AG 2001 03 26 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

related expenses, including transportation. Some day care subsidy costs may be charged through MOE funds also. Current funding authorizations indicate that there is $1,761,825 earmarked for child welfare services through the Work First Block Grant. A tc Cabarms County plans to remain a Standard County. XV~ Innovative County Strategies Cabarms County, through its creative processes, and desire to be in the forefront of welfare reform, has developed several strategies for dealing with the welfare issues in our county. These not only get people offlong-term welfare; in most cases, they prevent individuals from even going on welfare. These are as follows: New Focus: In February, 2000, after considerable planning, the department implemented a new way of doing business in the Employment and Work First Family Assistance areas. The New Focus, as it is called, required anyone requesting WFFA, to be assessed by a social worker in the Employment area. The assessment involved not just the client, but considered the full family situation. The purpose was to ascertain whether the potential applicant for WFFA could be better served through social work services, the provision of some short-term financial ass!stance, and assistance in getting a job, rather than an application for WFFA. This proved to be very effective in better serving our welfare population. To date, we have diverted 73% of applicants from WFFA applications, and sincerely feel that we have served them better this way than with a public assistance application. They are encouraged to apply for medicaid and food stamps if they so desire at that time. The committee designing the New Focus has received both a Ketner Productivity Award and a County Manager's Award for their innovation and effectiveness. Covering Kids: Two years ago, we determined that working families needed assistance with dependent health insurance coverage for their children. Many small employers were unable to help with this coverage, which resulted, in many instances, in children not having insurance. When NC Health Choice for Children started, we wanted to take a proactive approach to ensuring that the most children possible could take advantage of this excellent insurance. Through a grant with the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, we were one of only a few counties in North Carolina selected to participate in a national outreach effort called Covering Kids. The Covering Kids program has three primary goals: 1) to design and conduct outreach programs that identify and enroll eligible children in Medicaid and other health insurance programs, 2) to simplify enrollment processes, and 3) to coordinate existing coverage programs 22