For years and years, Guilford County has had trouble handling all the child welfare cases it has faced, and three years ago a major scandal in that area hit after the death of three children being overseen by the county’s Health and Human Services Department. While county staff has made a good deal of progress after a lengthly state investigation found a plethora of failures, the county has recovered somewhat – but it is still struggling to get and keep staff to handle all the child welfare cases that land in its lap.
A request for another $42,000 for temporary social workers on the Guilford County commissioners’ Thursday, Nov. 5 agenda comes with some troubling numbers: 32 vacant children’s services social worker positions, 776 children in county custody and 1,160 open assessment cases.
The proposed increase would bring the county’s contract with Vanguard Professional Staffing from $190,000 to $232,000. It’s on the consent agenda for the meeting this week at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Old Guilford County Courthouse.
The contract amendment is relatively small by county government standards. However, the explanation accompanying it offers a look at a staffing problem Guilford County has been trying to address for years.
According to the agenda item, September’s figures show 28 foster care social workers available to carry caseloads involving 776 children in custody. Another 32 assessment social workers were available to handle 1,160 open assessment cases.
The department also reports that 14 workers have been identified to start over the next month.
In the meantime, supervisors are covering vacant caseloads – and the department has shifted staff among program areas to maintain services.
Guilford County has used Vanguard to help staff child welfare services since July 2021. The contracted workers handle duties including assessments, foster care cases, home visits, court summaries, referrals and on-call responsibilities.
The current request reflects both an increased need for workers and changes in the availability of temporary staff.
According to the agenda item, Vanguard’s staffing resources increased during the contract term, bringing spending to about $183,000. Monthly expenses doubled over the most recent two months because of increased child welfare staffing needs and reduced availability from other temporary staffing agencies.
County leaders say the additional $42,000 would allow contracted workers to complete current caseloads.
And earlier county records show how long this issue has persisted: A June 2022 request to continue using Vanguard reported 17 vacant children’s services social worker positions, 461 children in custody and 530 open assessment cases.
At that time, the department listed 21 foster care social workers and 36 assessment social workers available to carry cases. That request sought continued staffing assistance from eight contracted social workers.
The latest figures show substantially more children in custody and more than twice as many open assessment cases as that 2022 snapshot. They aren’t a measure of how every individual worker’s caseload has changed; however, they do document the growth in work facing the department.
Staffing challenges have also unfolded against the backdrop of intense scrutiny of Guilford County’s child welfare practices.
In 2023, the state required corrective action following an investigation after three children died in a December 2022 house fire. As the Rhino Times reported at the time, investigators identified failures involving the screening of a child protective services report, interviews with children, safety assessments and ongoing contact with the family.
The county subsequently reported substantial improvements. According to county records, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on April 23, 2025, that Guilford County Children’s Services had completed all requirements of the corrective action plan.
In a September 2025 agenda item, the county reported that cases open for at least 120 days had fallen from 387 to 95, along with improvements in safety assessments, supervision and placement stability. Those were reported results associated with that improvement effort, rather than current November 2026 performance figures.
Completing the corrective action plan, however, didn’t eliminate the need for outside staffing.
In February 2026, commissioners approved increasing a separate temporary staffing contract with Allies 4 Outcomes from $136,440 to $433,997. County officials said the company had supplied more Child Protective Services staffing than initially projected, exhausting the original funding faster than expected.
In August, the Board of Commissioners approved a new $322,000 agreement with that firm, including $292,000 for temporary staffing and $30,000 for capacity building.
Guilford County has also continued recruiting permanent employees. In July, Social Services advertised a hiring event specifically for social work positions in its Children’s Services division.
For the proposed Vanguard increase, staff plan to use money available from vacant positions to pay the contract through the part-time salaries budget. The agenda states that state and federal reimbursements for children’s services social work activities range from 50 to 75 percent.
Board approval is required because the amended contract would exceed $200,000.
