In most states, the state, rather than local government administers social services programs.  By contrast, in North Carolina most social services programs are administered by counties under the state’s supervision. This means that the state has the primary responsibility for oversight of the program and services but the counties are on the front lines managing and delivering programs and services to individuals.

There is no specific law that requires the county to operate a department of social services. Instead, there are a series of laws that, when read together, impose mandates on counties and appear to assume that a county department exists. For example, state law requires that counties have a board of social services and a director of social services.[1] It also requires that county departments of social services administer certain programs, such as Medicaid and Work First,[2] and offer certain services, such as child protective services and foster care services.[3] When taken as a whole, these various laws help to define the parameters of county social services departments.

Under present law, counties and county departments of social services are allowed to collaborate in various ways. For example, they may  

• Jointly employ a director of social services,
• Enter into interlocal agreements, or contracts, with other counties in order to combine functions or activities of the departments, or
• Establish a joint department of social services.[1]

To date, no counties have elected to jointly employ a director or establish a joint department, but some have entered into agreements with other counties with respect to provision of services in some instances. 

The law that allows for this type of collaboration is generally applicable to county programs and services;[2] it is not tailored specifically for social services. By comparison, the laws allowing local public health agencies to establish multi-county departments are detailed and specific to public health. For more information about these models, see the questions and answers related to district health departments and public health authorities.  

The term “social services” refers to a system of programs that can be divided into two primary categories:  economic services and social work services.  The first of these, also referred to as public assistance, helps eligible people through money payments and other economic supports such as food and nutrition benefits (food stamps), child care subsidies, and employment services.  Eligibility for most of these programs is determined on the basis of a person’s or family’s income and resources.  The second assists people, including many who are at risk of abuse or neglect, in a variety of ways and often without regard to income.

Each county has an appointed board that hires the department’s director, advises the director on policy, and assumes other responsibilities as required by law.  In most counties, it is the county board of social services that fulfills this role.  In Mecklenburg County, the board of county commissioners has assumed this role and in Wake County, the role has been assigned to a consolidated human services board.

Board members must be residents of the county. There are no other required qualifications for serving on the board. In many counties, a county commissioner is appointed to serve on the board but that is not required by law.

A county board of social services may have either three or five members.  Most county boards have five members.  On a five member board, two members are appointed by the State Social Services Commission, two are appointed by the board of county commissioners, and one is appointed by a majority vote of the other four members.[1] The same formula applies for appointments to a three member board.  One member is appointed by the State Social Services Commission, the second is appointed by the board of county commissioners, and the third is appointed by the other two members. If a majority cannot agree on the third or fifth member, the appointment is made by the senior regular superior court judge of the county.

Social services board members may not serve more than two consecutive terms, with two exceptions. First, this limitation does not apply to those who were county commissioners at any time during the first two consecutive terms and are serving in that capacity at the time of reappointment. Second, when a person is appointed during a term to fill a vacancy, service on the board for the remainder of the former member’s term does not count as a term for purposes of determining whether the new member has served two consecutive terms.

County social services boards are responsible for recruiting and selecting the social services director.[1] Implicit in the board’s authority to hire the director are the authority to discipline or fire a director if necessary, and a responsibility to evaluate the director’s performance. The board determines the director’s initial salary and any salary changes in accordance with applicable law, subject to the approval of the board of county commissioners.

The board’s other powers and duties are primarily advisory. The statute that provides for their creation (G.S. 108A-1) states that social services boards are to establish policies for programs administered by the department. Those programs, though, are largely defined by applicable federal and state statutes, regulations, and policies so there is little room for county boards to engage in programmatic policymaking. The boards do, however, advise the director and other local officials on social services programs and social conditions in the county. Board members also may inspect confidential county social services records relating to public assistance and services. 

Under present law, counties with populations exceeding 425,000 may abolish any or all of their local human services boards (including the county board of social services) and permit the board of county commissioners to exercise the powers and duties of the abolished boards.[1] The law that permits this applies to boards that are either (1) appointed by the commissioners, or (2) acting under the commissioners’ authority.

If a board of county commissioners abolishes its board of social services, the county commission would acquire new powers and duties, which are described in question 8.

In most counties, the director is the head of the department and administers the public assistance and service programs directly and through the social services staff. Wake and Mecklenburg counties operate consolidated human services agencies and therefore have slightly different management configurations for their social services programs.

In most counties, the board of social services appoints the director. Wake and Mecklenburg counties operate consolidated human services agencies and therefore the county manager is responsible for appointing the human services director (who oversees the entire agency) with the advice and consent of the human services board.  The human services director may then hire additional staff, such as a social services director, with the approval of the county manager.

The person or entity responsible for appointing the director also has the implicit authority to evaluate the director’s performance, discipline, or fire the director.

County social services directors are subject to the State Personnel Act (except in counties that have adopted substantially equivalent systems). The North Carolina Office of State Personnel and the State Personnel Commission establish minimum training and experience requirements for the position. These are:

• A master’s degree in social work and two years of supervisory experience in the delivery of client services;
• A bachelor’s degree in social work and three years of supervisory experience in the delivery of client services (one of which must have been in social services);
• Graduation from a four year college or university and three years of supervisory experience in the delivery of client services (two of which must have been in social services); or
• An equivalent combination of training and experience.

A social services director has powers and duties that come from multiple sources of law, but they can be categorized as either general administrative duties or specific programmatic duties.

General administrative duties: The social services director administers programs and funds under the direction of the state Department of Health and Human Services and the county board of social services. The director has the authority to employ and dismiss department staff, but the employment decisions of a director of a consolidated human services agency must be approved by the county manager. The director provides overall leadership for the department and serves as the executive officer and secretary of the board of social services.

Specific programmatic duties:  In addition to the general duties related to administering programs and funds, the director is assigned specific programmatic duties in various areas such as assessment of and response to reports of child abuse and neglect, supervision of foster care placements and adoptions, response to reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of disabled adults, licensure and monitoring of adult care homes, and issuance of youth employment certificates.  This list is not exhaustive.