When a child reports being abused while held in a county-operated juvenile detention facility, does the local Department of Social Services have the authority to investigate the abuse claim, or is the case outside DSS's jurisdiction because secure detention facilities are licensed by the Office of Juvenile Justice rather than DSS?

Plain-English summary

A county official asked whether the Department of Social Services could investigate a reported abuse of a juvenile in a county-operated secure detention facility licensed by the Office of Juvenile Justice. The AG answered yes. The opinion reads the Juvenile Code's term "residential child care facility" to include such a detention facility for purposes of its "caretaker" definition. The exemption of secure detention facilities from licensure under G.S. §131D-10.4(3) did not change that investigation authority.

G.S. §7B-302(a), quoted in the opinion, directs the DSS director to investigate a report of abuse, neglect, or dependency. For an abuse report, the opinion identifies three allegations needed to trigger that authority: a juvenile victim, facts that fit a statutory abuse category, and a perpetrator who is a parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker. The AG therefore had to decide whether the residential child care facility language in the caretaker definition reached the county detention facility described in the request.

The Juvenile Code did not itself define "residential child care facility." The AG read that phrase alongside Chapter 131D, which defines it as a staffed place where children receive continuing full-time foster care. The quoted definition of foster care includes provision of daily essentials around the clock for delinquent children or others living apart from parents, relatives, or guardians. The opinion also points to G.S. §7B-1501's definition of a detention facility as a place approved to provide secure confinement and care for juveniles.

The AG then separated the licensure question from the investigation question. Secure detention facilities were exempt from Chapter 131D licensure, but the opinion says that exemption had no impact on DSS authority to investigate a qualifying abuse report in such a facility.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Check current versions of the cited statutes and agency rules before applying its analysis to a present-day report.

What this means for you

If you receive a report at DSS: Under this opinion, the county-operated secure detention setting alone does not place the report outside DSS investigative authority. The opinion still requires allegations fitting the Juvenile Code's three-part trigger.

If you operate a county secure detention facility: The facility's exemption from Chapter 131D licensure does not, by itself, eliminate DSS authority to investigate an abuse report involving a juvenile there.

Common questions

Does the AG say every complaint from a detention facility must be investigated by DSS?
No. The opinion describes the required allegations: a juvenile victim, conduct within a statutory abuse category, and a parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker as the alleged perpetrator.

Why did the AG consult the foster-care statute?
The Juvenile Code used "residential child care facility" in the caretaker definition without defining it. The AG looked to related Chapter 131D definitions, which include full-time care for certain children living apart from family.

Does the licensure exemption answer the investigation question?
No. The opinion calls licensure and DSS investigation separate issues and says the exemption has no impact on the latter.

Does this opinion decide DSS authority for private detention centers or other residential programs?
No. The request and the AG's conclusion concern a county-operated secure detention facility. The opinion does not apply its reasoning to other facility types.

Does it specify the outcome after an investigation?
No. It answers whether DSS has authority to investigate; it does not decide any particular allegation or prescribe an outcome.

Citations

• G.S. §7B-302(a): DSS investigation duty quoted in the opinion.
• G.S. §7B-101(3): caretaker definition, including the residential child care facility language.
• G.S. §131D-10.2(9) and (13): foster care and residential child care facility definitions.
• G.S. §7B-1501: definition of detention facility.
• G.S. §131D-10.4(3): secure detention facility licensure exemption.
• In re Hickerson, 235 N.C. 716, 71 S.E.2d 129 (1952): use of related statutes in interpretation.
• Whittington v. N.C. Dept. of Human Resources, 100 N.C. App. 603, 398 S.E.2d 40 (1990): ordinary statutory meaning.
• Di Donato v. Wortman, 320 N.C. 423, 358 S.E.2d 489 (1987): remedial construction.

Source

• Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/investigate-an-abuse-complaint-involving-a-juvenile/

Original opinion text

Re: Advisory Opinion: Authority Of The Department Of Social Services To Investigate An Abuse Complaint Involving A Juvenile Which Allegedly Occurred In A County Secure Detention Facility Which Is Licensed By The State of North Carolina Office Of Juvenile Justice; G.S. §7B-101, G.S. §7B-302, G.S. §7B-1501, and G.S. §§131D-10.2 and 10.4

Dear Mr. Siler:

You have asked for an Attorney General Opinion regarding the authority of the department of social services to investigate an abuse complaint involving a juvenile which allegedly occurred at a county operated secure detention facility. The specific questions you have asked are as follows:

• Does the Department of Social Services have the authority to investigate an abuse complaint (involving a juvenile) which allegedly occurred in a county operated secure detention facility which is licensed by the North Carolina Office of Juvenile Justice?
• Whether a county operated secure detention facility, licensed by the North Carolina Office of Juvenile Justice, is a residential child care facility as the term is used in G.S. §7B-101(3)?
• What effect, if any, does the exemption provided by G.S. §131D-10.4(3) for secure detention facilities have on the answer to the questions above?

G.S. §7B-302(a) provides, in pertinent part: "When a report of abuse, neglect, or dependency is received, the director of the department of social services shall make a prompt and thorough investigation in order to ascertain the facts of the case, the extent of the abuse or neglect, and the risk of harm to the juvenile, in order to determine whether protective services should be provided or the complaint filed as a petition." The authority of the department of social services to investigate is triggered when a report of child abuse alleges three things: (1) a juvenile victim, (2) information, if true, that fits one of the categories as defined in G.S. §7B-101(1), and (3) a perpetrator who is the juvenile's parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker. G.S. §7B-101(1).

The term "caretaker" is defined, in pertinent part, as follows:

> "Any person other than a parent, guardian, or custodian who has responsibility for the health and welfare of a juvenile in a residential setting. A person responsible for a juvenile's health and welfare means a stepparent, foster parent, an adult member of the juvenile's household, an adult relative entrusted with the juvenile's care, any person such as a house parent or cottage parent who has primary responsibility for supervising a juvenile's health and welfare in a residential child care facility or residential educational facility, or any employee or volunteer of a division, institution, or school operated by the Department of Health and Human Services." G.S. § 7B-101(3).

The term "residential child care facility" is not defined in the Juvenile Code. However, in the interpretation of statutes, "We may call to our aid other laws or statutes relating to the particular subject, or to the one under construction, so that we may know what the mischief was which the Legislature intended to remove or to remedy." In re Hickerson, 235 N.C. 716, 721, 71 S.E.2d 129, 132 (1952) (quoting Abernethy v. Board of Commissioners, 169 N.C. 631, 86 S.E. 577 (1915)).

Reading the term in question in the context of Article 1A of Chapter 131D pertaining to the licensing and inspection of family foster homes, child placing agencies, and residential child care facilities, it is clear that the term "residential child care facility" set forth in G.S. §7B-101(3) encompasses a county operated secure detention facility.

G.S. §131D-10.2(13) provides that a "residential child care facility" means a staffed premise with paid or volunteer staff where children receive continuing full-time foster care and includes child caring institutions, group homes, and children's camps which provide foster care. In addition, "foster care" is defined in G.S. §131D-10.2(9), as follows:

> "…the continuing provision of the essentials of daily living on a 24-hour basis for dependent, neglected, abused, abandoned, destitute, orphaned, undisciplined or delinquent children or other children who, due to similar problems of behavior or family conditions, are living apart from their parents, relatives, or guardians in a family foster home or residential childcare facility. The essentials of daily living include but are not limited to shelter, meals, clothing, education, recreation, and individual attention and supervision."

The above conclusion is also consistent with the definition of a "detention facility" set forth in Subchapter II of Chapter 7B. As defined in G.S. §7B-1501, a detention facility means, "a facility approved to provide secure confinement and care for juveniles. (Emphasis Added). Detention facilities include both State and locally administered detention homes, centers, and facilities." When construing a statutory provision, the words in the statute are to be given their natural or ordinary meaning, unless the context of the provision indicates that they should be interpreted differently. Whittington v. N.C. Dept. of Human Resources, 100 N.C. App. 603, 606, 398 S.E.2d 40, 42 (1990) (citing Abernethy v. Board of Commissioners, 169 N.C. 631, 86 S.E. 577 (1915)). "Care" ordinarily means: "Charge, supervision, management, responsibility for or attention to safety and well-being…." Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1981.

Finally, the fact that secure detention facilities are exempt from licensure pursuant to G.S. §131D-10.4(3) has no impact on the question of whether a department of social services has the authority to investigate a report of an abused juvenile that allegedly occurred in such a facility. These are two separate issues. Furthermore, a remedial statute should be liberally construed, according to its intent, so as to advance the remedy and repress the evil. Di Donato v. Wortman, 320 N.C. 423, 430, 358 S.E.2d 489, 493 (1987) (quoting Cape Lookout Co. v. Gold, 167 N.C. 63, 83 S.E. 3 (1914)). As stated by our Supreme Court in the recent case of Dobson v. Harris, __ N.C. ___, 530 S.E.2d 829 (2000), "government has no nobler duty than that of protecting its country's lifeblood — the children." Clearly, the purpose of Subchapter I of the Juvenile Code is not only to protect a juvenile from abuse in his own home but also to protect a juvenile from abuse, when due to the juvenile's behavior or other circumstances, the juvenile is living apart from his parents, guardian, or custodian.

Signed by:

Ann Reed
Senior Deputy Attorney General

David Gordon
Assistant Attorney General