St. Mary’s County’s top social services official is retiring after a decade with the agency, including eight years as director, and the county has named an interim to take over Nov. 1.
Alexis Zoss, director of the St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services, was recognized by the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County at their Oct. 6 meeting. The commissioners’ citation commended her for 10 years of “outstanding” and “praiseworthy” service, “including eight years serving as director,” and extended best wishes on her retirement. A commissioner joked that she looked too young to retire.
Accepting the recognition, Zoss said Charles Wood would serve as interim director. She said she leaves effective Nov. 1 with “great optimism for the future of our agency and our partnerships.” The agency is a local office of the state’s Maryland Department of Human Services, which announced her selection to lead the department.
She thanked the commissioners for their support at budget time, which she said touches most of the department’s programs, including child welfare, legal services and child support. She also recalled how the board responded to a food crisis in the county last year, working with a nonprofit, the county administrator and the department to plan for what would happen if the social safety net failed. And she praised the commissioners’ backing of services for people without homes, citing the “passive park” project as a model of collaboration that she still hears people discuss.
Zoss joked that, had she known how kind everyone would be, she would probably have retired a couple of years ago.
The recognition came earlier in the same meeting at which staff from the department stood with caseworkers from other county agencies to be thanked for their work, and the commissioners voted to pull the airport pergola policy over fees and flyers. The meeting also included a proclamation for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, when the sheriff said domestic violence is one of the few crimes rising in the county.
The meeting did not address whether a search for a permanent director is planned.
