Advocates urge technology fixes and oversight after NC FAST and county accountability problems cited at USCCR briefing

At the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights advisory hearing, witnesses described how technology and oversight failures have compounded problems created by case delays and inconsistent county practices.

Ryan O'Donnell, founder of Sunlight, said the state’s NC FAST child-welfare information system ‘had a budget of over $100,000,000’ and was ‘‘unusable and buggy’’ when deployed; he told committee members the state later awarded a new contract but urged faster progress and federal funds to modernize case management. "It would be great if we had a system," O'Donnell said, adding that counties often lack basic real-time information and that case records can be lost when workers leave or reset devices.

Panelists recommended practical steps: dedicate Title IV‑E funds to technology and court-improvement tools, create or empower regional oversight offices to ensure counties follow state standards, establish community oversight boards that include people with lived experience, and invest in family‑defense legal resources to equalize representation in court. Amanda Wallace and others urged court-watching and public transparency so community members can trace decisions and hold agencies accountable.

Committee members asked witnesses for written recommendations and for specific technology-change proposals to include in the advisory report. The committee will hear state officials and policy witnesses at a follow-up panel on Aug. 7 to explore whether the state’s planned remedies and contract changes address the gaps described by advocates.