Cheryl L. Andrews, Ph.D.

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

The Agency Standard — theagencystandard.co

2026 – Present

Clinical operations consultation and leadership for behavioral health agencies — the operational systems of an accredited, multi-site provider, installed inside client organizations.

• Leads implementation quality and operational design: clinical supervision systems, documentation quality, compliance operations, staff onboarding, and accountability structures.
• Service lines span readiness assessment, workflow and operations buildout, accreditation readiness (Joint Commission / CARF), operations retainers, and fractional executive leadership.

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

The Vocational Standard — thevocationalstandard.com

2026 – Present

A dedicated forensic vocational consulting firm serving attorneys, insurers, employers, and professionals.

• Delivers expert consultation, evaluation, documentation, coaching, and training in work capacity, earning capacity, workplace accommodations, executive functioning support, and vocational performance analysis.
• Oversees the firm’s Vocational Expert training program, developing professionals for Social Security Administration expert testimony practice.

Founder & Practice Owner | Clinical Function & Accommodation Consultant

Cheryl L. Andrews & Associates — Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA

2023 – Present

A consultation-, evaluation-, and retainer-driven practice built on the Clinical Function & Accommodation (CFA) Framework.

• Organized around four pillars: function-focused psychotherapy, clinical supervision, workplace function consultation, and forensic vocational consultation.
• Conducts independent mental health, forensic, and vocational evaluations integrating medical, psychiatric, occupational, and labor market data for attorneys, employers, and referral networks.
• Delivers EAP counseling and critical incident response as an in-network provider across national networks built through 2023–2026 credentialing (Espyr, Carebridge, Magellan, AllOne Health).
• Provides function-focused psychotherapy for emerging adults, professionals, and high-functioning individuals navigating mental health concerns, trauma, ADHD, and burnout.

Chief Clinical Officer

Andrews Counseling & Consulting, PLLC — North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia

2022 – Present

Executive clinical leadership for a Joint Commission–accredited, multi-state organization serving a nationally underserved dual-diagnosis population.

• Sustains Joint Commission accreditation as an operating system: policy architecture, Performance & Quality Improvement, and the current Behavioral Health Care standards compliance program.
• Serves as lead authoring clinician for Behavior Support Plans under the North Carolina Medicaid Tailored Plan Specialized Consultative Services benefit (T2025) for co-occurring IDD and psychiatric disorders.
• Directs human resources for affiliated practices — recruiting, onboarding, and contractor administration — and develops clinical supervisees from onboarding through licensure milestones.

Vocational Expert

Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings Operations — via Sawyer Consulting 2017–2020; firm BPA thereafter

2014; 2017 – Present

Approximately 4,000 sworn federal administrative hearings — then she built the operation behind them.

• Testifies on work capacity, past relevant work, transferable skills, and labor market resources; annual volumes 2017–2022: 698, 651, 837, 858, 798, and 185.
• Directed a firm-level Vocational Expert operation: Falls Church (OHO Headquarters) invoice series FCVA01–13, HACPS pilot invoicing, and hearing coverage across AL, MS, KY, TN, and the National Hearing Centers — including recruiting, credentialing, and scheduling a bench of subcontracted experts.
• Civil expert engagement: Harrington-Wall v. City of Monroe (NC, 2019) — vocational damages and employability testimony. Local Certified Forensic Evaluator, NC DHHS (2025).

Founder & Chief Executive / Clinical Officer

Alternative Living Solutions → C. Richardson Counseling & Consulting → Beyond Boundaries Behavioral Health — Charlotte, NC

2008 – 2025

Founded as an HIV case management firm; grew over seventeen consecutive years into a state-certified, federally contracted, Medicaid-credentialed behavioral health organization.

• Earned NC Division of Public Health HIV Case Management certification (2009); delivered case management organized around the Social Determinants of Health in coordination with HOPWA and Ryan White care networks.
• Operated a Social Security Administration Ticket to Work Employment Network (awarded April 2014); the 2019 federal site review documented 53 assigned tickets with Phase 1, Phase 2, and outcome payments for beneficiaries who returned to work.
• Directed full Medicaid provider operations: Cardinal Innovations enrollment, quality improvement planning, plans of correction, IPRS administration, and multi-county service expansion (ASAIOP, ASUD).

Military & Family Life Counselor — Kadena AFB, Okinawa · Cherry Point MCAS, NC

Health Net / MHN Government Services — Department of Defense Contract

2016 – 2019

She left a practice she owned to deploy overseas for military families.

• Delivered confidential, solution-focused counseling for operational stress, trauma, grief, deployment adjustment, marriage, and parenting in the installation environment (OCONUS tour 06/2016–01/2017; Cherry Point 2019).
• Identified high-risk presentations in a non-medical-record setting and routed them safely through warm handoffs to military treatment facilities and community care.
• Volunteered concurrently as Transition Assistance Counselor, Airman & Family Readiness Center, Kadena FSS (2016–2017).

Rehabilitation & Employment Counselor

VRE 4 Vets

2018

• Provided trauma-informed vocational rehabilitation to veterans with traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and complex conditions transitioning to civilian employment, coordinating with VA staff, employers, and community agencies.

Team Lead · Contract Therapist & Assessor · Student Counselor

Faith in Families · MedTrac Solutions · Primary Care Solutions — Charlotte, NC

2013 – 2016

• Led and supervised a multidisciplinary intensive in-home team serving families affected by serious mental illness (Faith in Families, 2015–2016); conducted Functional Behavior Assessments and Positive Behavior Support plans with IEP/ISP coordination.
• Delivered comprehensive clinical assessments and therapy as a contract clinician (MedTrac, 2014–2015); completed graduate clinical training in community behavioral health (2013–2014).

Supportive Housing Coordinator

Community Link (Travelers Aid) — Eight North Carolina Counties

2006 – 2010

Before she treated the Social Determinants of Health, she administered them.

• Coordinated affordable housing placement and stability resources for homeless individuals and families across eight counties through PRCOC and Rapid Rehousing / HPRP programs, with full Continuum of Care and HMIS compliance.

Intervention Specialist · Housing Specialist · Portability Specialist

Housing Authority of the City of Charlotte

2002 – 2006

• Provided substance abuse intervention to residents facing drug-related lease violations — resolving the violation, preserving the tenancy, and preventing family homelessness.
• Administered Section 8 subsidies for 500–610 households, including certification, income verification, and HUD audit compliance; managed portability for 300–400 participants.