North Carolina

As a former foster care youth, I didn’t believe I had much to say, or that anyone cared about my voice, writes D'Aviance Cuffee.

A former social services director in North Carolina pled guilty to obstruction of justice for the department's use of illegitimate documents.

Six- and 7-year-olds accused of committing felonies in North Carolina will no longer be prosecuted in criminal court under a juvenile justice bill Gov. Roy Cooper signed on Aug. 30.

North Carolina lawmakers have passed a broad bill that backers hope will improve the lives of hard-to-place children in the foster care system if Gov. Roy Cooper signs it, as the author expects.

North Carolina is expected to ban the shackling of incarcerated women during childbirth, according to a published report.

Almost 300 people in North Carolina who were prosecuted in adult court for things they did as 16- and 17-year-olds had those records erased from the books this week. The news came as Durham County’s chief prosecutor, Satana Deberry, announced that she was taking the action voluntarily in the wake of laws that have changed in the intervening years.

Most people probably would agree that raising a child to respect others’ property is important and that a kid who doesn’t do so should be corrected. Reasonable people might disagree over what the appropriate sanction should be, but certainly, everyone can agree that a child’s maturity level and the nature of the misbehavior should be critical factors. 

When a young pregnant mom informed her prenatal care providers that she had smoked marijuana to relieve stress, nausea and poor appetite, they didn’t seem concerned. But after the birth of her son a few years ago in a Bronx hospital, a test of the baby’s urine came back positive for cannabis, and the hospital quickly called child welfare authorities.

Last week, the North Carolina legislature sent a bill to Gov. Roy Cooper (D) that would make it easier and faster to put babies born exposed to drugs and alcohol on a path to adoption, cutting off efforts to return them to their parents.