As used in this Subchapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following words have the listed meanings:

(1) Abused juveniles. – Any juvenile less than 18 years of age (i) who is found to be a minor victim of human trafficking under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.15 or (ii) whose parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker:

a. Inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the juvenile a serious physical injury by other than accidental means;

b. Creates or allows to be created a substantial risk of serious physical injury to the juvenile by other than accidental means;

c. Uses or allows to be used upon the juvenile cruel or grossly inappropriate procedures or cruel or grossly inappropriate devices to modify behavior;

d. Commits, permits, or encourages the commission of a violation of the following laws by, with, or upon the juvenile: first-degree forcible rape, as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.21; second-degree forcible rape as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.22; statutory rape of a child by an adult as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.23; first-degree statutory rape as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.24; first-degree forcible sex offense as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.26; second-degree forcible sex offense as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.27; statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.28; first-degree statutory sexual offense as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.29; sexual activity by a substitute parent or custodian as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.31; sexual activity with a student as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.32; unlawful sale, surrender, or purchase of a minor, as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.14; crime against nature, as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-177; incest, as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-178; preparation of obscene photographs, slides, or motion pictures of the juvenile, as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.5; employing or permitting the juvenile to assist in a violation of the obscenity laws as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.6; dissemination of obscene material to the juvenile as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.7 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.8; displaying or disseminating material harmful to the juvenile as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.14 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.15; first and second degree sexual exploitation of the juvenile as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.16 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.17; promoting the prostitution of the juvenile as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-205.3(b); and taking indecent liberties with the juvenile, as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.1;

e. Creates or allows to be created serious emotional damage to the juvenile; serious emotional damage is evidenced by a juvenile’s severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or aggressive behavior toward himself or others;

f. Encourages, directs, or approves of delinquent acts involving moral turpitude committed by the juvenile; or

g. Commits or allows to be committed an offense under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.11 (human trafficking), N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.12 (involuntary servitude), or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.13 (sexual servitude) against the child.

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(2) Repealed by Session Laws 2015-136, s. 1, effective October 1, 2015, and applicable to actions filed or pending on or after that date.

(3) Caretaker. – Any person other than a parent, guardian, or custodian who has responsibility for the health and welfare of a juvenile in a residential setting. A person responsible for a juvenile’s health and welfare means a stepparent; foster parent; an adult member of the juvenile’s household; an adult entrusted with the juvenile’s care; a potential adoptive parent during a visit or trial placement with a juvenile in the custody of a department; any person such as a house parent or cottage parent who has primary responsibility for supervising a juvenile’s health and welfare in a residential child care facility or residential educational facility; or any employee or volunteer of a division, institution, or school operated by the Department of Health and Human Services. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impose a legal duty of support under Chapter 50 or Chapter 110 of the N.C. Gen. Stat.. The duty imposed upon a caretaker as defined in this subdivision shall be for the purpose of this Subchapter only.

(4) Clerk. – Any clerk of superior court, acting clerk, or assistant or deputy clerk.

(5) Repealed by Session Laws 2013-129, s. 1, effective October 1, 2013, and applicable to actions filed or pending on or after that date.

(6) Court. – The district court division of the General Court of Justice.

(7) Court of competent jurisdiction. – A court having the power and authority of law to act at the time of acting over the subject matter of the cause.

(7a) Criminal history. – A local, State, or federal criminal history of conviction or pending indictment of a crime, whether a misdemeanor or a felony, involving violence against a person.

(8) Custodian. – The person or agency that has been awarded legal custody of a juvenile by a court.

(8a) Department. – Each county’s child welfare agency. Unless the context clearly implies otherwise, when used in this Subchapter, “department” or “department of social services” shall refer to the county agency providing child welfare services, regardless of the name of the agency or whether the county has consolidated human services, pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 153A-77 and shall include a regional social services department created pursuant to Part 2B of Article 1 of Chapter 108A of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

(9) Dependent juvenile. – A juvenile in need of assistance or placement because (i) the juvenile has no parent, guardian, or custodian responsible for the juvenile’s care or supervision or (ii) the juvenile’s parent, guardian, or custodian is unable to provide for the juvenile’s care or supervision and lacks an appropriate alternative child care arrangement.

(10) Director. – The director of the department of social services in the county in which the juvenile resides or is found, or the director’s representative as authorized in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 108A-14

(11) District. – Any district court district as established by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-133

(11a) Family assessment response. – A response to selected reports of child neglect and dependency as determined by the Director using a family-centered approach that is protection and prevention oriented and that evaluates the strengths and needs of the juvenile’s family, as well as the condition of the juvenile.

(11b) Investigative assessment response. – A response to reports of child abuse and selected reports of child neglect and dependency as determined by the Director using a formal information gathering process to determine whether a juvenile is abused, neglected, or dependent.

(12) Judge. – Any district court judge.

(13) Judicial district. – Any district court district as established by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-133

(14) Juvenile. – A person who has not reached the person’s eighteenth birthday and is not married, emancipated, or a member of the Armed Forces of the United States.

(15) Neglected juvenile. – Any juvenile less than 18 years of age (i) who is found to be a minor victim of human trafficking under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.15 or (ii) whose parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker does any of the following:

a. Does not provide proper care, supervision, or discipline.

b. Has abandoned the juvenile, except where that juvenile is a safely surrendered infant as defined in this Subchapter.

c. Has not provided or arranged for the provision of necessary medical or remedial care.

d. Or whose parent, guardian, or custodian has refused to follow the recommendations of the Juvenile and Family Team made pursuant to Article 27A of this Chapter.

e. Creates or allows to be created a living environment that is injurious to the juvenile’s welfare.

f. Has participated or attempted to participate in the unlawful transfer of custody of the juvenile under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-321.2

g. Has placed the juvenile for care or adoption in violation of law.

In determining whether a juvenile is a neglected juvenile, it is relevant whether that juvenile lives in a home where another juvenile has died as a result of suspected abuse or neglect or lives in a home where another juvenile has been subjected to abuse or neglect by an adult who regularly lives in the home.

(15a) Nonrelative kin. – An individual having a substantial relationship with the juvenile. In the case of a juvenile member of a State-recognized tribe as set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143B-407(a), nonrelative kin also includes any member of a State-recognized tribe or a member of a federally recognized tribe, whether or not there is a substantial relationship with the juvenile.

(15b) Non-surrendering parent. – A parent of a safely surrendered infant other than the parent who physically surrenders the parent’s infant pursuant to Article 5A of this Subchapter.

(16) Petitioner. – The individual who initiates court action, whether by the filing of a petition or of a motion for review alleging the matter for adjudication.

(17) Prosecutor. – The district attorney or assistant district attorney assigned by the district attorney to juvenile proceedings.

(18) Reasonable efforts. – The diligent use of preventive or reunification services by a department of social services when a juvenile’s remaining at home or returning home is consistent with achieving a safe, permanent home for the juvenile within a reasonable period of time. If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that the juvenile is not to be returned home, then reasonable efforts means the diligent and timely use of permanency planning services by a department of social services to develop and implement a permanent plan for the juvenile.

(18a) Relative. – An individual directly related to the juvenile by blood, marriage, or adoption, including, but not limited to, a grandparent, sibling, aunt, or uncle.

(18b) Responsible individual. – A parent, guardian, custodian, caretaker, or individual responsible for subjecting a juvenile to human trafficking under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-43.11, 14-43.12, or 14-43.13, who abuses or seriously neglects a juvenile.

(18c) Return home or reunification. – Placement of the juvenile in the home of either parent or placement of the juvenile in the home of a guardian or custodian from whose home the child was removed by court order.

(19) Safe home. – A home in which the juvenile is not at substantial risk of physical or emotional abuse or neglect.

(19a) Safely surrendered infant. – An infant reasonably believed to be not more than 30 days of age and without signs of abuse or neglect who is voluntarily delivered to an individual in accordance with Article 5A of this Subchapter by the infant’s parent who does not express an intent to return for the infant. In determining whether there are signs of neglect, the act of surrendering the infant, in and of itself, does not constitute neglect.

(19b) Serious neglect. – Conduct, behavior, or inaction of the juvenile’s parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker that evidences a disregard of consequences of such magnitude that the conduct, behavior, or inaction constitutes an unequivocal danger to the juvenile’s health, welfare, or safety, but does not constitute abuse.

(20) Repealed by Session Laws 2013-129, s. 1, effective October 1, 2013, and applicable to actions filed or pending on or after that date.

(21) Substantial evidence. – Relevant evidence a reasonable mind would accept as adequate to support a conclusion.

(21a) Surrendering parent. – A parent who physically surrenders the parent’s infant pursuant to Article 5A of this Subchapter.

(22) Working day. – Any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday when the courthouse is closed for transactions.

The singular includes the plural, the masculine singular includes the feminine singular and masculine and feminine plural unless otherwise specified. (1979, c. 815, s. 1; 1981, c. 336; c. 359, s. 2; c. 469, ss. 1-3; c. 716, s. 1; 1985, c. 648; c. 757, s. 156(q); 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 852, s. 16; 1987, c. 162; c. 695; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1037, ss. 36, 37; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 815, s. 1; 1991, c. 258, s. 3; c. 273, s. 11; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 1030, s. 3; 1993, c. 324, s. 1; c. 516, ss. 1-3; 1997-113, s. 1; 1997-390, s. 3; 1997-390, s. 3.2; 1997-443, s. 11A.118(a); 1997-506, s. 30; 1998-202, s. 6; 1998-229, ss. 1, 18; 1999-190, s. 1; 1999-318, s. 1; 1999-456, s. 60; 2005-55, s. 1; 2005-399, s. 1; 2009-38, s. 1; 2010-90, ss. 1, 2; 2011-183, s. 2; 2012-153, s. 2; 2013-129, s. 1; 2013-368, s. 16; 2015-123, s. 1; 2015-136, s. 1; 2015-181, s. 21; 2016-94, s. 12C.1(d); 2016-115, s. 3; 2017-41, s. 4.3; 2018-68, s. 8.1(a), (b); 2018-75, s. 5(a); 2018-145, s. 11(d); 2019-33, s. 1; 2019-245, s. 6(a); 2021-100, s. 1(a); 2021-123, s. 5(a); 2021-132, s. 1(a); 2023-14, s. 6.2(b).)