Why do counties operate departments of social services?

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.