NC Foster Children Discrimination Case to Proceed

Federal Judge Allows NC Foster Children Discrimination Case to Proceed

A ruling by a federal judge allows a lawsuit to move forward that alleges the state of North Carolina locks foster children in psychiatric residential treatment facilities instead of providing them with housing and community services. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services attempted to get the case dismissed, but U.S. District Court Judge William L. Osteen Jr. denied that motion. Osteen, according to NC Newsline on April 11, called the conditions at the PRTFs “at best, inadequate, and at worst, highly abusive.”

“Artificial intelligence is not innovation. Technology is a tool.”

“If you don’t have a generative AI policy right now, you’re not missing out,” explains David Graham, chief innovation officer for the city of Carlsbad, California, and co-chair of the Civic Innovation Executive Certificate program at the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University. “Artificial intelligence is not innovation. Technology is a tool,” he says, according to Route Fifty on April 12. Graham explains that the needs of each government entity vary —making the application of AI unique to that entity versus a race to adopt AI because other governments use that technology.

State Chief Privacy Officers Face New Challenges

A survey of chief privacy officers by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers reveals the challenges and roles of the CPO—including the CPO’s involvement in artificial intelligence. The Shifting Privacy Paradigm: State Chief Privacy Officers’ Evolving Roles and Persistent Realities, according to NASCIO, covers the responsibilities of the role, as well as includes “recommendations for states looking to create or build on the CPO role and share advice from current state CPOs.”

Audit: NCDHHS Mismanaged Federal Funds

According to the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor’s Statewide Single Audit, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services mismanaged federal funds in the 2023 fiscal year. The Carolina Journal on April 15 reported that NCDHHS agreed with the findings and plans to take corrective action. In one finding, NCDHHS incorrectly used foster care funds to reimburse counties; the error, according to NCDHHS management, occurred because of “staff’s inaccurate application of established policies.”

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