Special to IFN
RALEIGH — The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has announced plans for the statewide expansion of Success Coach, an innovative program designed to help families stay together and thrive after exiting foster care.
With this program, the North Carolina child welfare system is transitioning from offering post-adoption services to providing a comprehensive permanency support model, ensuring that all families – whether adoptive, reunified, custody, guardianship, or kinship care – have access to resources that promote long-term stability and well-being.
Developed through a partnership between the Duke Endowment and Catawba County Department of Social Services and informed by families with lived experience, Success Coach is a voluntary, in-home service that provides families with individualized coaching, advocacy and resource navigation for up to two years at a time – at any point in their journey and as many times as they need – at no cost to the family. The program aims to strengthen familial bonds, increase protective factors and reduce risks that could lead to reentry into the foster care system.
“Every child deserves a safe, loving and stable family, and Success Coach is a key part of our commitment to making that a reality for all families exiting foster care,” said NC Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai. “By expanding this permanency model statewide, we are ensuring that families across North Carolina have access to consistent, high-quality support, no matter where they live.”
A Success Coach is a specialized social worker who works alongside families to assist them in identifying their most pressing needs, developing a tailored success plan, and connecting them to additional community-based resources. Services are ultimately decided on by the family and can include parenting support, crisis prevention, case management, respite, help navigating the behavioral health system, and assistance with basic needs such as employment, food security, housing, education and building a reliable support system. These services are especially critical in North Carolina’s more rural counties where access to resources can be limited.
Early data from Catawba County demonstrates the program’s impact on supporting sustainable permanency, showing improved mental health outcomes, stronger parent-child relationships and increased placement stability. Over the last 10 years, Catawba County has seen no children re-enter foster care within 12 months of exiting care.
With the statewide rollout, NCDHHS aims to create a positive impact on permanency outcomes for children and families, reduce disruptions in placements, decrease reentry into foster care, and improve long-term well-being for any child or family who has experienced foster care in North Carolina.
“Success Coach is already showing great results for improving permanency among families in Catawba County, and we know this program is a game-changer for children and families across the state,” said Catawba County DSS Director Karen Harrington. “We are removing barriers to access by bringing services directly into the home and providing families with the tools they need to remain safe, strong and self-sufficient for the long run.”
NCDHHS is investing more than $16.5 million in state and federal funding over the next three years to transition Success Coach statewide. The expansion will be supported by three regional vendors – Catawba County DSS, Boys & Girls Homes of North Carolina, and Children’s Home Society of North Carolina – who will work with local DSSs on program implementation and training. Training for new Success Coaches is ongoing, with quarterly sessions to ensure high-fidelity implementation of the model.
Any family who exits foster care through reunification, guardianship, custody, kinship care or adoption is eligible to participate in the Success Coach program. Success Coach is also available for any adoptive families, including private adoption and relative adoption. These services are voluntary and intended to provide ongoing support as families navigate building or rebuilding their relationships after foster care or post-adoption. Families can re-engage with the program as many times as needed, accessing booster sessions or reinitiating services if they are faced with a new challenge or if their circumstances change.
The statewide expansion of Success Coach is part of NCDHHS’s broader strategy to build a strong, consistent and accessible permanency support system across North Carolina. As states across the country continue to look for new and innovative solutions to improving long-term permanency and family stability, the department’s goal is for Success Coach to serve as a national model and standard for providing effective permanency services.