parent under age 18 who is not married or emancipated).

Amends GS 7B-1103 to establish standing for any DSS who receives a safety surrendered infant to file a TPR petition or motion. Clarifies standing under subdivision (a)(4) applies to juveniles relinquished (was, surrendered) for adoption. 

Corrects a statutory cross-reference in GS 7B-1112 concerning rights over the placement of a juvenile in the custody of DSS or a child-placing agency and post-TPR review orders.

Part VIII.

Amends GS 7B-1905 with regard to authorized temporary residential placements for juveniles who are runaways or are alleged to be undisciplined or delinquent juveniles, meet the criteria for secure custody and the court finds nonsecure placement to be in the juvenile's best interest. Clarifies that the authorized options listed are available to the DSS with placement responsibility, not another person to whom the court order's nonsecure custody. Adds facilities licensed to provide care to juveniles to the permissible placements and specifies that the existing placement option of any other home or facility approved by the court and designated in the order includes the home of a parent, relative, nonrelative kin, or other person with legal custody of a sibling of the juvenile. Prohibits DSS from placing the juvenile in an unlicensed facility or any facility not licensed to provide care for the juvenile without prior court approval and designation in the court order.

Part IX.

Amends GS 108A-77.1, which defines terms applicable to Article 3A governing Child Advocacy Centers (CAC). Amends Department (defined by statutory cross-reference to GS 7B-101(8a), meaning a county DSS) to include the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Public Health and Human Services Department of Human Services. Adds to the required composition of a CAC's multidisciplinary team the tribal prosecutor for the EBCI in the alternative to the county district attorney or assistant district attorney.

Amends GS 108A-77.4 to allow disclosure of CAC information and records to a tribal prosecutor of the EBCI.