DSS division manager briefs board on rising child-abuse and dependency referrals and foster-care placements
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Summary
Decorah Bowers, division manager for child and adult welfare at DSS, reported that in 2025 the department received 1,960 child-service referrals and accepted 1,418 (about 72%); she noted increases in abuse reports for children under 3 and a rise in teen dependency cases, plus 36 children placed out of county.
Decorah Bowers, division manager for child and adult welfare at the Union County Department of Social Services, gave a detailed overview of the department’s child- and adult-services work, data trends and operational needs.
Bowers said that in 2025 the department received 1,960 child-service referrals and accepted 1,418 for investigation, an acceptance rate of roughly 72 percent consistent with state policy. She said 64 percent of accepted child-service reports were for neglect and 34 percent for abuse; the county has seen an increase in physical-injury reports for children under age 3. Dependency cases remain a smaller share of the caseload (about 2 percent) but have been rising among teenagers.
On placements, Bowers said Union County currently has 137 children in foster care with 36 placed out of county because the county lacks some treatment placements. She said the county has 46 licensed foster homes and 14 families currently in licensing classes. Bowers described the agency’s intake, investigation, permanency-planning meetings and timelines: child investigations typically have a minimum response window of about 30–35 days, while certain adult investigations and financial-exploitation cases vary by statutory time frames.
Board members asked about investigator staffing (Bowers said there are 18 investigators and one open hire) and about the logistics and cost impacts of out-of-county placements; Bowers and other board members noted travel and staff-time implications for visits and permanency work. She also outlined the department’s outreach, recruitment for foster parents and planned facility renovations tied to a crisis-stabilization center shared with Cabarrus County.
Bowers emphasized that child-protective services referrals are legally mandated in North Carolina and that the agency provides after-hours intake and a public hotline for reports. She closed by inviting board involvement in foster-parent recruitment and by noting several program and community milestones.
