Almost a decade ago, the North Carolina General Assembly passed Session Law (“S.L.”) 2012-126, which provided counties with new options to organize and govern their human services functions.  S.L. 2012-126 allowed any board of county commissioners (“BOCC”) in a county with a county manager to combine two or more human services functions into a single consolidated human services agency. These human services functions could include, but were not limited to, public health and social services. The 2012 law also allowed any BOCC to directly assume the powers and duties of one or more of the governing boards responsible for overseeing a local human services agency, including a consolidated human services (“CHS”) board. Prior to 2012, these options were only available to counties with a population exceeding 425,000 people.

So after nearly a decade of these options being available, where are we now? How have local public health and social services agency structures changed across the state? Which counties have changed governance models for their human services functions? As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the enactment of this important legislation, let’s take a look at how North Carolina’s human services landscape has changed and how it has stayed the same.

Mapping the Changes

I’m excited to introduce the North Carolina Human Services Hub—a new home for resources for North Carolina’s social services, public health, and consolidated human services agencies and their governing boards. The Hub includes two new Tableau maps created by the School of Government, which allow users to take an interactive look at current public health and social services agency and governance structures across North Carolina counties. These interactive maps provide options to explore and sort counties based on governance and agency structures for social services and public health. The maps also show additional pieces of information, such as which counties are in multi-county district health departments and which counties have human services employees who are subject to the State Human Resources Act (“SHRA”). We hope these maps, which rely on self-reported and publicly available information from counties to stay current, will provide a helpful resource to anyone interested in exploring how counties have adopted and implemented the organization and governance options available after the enactment of S.L. 2012-126.

Agency Structure Changes

• Currently, 28 counties across North Carolina have consolidated human services agencies (“CHSAs”). Twenty-seven of those CHSAs include both public health and social services (Cabarrus County’s consolidated agency includes social services, but not public health). Some of these consolidated agencies include a variety of other services as well, such as veterans’ services, transportation, or domestic violence/rape crisis services. Counties have a great deal of flexibility when choosing which human services functions to include in a CHSA. This document provides additional information about the issues a county should consider when creating a CHSA.
• Of the 28 counties with a CHSA, 15 counties have appointed CHS boards, while 13 counties have consolidated human services agencies that are governed directly by the BOCC.
• Twenty-five of the 28 counties with a CHSA have opted to remove CHSA employees from the coverage of the SHRA, while three counties have chosen to keep CHSA employees subject to the SHRA. Among other things, this decision has an impact on how the county recruits, selects, disciplines, and dismisses CHSA employees. For more information on this choice and other personnel decisions related to CHSAs, please see this School of Government bulletin.

Agency Governance Changes

• In 24 counties, the BOCC now acts as the governing board for social services. In 11 of those 24 counties, the BOCC governs a standalone (non-consolidated) department of social services. In 13 of those 24 counties, the BOCC acts as the governing board for a CHSA that includes social services.
• In 16 counties, the BOCC now acts as the governing board for public health. In four of those 16 counties, the BOCC governs a standalone (non-consolidated) local health department. In 12 of those 16 counties, the BOCC acts as the governing board for a CHSA that includes public health.

Where Are We Now?

The interactive maps described above show a patchwork of organizational and governance models for human services across North Carolina counties. In the first few years after S.L. 2012-126 was enacted, many counties jumped at the opportunity to change the organization of their human services agencies or the governance structures for those agencies. However, the rate of change has slowed (though not entirely ceased) in recent years. Some counties experimented with changes following S.L. 2012-126, but then reversed them when changes didn’t produce desired outcomes.

What’s the key takeaway? For now, the majority of North Carolina counties have retained the human services organization structures (separate public health and social services agencies) and governance models (separate appointed boards for social services and public health) that were in place prior to S.L. 2012-126. However, counties are still continuing to discuss and consider the alternative governance and organization options that S.L. 2021-126 permits.

What’s Next?

For those who are interested in learning more, I hope you will explore the North Carolina Human Services Hub, which combines the School of Government’s resources related to social services, public health, and consolidated human services agencies, so they are now easily accessible from one central hub. The website has resources for governing boards, agency directors, agency staff, and other local government officials and employees who are interested in learning more about the laws governing North Carolina social services, public health, and consolidated human services agencies. New resources on the website include interactive maps, information on creating a CHSA, FAQs for consolidated human services boards, and an overview of the human services agency organization and governance options available to North Carolina counties.

If you have questions or comments about the new website, or see information on the interactive maps that needs to be updated for your county, please don’t hesitate to contact me.