A bill that would overhaul North Carolina's troubled child welfare system is drawing praise from many stakeholders, but some adoption advocates say it could destabilize adoptive families.

House Bill 612 passed the Senate Health Care committee Thursday in what appeared to be a unanimous vote.

The complex measure makes dozens of changes to laws that govern foster care, guardianship, social services and county child welfare agencies giving the state more authority to oversee county services and intervene when they aren't meeting the needs of the children under their care.

To Gaile Osborne with the NC Foster Families Alliance, it's badly needed. She credited WRAL's documentary "Broken" for raising public awareness of the problems in the child welfare system.

"We have sat back, in a sense,

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