Residents and advocates urge Person County review of foster-care practices after fatality and alleged mistreatment

Public commenters at the Person County Board of Commissioners meeting on Jan. 20 urged the board to investigate alleged failures in the county’s child-welfare system and to provide requested records.

Jada Garnett, who identified herself as a survivor of Person County’s foster-care system, told commissioners she had reviewed juvenile records and discovered a social worker involved in her removal from school is now serving as a commissioner. Garnett asked that official whether he regretted the removal and said other young people had contacted her to report verbal and sexual abuse in foster homes. She also alleged that funds promised to her before aging out of care were missing and called that conduct “a considered stealing” (claim summarized from SEG 150–156; SEG 192–199).

Amanda Wallace, founder of Operation Stop CPS, told the board that Kimari Morgan was murdered on May 24, 2025 while placed in an unlicensed foster home by Person County Department of Social Services and said the county has not provided records Wallace requested, which she said were six months overdue. Wallace said commissioners denied a support person Jada had identified for a meeting and repeated that “your system is failing” (SEG 221–226; SEG 261–266; SEG 273–283; SEG 287–289).

Commissioner Rosthern, who identified herself as a former child-welfare social worker, addressed the public comments and defended the role of social workers, saying she does not regret removing children from abusive or neglectful situations when necessary and describing her continued work training social workers (press remarks SEG 494–503). Rosthern said protecting children was the motivation for past decisions and defended use of removal when required by the facts of a case (SEG 506–516).

The public commenters requested that the board investigate the foster-care system, resolve an overdue records request, and clarify why a support person named by a former ward was not permitted to attend a meeting. The board did not announce at the meeting a formal investigatory action or a timeline to respond to those specific requests.

The meeting’s public-comment period closed after the three registered speakers completed their remarks; no formal vote addressing child-welfare policy was taken during the session.

What’s next: Commissioners did not make a formal motion in open session to open an investigation during this meeting; any follow-up would require the board or county staff to state a next procedural step in a later meeting or by direct staff communication.