For the second time in three years, the Jackson County Child Support Enforcement Program has achieved the ranking of No. 1 in the state, according to a report released by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services for fiscal year 2009-10.

Nine categories of performance are evaluated by state CSE officials throughout the year. These include items such as paternity establishment rate, percentage of cases under court order, manpower utilization, and total amount of money collected. Each category carries a different weight in determining the final score. Jackson County ended the year with a total quality score of 726, which was 29 points ahead of the second-place county. There were 88 county and state-operated CSE programs in North Carolina in fiscal year 2009-10.  

In Jackson County, Child Support Enforcement is a service provided by the Department of Social Services. The local team includes Supervisor Christi Hooper, Agent Joan Shepherd, Processing Assistant Onyx Lozano, and agency attorney Mary Holliday.

“Christi, Joan, Onyx and Mary are incredibly focused and committed to the simple but highly important mission of collecting as much child support money as possible for the benefit of Jackson County’s children,” said Bob Cochran, DSS director.