Durham Celebrates Family Connections During Reunification Month
At Frankie’s near Brier Creek, DSS, public defenders, court partners, and families honored parents and children who worked their way back together.
Wes Platt
Families, social workers, attorneys, court partners, county leaders, and children gathered Tuesday at Frankie’s near Brier Creek to mark Reunification Month in Durham County.
They didn’t gather to focus on what goes wrong when children and parents enter the child welfare system. They gathered to celebrate what it takes to rebuild family connections after separation.
The celebration, hosted by the Durham County Department of Social Services, brought together families, DSS staff, the Durham Public Defender’s Office, District Court Judge Kendra Montgomery-Blinn, caregivers, service providers, and community partners for an afternoon centered on recognition, encouragement, and play.
The event followed Gov. Josh Stein’s proclamation of June 2026 as Reunification Month in North Carolina. Stein’s proclamation described foster care as a short-term intervention for children who need safety outside the home and said reunification remains the preferred outcome for children removed from their homes and placed in foster care. The proclamation said 1,225 children reunified with their families in North Carolina in 2025.
The state proclamation also emphasized collaboration among families, child welfare agencies, courts, service providers, and community members. It said children who safely return to their families are more likely to succeed in school and social settings, experience better mental health outcomes, and maintain connections to extended family and cultural identities.
At the Durham celebration, DSS Director Maggie Clapp welcomed families, children, parents, caregivers, court partners, service providers, staff, and community partners. She said the event’s theme was “celebrating new beginnings and brighter tomorrows together.”
Photos: Wes Platt
“Your presence here matters,” Clapp said. “Because reunification is not something that happens alone. It takes family, support, commitment, passion, and a community willing to walk alongside children and parents during some of the most difficult and most important moments of their life.”
Clapp said the celebration honored families that have worked hard, taken meaningful steps, and continued moving forward. She also recognized the people who help create opportunities for healing, stability, and hope.
“We are here to recognize the love between parents and children, the resilience of families, and the dedication of those who support them,” Clapp said.
For Clapp, reunification means more than the formal language of child welfare and the courts.
“Reunification is one of the most meaningful parts of child welfare,” Clapp said. “It is more than a court decision, more than a case milestone, and more than a service plan.”
She said reunification represents children and parents finding their way back together, along with growth, healing, and the belief that families can move forward when they’re safe, supported, and surrounded by people who believe in them.
Durham County Commissioner Stephen Valentine read the county’s proclamation recognizing June 2026 as Family Reunification Month. The proclamation described family as a primary source of “love, identity, belonging, and support” for children and said children thrive when they can safely remain connected to family, community, culture, and support systems.
Valentine said reunification mattered to him before he joined the county board.
“To be here today to see families unify, I mean that means everything,” Valentine said.
The county proclamation recognized parents, relatives, foster caregivers, attorneys, social workers, service providers, judges, advocates, and community organizations that work with children and families involved in the child welfare system. It also said Durham County commits to policies and practices that strengthen families, reduce unnecessary family separation, and help children grow up in safe, stable, and loving homes.
Tanza Moye, a DSS special services supervisor, spoke about young adults who age out of foster care. She works with foster care youth ages 18 to 21, the LINKS independent living program, child and family team facilitators, and the county’s fatherhood initiative.
Moye said reunification doesn’t always happen before a young person turns 18. But that doesn’t mean the need for family connection ends.
“Reunification does not stop when they turn 18,” Moye said. “Most, if not all, of our young people want that connection.”
She said many young adults reunify with their families on their own, even when that process doesn’t happen through the courts before they age out of care. Moye said policy changes now allow some young adults in the 18-to-21 program to live with or reconnect with biological family members while continuing to receive support services.
“That’s your family, that’s their connection,” Moye said, explaining why the policy changed.
Moye said DSS encourages young adults to include family members in meetings when they want that support. She said the agency also helps young adults navigate those relationships through services that can include mental health support.
“Today, we celebrate something that does not have an age limit,” Moye said. “They desire to belong, to be loved, and to stay connected, and that does not end when childhood ends.”
Families also shared their own experiences. Issiah Parkman stood with his mother and spoke about what it meant to be back together.
“I wanted to share a little about my story and what it means to be back with my mom,” Parkman said.
Parkman thanked the people who supported his family through the reunification process. He said the process wasn’t easy for him or his mother, but it taught them something about family.
“Family is not always perfect,” Parkman said, “but true love and care will get you through everything.”
Lisa Carrington also spoke about reunification from a parent’s perspective. She said her family had been back together for two years, and she described family as joyful. But she also spoke candidly about the work that continues after children come home.
“It’s hard getting them back,” Carrington said. “You got to get back on track. You got to gain the trust. You got to do a lot.”
Carrington thanked the people who supported her family during the process and helped keep her focused.
Dawn Baxton, Durham County’s chief public defender, called the celebration a “joyous occasion” and said the Durham County Public Defender’s Office has spent decades working to reunify families.
Baxton said the office dedicates two attorneys to parent representation and reunification work. She also said the office has a social work investigator who supports those attorneys, and it collaborates with private assigned attorneys who share the same goal.
“It’s important that those parents’ voices be heard, those children’s voices be heard, and they get back with their family,” Baxton said.
Baxton said the public defender’s office wants parents to have strong representation and to get their children back when reunification can happen safely.
“That is our ultimate goal,” she said.
She praised parents who had successfully reunified with their children, saying their work showed dedication, love, and commitment. To honor the families, the Public Defender’s Office gave each family charm bracelets with two charms: a heart and an infinity sign.
Baxton said the charms were meant to remind parents and children that they stay connected and that “the love of your family is eternal and it cannot be broken.”
Montgomery-Blinn spoke near the end of the program and described what the court system looks like from the bench. She said judges often see people during the hardest moments of their lives.
“Nobody wants to come to court,” Montgomery-Blinn said. “Nobody wants to see me.”
People may come to court as defendants, victims, tenants facing eviction, parties in civil lawsuits, or parents whose children have been removed, she said. She called the justice system overwhelming, hard, and exhausting.
“As a judge, I see people who give up every day, and those are my absolute worst days as a judge,” Montgomery-Blinn said. “But there are people who keep fighting. They do the hard work. They put families back together, and it can take months or it can take years.”
When families reunify and their cases close, Montgomery-Blinn said, those moments stand apart.
“Those are my best days as a judge,” she said.
Montgomery-Blinn thanked social workers for seeing the best in families, attorneys for holding the system accountable, parents for doing hard work, and children for keeping their hearts open to giving and receiving love.
“You are the people who never gave up,” Montgomery-Blinn said.
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