April is County Government Month, and Halifax County looks forward each year to marking the month with the Halifax County Board of Commissioners, our amazing county employees, and YOU, Halifax County’s citizens.
We will begin the month by asking the Board of Commissioners to approve a Proclamation for County Government Month at their April 7, 2025, meeting.
Now, I’d like to use this platform to introduce you to the amazing county departments that are hard at work for you on a daily basis.
I thought I would begin by focusing on Health and Human Services, which involves two of our largest departments, the Halifax County Public Health System and the Department of Social Services.
The Halifax County Public Health System has approximately 58 full-time employees.
Those employees work in three different divisions with a wide variety of programs and responsibilities.
The department’s mission is to educate and empower all citizens of Halifax County to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.
Their vision is that with caring hearts and helping hands, they will achieve excellence in all services to ensure optimal health and safety for the communities they serve.
Most of the staff work in Public Health, which is what you think of as the traditional Health Department.
Their qualified staff of administrators, social workers, nurses and health educators perform the following services: screenings, child health services, communicable disease control, health education, immunizations, school screenings, vital statistics and much more.
The Health Director is Cheyenna James who reports to the Board of Health. The Board of Health has members who serve from various fields in the community – dentists, nurses, pharmacists, physicians, and at-large members.
Another division of the Public Health System is Animal Control.
The objectives of Animal Control are to enforce animal-related laws, reduce the number of unwanted animals in the community, protect the public from roaming/vicious animals and diseases they may spread like Rabies, provide temporary shelter for stray and unwanted animals, work to reunite stray pets with owners, and work with local humane groups.
Halifax County will soon officially open our Halifax County Pet Adoption Center for citizens to come and adopt dogs and cats. Follow Halifax County Pet Adoption Center on Facebook to see animals who would love to become part of your home.
The third division of the Public Health System is Environmental Health. Environmental Health is housed in the same building as Planning and Zoning and Building Inspections.
Environmental Health looks at how the environment impacts health. The team works with septic systems, wells, air quality, food safety (restaurants and food trucks), soil quality, bed bugs, home hazards like lead paint and asbestos, and much more.
The Department of Social Services (DSS) is our largest department with approximately 182 full-time employees. The Social Services Director is Felicia Exum who reports to the Department of Social Services Board, which meets monthly.
The mission of DSS is to provide to Halifax County citizens, and any others who may be in our county, specific limited services which are designed to ensure protection from abuse, neglect, and exploitation; to enable some individuals to become self-supporting; to enable everyone to be as self-sufficient and independent as possible; and to ensure out-of-home placement when necessary.
DSS programs include the following: adoption services, aid to families with dependent children, services for the blind, child support services, daycare, employment training and Work First Family Assistance, Medicaid and Medicaid transportation, food and nutrition services, permanency planning (foster care and adoptions), energy and water assistance, protective services for children and adults, services to the handicapped or aging disabled, and community referrals. The Halifax County Council on Aging and Halifax County Veterans’ Service Office are also housed at the DSS building.
Halifax County cannot thank the compassionate and dedicated individuals who work in these departments enough for keeping our citizens safe, healthy, protected, and cared for. They work each day, often after hours and on weekends and holidays, to ensure that citizens, both human and animal, are treated humanely and have their needs met.
Christina Wells
Deputy county manager, Halifax County