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NORTH CAROLINA

Legislature limits social worker access

On July 4, 2003, Governor Michael Easley signed into law Senate Bill 421, which, among other things, sets forth the circumstances under which a social worker may enter a private residence to conduct an investigation. In order to do so, the social worker must have:

>>	reasonable belief that a juvenile is in imminent danger of death or serious physical injury;
>>	the permission of the parent or person responsible for the juvenile's care;
>>	the accompaniment of a law enforcement officer who has legal authority to enter the residence; or
>>	an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.

With respect to the first circumstance, we would have preferred that the standard adopted by the General Assembly be "probable cause" instead of "reasonable belief." "Probable cause" is the standard prescribed by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution for entering a private residence. However, this new North Carolina law is an improvement over the practice previously followed by social workers in the state.