Mission
The Mission of the Mecklenburg County Child Support Enforcement Department is to enhance the quality of life of children and families through the efficient and timely provision of child support services.
Strategic Business Plan
Strategic Business Plan
Child Support Enforcement Leadership
Joan Kennedy has been Director of the Mecklenburg County (Charlotte, NC) Child Support Enforcement Department since July 2010. Prior to then she was Director of the Prince George’s County Office of Child Support Enforcement in Temple Hills, Maryland.
Kennedy has 25+ years of public management experience. She completed her graduate degree in Public Administration in the University of North Carolina system, and she has worked at state, local and federal government levels serving in varying executive capacities. She was selected by the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement to serve on the Case Management Strategic Alignment Network of child support professionals from across the country who participated in the development of the National Child Support Strategic Plan for FY15 - 19. She also is completing her second term as an elected member of the Board of the North Carolina Child Support Council.
A native South Carolinian, she attributes her commitment to advocacy for children and families to her grandmother, Mama Lula, who during her lifetime raised her three biological children, her own fifteen grandchildren, and dozens of foster children, who have all called her Mom. Having that kind of life of service to children as modeled by her grandmother has put Kennedy exactly where she thinks fate destined her to be: helping to advocate for the well-being of the children and families she serves.
Kennedy shares that since MCCSE transitioned from State administration to County management, some of her major goals have been achieved: strengthening the reputation of MCCSE by creating more efficient, customer-focused management of child support cases; educating customers about the services provided through the agency; and collaborating with key partners and stakeholders to ensure that child support is a sustainable source of financial support for the children and families to whom it is owed. And most critically, a marked improvement in performance on departmental incentive goals has occurred.
A hallmark of her department has been the use of technology to create case management efficiencies, the revision of court processes to create more efficiencies for customers, and the development of an award-winning and nationally recognized Responsible Fatherhood Program, and its companion initiative Mom as Gateway Not Gatekeeper.
Under her leadership, MCCSE continues on its journey toward “Destination … Excellence!”