In tightening the review process for future foster or adoptive parents, the Rowan County Social Services Board has implemented new requirements that may help screen out unsuitable applicants.

But as the new procedures regarding civil records and divorce documents go into effect, board members and staff workers must ensure that they don’t have the unintended consequences of deterring worthy prospects or drawing away resources that might be more effectively used elsewhere.

Under the new regulations, approved last week, applicants seeking to become foster or adoptive parents would have to undergo a civil records check, along with the extensive criminal records review already required. Although no other county in North Carolina currently requires a civil records review, DSS board members argued persuasively that it was relevant because it would uncover problems such as domestic threats or violence that had not escalated to the level of physical assault that would bring criminal charges. That information is pertinent because couples or individuals who have a history of domestic disputes are less likely to be able to provide the stability and nurturing environment that foster children need. If there’s no other way to get this information reliably, a civil-records check would seem a reasonable, though labor-intensive, way to get it.

However, another new regulation that would require prospective parents to disclose information about divorces intrudes into an area that people often don’t wish to divulge or discuss. In some cases, that may be because it involves unsavory or embarrassing information that could be relevant to their fitness as a foster parent. In other cases, however, prospective parents may be reluctant to have their private lives opened to such examination simply because it dredges up painful and deeply personal experiences. The DSS board believes that reviewing divorce documents provides another useful screen that outweighs any potential drawbacks. But this is a sensitive, subjective area where case reviewers will face two difficult tasks: weighing how much credence to give allegations made amid the volatile emotions of a divorce proceeding, and assuring applicants that information related to divorce actions will be kept confidential.

A recent series in the Post described the significant improvements that DSS has made in its foster-children’s program, and the department has earned the highest level of state accreditation. As the DSS starts using these new regulations, it must closely monitor their effectiveness — and revise them, if necessary — to ensure that they’re helping to meet the goal that the DSS board and the department’s staffers share: Giving children the best possible chance to become part of a loving, nurturing family.