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Swain County DSS reports foster care caseload, Healthy Blue rollout and PathNC case-management changes
Summary
The county Department of Social Services reported 49 children in custody, an 18–21 program count of six, three ICPC cases for a total of 58 youth served recently, and briefed commissioners on upcoming Healthy Blue managed care for foster children and the PathNC case-management system.
Swain County Department of Social Services updated commissioners on July 1, 2025, reporting current child-welfare caseloads and new statewide changes affecting foster care case management and intake.
DSS staff said the county currently has 49 children in custody and six participating in an 18-to-21 support program; the office also reported three Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) cases, bringing the recent total of youth and young adults in care to 58. Staff explained that five children had been reunified with parents on June 26—two sibling groups accounting for the decrease reported since their prior submission.
Staff briefed the board on a December 1, 2025, change in foster-care health coverage: the county will move to a single Medicaid provider for most foster children—Healthy Blue, a Blue Cross Blue Shield network—under a statewide model that assigns each child a case manager and wraparound services. Staff noted tribal children on the caseload may opt for a tribal Medicaid option or regular foster-child Medicaid if preferred, and that tribal-option enrollment would use community providers favored by those families.
Separately, the county will begin using PathNC (PATHNC in presentation) as the state’s standardized child-welfare case-management system, starting with intake, child protective services investigations and assessments, and in-home services. DSS staff said PathNC requires seven online modules and a four-day in-person module; statewide rollout for the local office begins August 11, 2025. Staff cautioned that callers and reporters might experience growing pains during the switch but said training and preparation are underway.
DSS also described a children’s wellness home (a four-bedroom, two-bath facility) intended to provide temporary, home-like placements for children awaiting longer-term placement; the facility will be adjacent to a children’s advocacy center operated in partnership with the regional center out of Jackson County. Staff said the wellness home is intended to replace inappropriate temporary placements, such as waiting-room or conference-room housing.
The department reported staffing vacancies: a child-protective-services supervisor vacancy, several income-maintenance vacancies (Medicaid/food stamps), and expected turnover that may reduce caseload-carrying social workers in coming weeks; they recently hired a permanency-planning social worker but expected other departures that could leave the unit at three social workers. DSS said it had added a part-time scanner position (approximately 20 hours per week) primarily to scan records and provide front-desk backup. The director said she would present a fuller report at the next scheduled update.
