Safe Surrender
What is Safe Surrender? North Carolina’s Safe Surrender law allows an overwhelmed mother to surrender her baby to a responsible adult and walk away. The baby will be adopted. A baby up to 7 days old may be placed with any responsible adult. The baby must be unharmed. Safe surrender is legal and anonymous. Anyone who receives a baby in this way must keep the baby safe and warm, and call 911 or the county social services department immediately. The law is properly called the law to “Decriminalize Abandonment of an Infant.” The law is meant to prevent these babies from being killed or being left unsafely to die. If you have more questions, please go to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Safe Surrender web page to find out more information.
Reports of Child Abuse/Neglect/Dependency
Help us keep the children of Lee County safe! If you believe a child is being abused or neglected by his parent, guardian or caretaker, state law requires that you contact DSS to report the maltreatment. You may provide whatever information you have by telephone, in person, or in writing. You do not have to know all the information about a family. You do need to provide all the information you have.
Call 919 718-4690 and say that you need to make a CPS report or, our office is located at 530 Carthage Street, Sanford, NC 27330.
The agency asks for contact information from reporters so they can be contacted by social workers and so they can receive letters informing them of the status and outcome of the report. However, it is possible for reporters to remain anonymous. It is important for all reporters to know that only a court order allows DSS to reveal the name of a reporter, and this is an extremely rare occurrence.
Reports of Disabled Adults Who Are Abused/Neglected/Exploited
Reports may be made during regular business hours either by telephone contact (919-718-4690) or by a visit to the Department (530 Carthage Street Sanford, NC).
Night, holiday, and weekend reporting may be made through contact with the Sanford Police Department (919-775-8286) and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (919-718-4560). These agencies are always open and willing to contact our on-call worker. Our worker will contact you regarding your report.
Welfare Fraud
If you suspect welfare fraud by an individual or a business and would like to report it please click the button below.
Report Fraud