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Salisbury Rowan Community Action Agency, Inc. others, impact communities and the ability of residents to gain, maintain or improve employment options. Other shifts at the federal and state level, Department of Health and Human Services and the NC Dept. of Human Services, Commerce, and Health etc. such as adverse changes in Unemployment Insurance, Medicaid, SNAP, Work First, and Child Care subsidies adversely affect our program participants and will continue to adversely impact the ability of our constituents to rise above poverty. Last year, the reauthorization of Food Stamps caused many participants to go long periods without assistance. This created a shift of need regarding services around keeping families fed. Hunger is a serious problem in Rowan County, a recently published article from Rowan Helping Ministries stated that over 19% of our neighbors live in poverty. Also over 24,000 people (17.4 %) straggle to pay for food. Poor people continue to experience the ill effects and financial burden of choosing between buying groceries or paying for heat. Based on the Community Assessment and other methods of feedback from our participants, the Board and Program staff determines and prioritize the service delivery strategies that can be implemented to best meet the needs of low- income persons. Strategies that have been used in the past and some new strategies to address poverty causes include: a. Focusing on wages that would move a family above poverty based on family size and identifying job opportunities for families that would most likely result in success for them b. Creating a more intensive work search/employment plan that requires job seekers to be accountable to their Family Development Specialist. c. Requiring families to take incremental steps toward achieving self - sufficiency that build upon the prior step and is geared toward the specific attainment of a specific job. For instance, participants who take the class and obtain the certificate for forklift training, are guided toward companies and openings that need that skill and are hiring people who are eager to obtain jobs in that area. 3. Describe activities that your agency has undertaken to advocate for and empower low - income individuals and families to achieve economic independence and security. In May 2012, SRCAA made a conscientious choice to shift the approach used with families from a deficit -based model to one of empowerment and strengths. This model requires the entire network to think of ways to empower families to achieve their own goals and to improve the internal systems of service delivery to be able to meet people where they are. The last few years in North Carolina and in the U. S. have left many families in the lower socio- economic strata to be faced with more challenges to their economic independence and their present and future security. SRCAA is currently training all staff working directly with families and individuals in the strengths - based model called the "Family Development Credential ". This initiative began sweeping the country in the 1980s in an effort to teach workers to effectively serve, advocate and empower families and teach those same skills to families. The model teaches workers to partner with families and help them set proper goals and activities for themselves so they can become self- sufficient. Advocacy is taught in the curriculum and SRCAA staff learns skills and core competencies that when used with families improve the families' ability to not only identify, but reach those goals. The current economic climate has created more challenges and staffs are constantly brainstorming strategies to meet the families' constantly changing needs. During fiscal year 2014, two Family Development Specialists with substantial tenure found employment elsewhere opening the door far new staff to work on the CSBG funded project. Three Masters Level Staff were hired and are doing well. However, once those staff have learned the Fiscal Year 2015 -16 Community Services Block Grant Application Attachment number 1 Page 8 of 44 F -13 Page 181