In the Matter of D.G., 191 N.C. App. 752 (2008)

The trial court did not err by modifying the disposition from residential treatment to commitment to a youth development center after finding that funding for residential treatment was no longer available. The juvenile was adjudicated delinquent after admitting a first degree sex offense based on having anal intercourse with a five-year-old child. The court ordered placement in a residential sex offender treatment facility as a Level 2 disposition. Five months later a motion for review was filed asserting that funding for the placement was no longer available and asking that the disposition be modified, and the juvenile filed a motion asking the court to compel the state to provide him with sex offender treatment. The trial court’s finding that funding was not available was supported by competent evidence and therefore conclusive on appeal. Evidence included testimony from mental health and DSS personnel that they had explored all avenues of funding and that funding was not available due to federal law. The court properly ruled that it could not compel the provision of residential treatment in violation of federal law. The facts constituted a change of circumstances and justified modification of the disposition under G.S. 7B-2600.