ROCKINGHAM — Commissioner Jamie Gathings raised concerns about the Department of Social Services program in Richmond County during the October commissioners meeting.
Gathings, who attended the trial of Casey Johnson, said he wants to meet with County Manager Bryan Land and DSS Director Theressa Smith to develop plans to improve the program for children in the county.
“I spent two days at that trial … Me and Mr. Smart talked about it last night and we would like to sit down with you and Ms. Smith to see if we can come up with some plans and make our children program safer, better—whatever we may do. I mean, they’re innocent. We’ve got to take care of them. They’re our future,” Gathings said.
The discussion follows testimony last week from Johnson’s uncle, Bryan Jefferson, who told the court that DSS had not acted despite receiving multiple calls about child abuse Johnson and his sisters endured. “DSS received multiple calls from the community and took no action,” Jefferson said.
Land agreed with Gathings’ concerns and emphasized the importance of protecting both children and the county’s elderly residents.
“Yeah I agree. The kids are our future. We’ve go to do everything we can for the kids and our elder folks,” Land said.
Chairman Rick Watkins supported the call for action, noting that the board is committed to supporting children, the elderly and veterans in the community.
“Yeah I think, sort of in that same vein, you’ve heard several members of this board and I think everybody would agree that we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can for our children, our elderly and our veterans. Those populations are extremely important to this board and have been for quite some time … I think anything we can do would certainly be a positive,” Watkins said.
Gathings also acknowledged that DSS faces challenges statewide but said he wants Richmond County to be recognized for more than its Amazon Web Services deal.
“I understand Mr. Land that we can’t wave no magic wand. I’ve been to a lot of the county commissioner meetings, conventions and everybody has problems with the DSS — it’s across the state. But all I want to do is… just try to make ours better. I don’t want to be known for just Amazon,” Gathings said.