The N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation has confirmed an increase in the number of verified victims of the state’s former Eugenics Board Program. The new tally counts 186 individuals in 61 counties, including 168 living victims.  In June, the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics revised down the number of likely living victims from about 1,500 to 2,000 to about 1,350 to 1,800. Lenoir County, where the Caswell Center is located, continues to have the highest number of verifications with 24 matches to N.C. Eugenics Board records  Counties with new verifications include Lee, Montgomery, Buncombe and Edgecombe. While procedures were performed in all 100 counties, 43 counties still report zero verifications. The N.C. Eugenics Board implemented a program of involuntary sterilization that took place in all 100 counties between 1929 and 1974. By the end of the program, nearly 7,600 documented people were sterilized including 40 in Madison County, 29 in Avery County, 22 in Mitchell County and 139 people in Buncombe County where the only verified victim was recently identified.