Governor Roy Cooper issued an executive order directing North Carolina to create an Early Childhood Action Plan. The plan to be developed by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will be devoted to the health, safety, and developmental and academic readiness of young children across the state.
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Effective Monday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will temporarily assume leadership of child welfare services at the Cherokee County Department of Social Services, as authorized under state law.
The N.C. Department of Health Human Services' Division of Social Services collaborated with the Office of State Budget and Management, which today released a request for proposal seeking a qualified vendor to conduct assessments of the state's current social services and child welfare programs and develop a comprehensive plan for reform. Proposals are due Nov. 16, and a contract will be in place by March 1, 2018.
The new technology will also enable cross-county communication when families move across county lines, with the goal of better protecting the more than 11,000 children and youth in foster care and 125,000 children who receive Child Protective Services assessments each year.
Teens in foster care in North Carolina may continue receiving support services from their 18th to their 21st birthdays through Foster Care 18 to 21, which begins Jan. 1.
In recognition of November as Adoption Awareness Month, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services thanked families and professionals in the adoption community during an event held Nov. 20 on the eve of Adoption Awareness Day.