Good morning, readers.
Last month, we republished an investigative series of stories about North Carolina’s child welfare system, and Durham’s Department of Social Services specifically, with each story exploring the cases of parents who have spent years fighting to regain custody of their children.
Our readers’ response to the stories was overwhelming and the second and third installments in the series became some of our most-read stories of 2023. We received messages from readers across the state detailing their own experiences with child welfare courts, which have terminated the rights of nearly 1,200 parents each year in the state, including an average of 32 per year in Durham.
Of the 5,020 North Carolina children who left foster care in the 2022-23 fiscal year, only 30 percent were reunited with their parents, and Durham’s reunification rate was 22 percent, less than half of the national average.
Overwhelmingly, the system impacts Black families.
In the first installment in this series of stories—a partnership between The Assembly and Charlotte news station WBTV—writers Jeffrey Billman, Whitney Clegg, and Nick Ochsner introduce readers to Alexis Wynn, a Durham mother whose sons, Prince and Zion, were removed from her custody after she fled an abusive relationship with the boys’ father. In the second part of the series, we meet Jatoia Potts, who lost custody of both her children after one was hospitalized with injuries she couldn’t explain. And in the third part of the series, we meet father Garnell Hill who relocated to North Carolina from Washington D.C. to fight for custody of his 8-year-old son.
Only Wynn has been successful in regaining custody of her children, and she has since left the state. Potts is fighting to have her children placed with family members. And a judge will decide this year whether Hill’s son can be adopted.
Have a good Monday, everyone. Thanks for reading.
— Jane
Durham
ICYMI: Durham city council members selected four finalists from a pool of 14 applicants for the vacant Ward Three seat. See who each council member voted for.
Wake
Raleigh’s old police headquarters located at the intersection of Hargett and McDowell Streets is being demolished. A new 17-story city hall will go up in its place in the next several years.
Orange
The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership has a new executive director, Jeri Lynn Schulke.
The daughter of Linda’s namesake says the closure of the popular Franklin Street bar will not be permanent, according to reporting from the Daily Tar Heel. Linda’s closed Friday after 47 years in business.
North Carolina
The arts councils of Orange, Durham, and Wake Counties have named Hillsborough-based writer Steven Petrow as the new Piedmont Laureate.
Education leaders in North Carolina want to lower federal school performance goals for students in the state.
Today’s weather
Sunny with a high of 51 degrees.
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