Sara DePasquale

Sara DePasquale joined the School of Government in 2013. She specializes in child welfare law in North Carolina and teaches and consults with judges, social services attorneys, parent attorneys, and other law professionals. Her publications include Fathers and Paternity: Applying the Law in North Carolina Child Welfare Cases (2016), regular posts to the School’s On the Civil Side blog, and other School of Government publications. Her primer Stages of Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Cases in North Carolina: From Report to Final Disposition earned the School’s Margaret Taylor Writing Award in 2016.

Prior to joining the School of Government, she practiced for 17 years at Pine Tree Legal Assistance, the statewide civil legal services provider in Maine. She started at Pine Tree as a Skadden Fellow and spent her last nine years there as the directing attorney of KIDS LEGAL, Maine’s first and only children’s law program. She is a member of the North Carolina and Maine state bars. DePasquale received a BA with honors in history and sociology from Binghamton University, is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Buffalo School of Law, and also earned a dual degree with an MSW in child welfare/family systems from the University at Buffalo School of Social Work.

Fields of Expertise Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency (Children) Adoption Child Welfare Confidentiality (Social Services) Guardianship (Children) Immunizations Juvenile Courts Social Services Law (Child Welfare and Foster Care) Termination of Parental Rights