Foster Care Crisis Forces North Carolina Teens to Sleep in County Office Building
Finn's Take· TL;DR- Foster care shortage forces North Carolina to house up to 25 teens nightly in county office building instead of family homes.
- Foster family numbers cut in half since pandemic; staffing shortages at group homes worsened crisis affecting 10,500 children statewide.
- State pilot programs aim to streamline foster parent recruitment, but officials say legislative funding and expanded placements urgently needed.
An Unlikely Roof Over Their Heads
They are some of the most vulnerable young people in North Carolina — teenagers already navigating the trauma of the foster care system. But instead of sleeping in a family home, up to two dozen of them are bedding down each night in a county government office building in Raleigh. It's a jarring image, and one that state officials say reflects a crisis that has been quietly building for years.
Wake County is housing teenagers in foster care inside a county office building because there are not enough foster homes and residential placements available, according to county officials. The building, near WakeMed, is serving as temporary housing for as many as 20 to 25 teenagers at a time, with youth living together in office space set aside for them — where they sleep, shower, and eat while county workers continue conducting other government business in the same building.
A System Pushed Past Its Limits
According to Wake County's deputy director of social services, Sheila Donaldson, the shortage of placements has developed since the COVID-19 pandemic — and the number of foster families has been cut in half since before the pandemic. Staffing shortages at group homes have also reduced the number of beds available in residential facilities. The compounding effect has left the county with few good options and a lot of desperate improvisation.
Since the beginning of 2025, more than 100 foster children in Wake County have had to spend nights living in converted offices and meeting rooms at the Swinburne Building — a stark increase from previous years. In 2019, only two children had to stay in the building, and they only stayed for a single night — a number that has increased nearly every year since. Donaldson, a 30-year veteran of child welfare work, has been candid about how deeply the situation troubles her. "It is very hard. You know, I've been doing this 30 years, to have children sleeping in an office building. And it's not the purpose of foster care," she said.
Lawmakers Under Pressure to Act
State Rep. Sarah Crawford, D-Wake, said the situation reflects a broader issue facing foster care systems across North Carolina. Crawford noted there are 10,500 children in foster care across the state — a figure that underscores just how widespread the pressure on the system has become. Crawford was unequivocal about the stakes: "Our No. 1 priority in the state is and should absolutely be to make sure that our kiddos, particularly kiddos in foster care, have access to a safe and stable environment. And we definitely don't want children sleeping in offices."
Officials previously launched an $8 million pilot program to get kids out of offices and into homes, but more than a year later, Wake County's share of that money — roughly $235,000 — is still flowing, and the problem is still getting worse. Crawford said several pilot programs are now operating across the state aimed at streamlining the process for families to become foster parents, with the goal of helping move teenagers in foster care into stable homes.
The Road Forward
Asked about alternatives to traditional foster family placements, Crawford said the state should consider a variety of options — "I think we have to come up with all kinds of creative solutions," she said. Several pilot programs are operating across the state aimed at streamlining the process for families to become foster parents. But advocates and officials agree that legislative funding and a surge of new foster families are both essential to turning the tide.
The story of teenagers sleeping in government cubicles is not just a Wake County problem — it is a warning sign about what happens when a social safety net is stretched too thin for too long. Until North Carolina dramatically expands both its pool of foster families and its residential care capacity, the office building near WakeMed will keep serving a purpose it was never meant to serve. The teens living there deserve better, and the clock is ticking.