Social Services

This book is a useful reference for school personnel; mental health professionals;  medical personnel; law enforcement officials; child care providers; and social workers. However, information in the book is important for everyone in North Carolina, because the reporting law discussed in this publication applies to everyone in the state.

The purposes of the book are

• to help readers understand when they are required to make reports;
• to explain how to make a report—both when the law requires that a report be made and when, even though a report is not required legally, a person feels that one should be made;
• to describe what happens after someone makes a report;
• to answer some of the questions people ask frequently about the reporting law; and
• to provide broader access to the exact wording of the reporting law and related statutes.

The book reflects changes to the North Carolina Juvenile Code through the 2013 session of the North Carolina General Assembly. It also contains a 2016 supplemental chapter (Part 4A, chapter 13A) that reflects a significant change in the law regarding children who are suspected of being maltreated in a child care facility.

A grant from the Governor’s Crime Commission of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety provided financial support for the production and distribution of this book, and copies have been distributed to agencies across the state. The book including the supplemental chapter is available as PDF, MOBI and EPUB. The supplemental chapter is also available as a separate PDF file (see File Downloads below.)

View this manual for free on the microsite created especially for the manual. Once at the microsite, you will be able to select and read individual chapters and move easily between chapters. You also can download the entire manual at no charge.

This manual presents and explains the laws, procedures, concepts, and people related to abuse, neglect, dependency, and termination of parental rights proceedings in North Carolina. It is designed to be useful as both a reference manual and a training tool, with an intended primary audience of district court judges, social services attorneys, parents’ attorneys, and guardian ad litem attorney advocates. Chapters will be updated annually to reflect changes in the law. Each chapter indicates the date it was updated. Production of this manual was made possible with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—Administration for Children and Families, and the Court Improvement Program of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. This manual is copyrighted to the UNC School of Government and may not be sold or used for commercial purposes without the School’s permission.

Since this esteemed text was first published in 1997, the General Assembly of North Carolina has made important revisions to conflicts of interest law as well as enacted a law requiring local governments to adopt a code of ethics and local elected officials to receive ethics training and an ethics and lobbying law that, though intended for state officials, has important implications for local governments. This new edition of Ethics, Conflicts, and Offices greatly expands and updates the first version to reflect these significant changes in the law.

Also updated are discussions of ethics in public life, multiple and incompatible office-holding, and legal cases, and numerous sample codes of ethics that can be used as guides in drafting local codes of conduct.

"Ethics, Conflicts, and Offices: A Guide to Local Officials is a valuable and timely resource for new and experienced local government officials as they strive to comply with the letter and spirit of their ethical obligations. It provides a thoughtful, in-depth analysis of the philosophical, legal, and practical aspects of ethics in public life, and helpful guidance on key issues such as conflicts of interest, multiple office-holding, and drafting an ethics code."

Kimberly Hibbard
General Counsel
North Carolina League of Municipalities

"Fleming Bell has done it again. The second edition of Ethics, Conflicts, and Offices is important reading for public officials, government staff, and government attorneys. Bell writes clearly and engagingly and offers true-to-life scenarios about ethics challenges that may face government officials and staff. As a result, he draws readers into deeper reflection about the interplay of ethical principles and relationships. 

Whether you want deeper insight about core principles underlying 'public ethics' or a quick refresher on the evolution and current legal requirements relating to conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and dual office-holding, this is the book for you. I know I'll value it as part of my own library."

Judith Welch Wegner
Burton Craige Professor of Law and Dean emerita
The University of North Carolina School of Law

"We live in a time of intense scrutiny of the behavior of those in public service, and in a time of concerted efforts to restore trust between those who govern and those who are governed. For these reasons, it is particularly important that we attend to and try to understand the principles, standards, and ideals discussed in this book. All of us who serve in elective or appointed positions of public service, and those who contemplate such service, should be prepared to analyze these principles and their underlying premises."

James B. Blackburn
Legislative Counsel (Retired)
North Carolina Association of County Commissioners

This book explains the duties, responsibilities, and regulations social services board members need to follow to improve their board's effectiveness. It will be especially useful during board meetings, as a training tool, and as a desk reference. Other than board members, social services directors and county commissioners will also find it a practical resource.

This book provides a general description of social services agencies and programs in North Carolina and the state and federal laws that affect them. A resource for county social services directors, state and county social services employees, social services attorneys, and county social services board members, the book may also be useful for county commissioners, county managers, and others who want to better understand North Carolina’s complex social services system. This title completely revises, rewrites, updates, and supersedes the fourth edition of A Guidebook to Social Services in North Carolina, written by Mason P. Thomas, Jr. and Janet Mason in 1989.

This guidebook for departments of social services (DSS) is one in a series explaining the law to pregnant and parenting adolescents, their parents, and the professionals who work with them. Knowing what choices are open, caseworkers, supervisors, directors, and attorneys should be better able to help these clients. While the legal issues discussed are relevant to any minor, the book draws attention to the youngest girls, those under fifteen, for two reasons: They present the legal issues most starkly, and they are arguably the neediest.

This report contains salary and wage profiles by position and information about fringe benefits that participating counties are offering for the 2014–2015 fiscal year (based on September 1, 2014, salary levels). The job titles that counties used to provide these data also are included. Salary amounts have been rounded to the nearest dollar except for hourly salaries. Salaries, travel allowances, and employee benefits are expressed in annual amounts unless otherwise noted.