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As long as Cherokee County property taxpayers are forking over an additional 8 mills per year to pay for a multimillion-dollar lawsuit settlement from what happened years ago at the Department of Social Services, it’s going to be hard for local residents to forget about things like custody and visitation agreements involving children.
However, new numbers show that Cherokee County DSS – led by Director Amanda Tanner-McGee, who came aboard in the aftermath of the CVA debacle – have things moving in the right direction.
For starters, the child support team for DSS has received three accolades from N.C. Child Support Services, including being named the 2025 North Carolina Team of the Year. The recognitions, awarded in August, include Most Improved Overall in Incentive Performance Gold Medal and Award for Outstanding Achievement in Overall Collection, Incentives & Self Assessed Performance Measures.
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners acknowledged the child support team with a resolution “on behalf of the children of Cherokee County” for its outstanding performance. “The board further offers its congratulations to the Cherokee County Department of Social Services and its entire staff for achieving these high honors,” proclaims the resolution, which was issued in September.
The team – featuring members Paul Biecker and Jessica Watkins – provides for the collection of child support payments and enforcement. N.C. Child Support Services evaluates the work done in all 100 counties and recognizes exceptional efforts at its annual conference.
McGee said she could not be more proud of her “brand-new team.”
“Both members came to Cherokee County from other states and had to learn North Carolina’s child support laws, policies and court systems from the ground up,” she said. “Their achievement reflects remarkable dedication, perseverance and a deep commitment to serving families in our community.”
In another DSS matter, Cherokee was the third-best performing county in the state when it comes to timely processing of SNAP – also known as food card – benefits, with a 98.7% expedition rate.
“The state auditor’s report highlights the challenges many North Carolina counties are facing in meeting federal timeliness standards for food assistance benefits. While the audit shows that some counties struggled with delays, it also demonstrates that strong local management and dedicated staff make a difference,” McGee said.
“Cherokee County DSS is proud to rank among the top three counties statewide for on-time processing of SNAP applications. Our team has worked tirelessly to ensure that families in need receive their benefits quickly and accurately, even during times of high demand and workforce shortages. This recognition reflects their professionalism, compassion and commitment to serving our community.”
A notable point from the report is the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services, which oversees social services statewide, did not monitor the counties nor enforce corrective actions of any kind. All 100 counties face the same issues – like staffing shortages and lingering affects of the COVID pandemic – but most counties implemented practices to handle the workloads.
Had DHHS been monitoring and addressing poor performing counties, perhaps those counties would have put in new procedures and practices that would have improved their performance. It’s inexcusable that DHHS fell short on monitoring – and you could say the exact same thing about its lack of oversight in the longtime use of those CVAs.
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution demanding that DHHS be held accountable for the DSS lawsuits and pay its fair share. While state officials forgot about that faster than they usually ignore anything west of Asheville, local DSS workers are steadily rebuilding the agency’s image.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. Call him with comments and questions at 828-837-5122 or email dbrown@cherokeescout.com. Editor Randy Foster contributed to this report.