This book provides a general description of social services agencies and programs in North Carolina and the state and federal laws that affect them. A resource for county social services directors, state and county social services employees, social services attorneys, and county social services board members, the book may also be useful for county commissioners, county managers, and others who want to better understand North Carolina’s complex social services system. This title completely revises, rewrites, updates, and supersedes the fourth edition of A Guidebook to Social Services in North Carolina, written by Mason P. Thomas, Jr. and Janet Mason in 1989.