HB 648 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Disposition Placement/Findings of Fact.

House Bill 648 clarifies the process for placing abused, neglected, or dependent juveniles in out-of-home care. It requires courts to first consider placing a juvenile with a willing and able relative, unless such placement is found to be contrary to the juvenile's best interests. Courts can only consider nonrelative placements after making specific findings of fact, such as the unavailability of a suitable relative. The bill also expands options for nonrelative placements to include former foster parents, nonrelative kin, or legal guardians of siblings, and allows for notification of State-recognized tribes to help locate caregivers.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Apr 1, 2025 Last action Apr 30, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 1 → Edition 2 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to change its title from 'Clarify Nonrelative Placement Timing' to 'Disposition Placement/Findings of Fact' and updated the operative language to require courts to make written findings of fact when determining placement options for children in out-of-home care. The changes expand the court's analysis requirements and clarify the process for considering relative versus nonrelative placements.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from focusing primarily on timing for nonrelative placement to requiring broader written findings of fact for all disposition placement analyses, including community placement considerations.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the court's relative placement analysis from 'consider whether' to 'consider determine whether' a relative is willing and able to provide proper care, then requiring an order of placement with the relative unless contrary to the juvenile's best interests.

Added new provision requiring courts to make written findings of fact when determining whether it is in the juvenile's best interest to remain in their community of residence.

Added new subsection (d) requiring courts to order examinations by qualified medical and mental health experts when needed to determine the juvenile's treatment needs and who should pay for such treatment.

Modified the language regarding out-of-home placement with nonrelatives to allow courts to compare all placement options to determine which is in the juvenile's best interest, rather than only considering nonrelative placement after relative options are exhausted.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and text corrections throughout the document, including fixing a typo ('kin kin' to 'kin') and correcting the repealed section reference.

Floor votes · House Apr 29, 2025

How they voted

110–3

Passed · 8 other

Total votes 121

Apr 29, 2025

D Democratic46

38 Yea 3 Nay 5

82% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican73

70 Yea 3

95% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 30, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Apr 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

lower

Apr 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Apr 15, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 15, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Committee

Ref to the Com on Judiciary 2, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 1, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

0 primary · 4 co-sponsors