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for low-income children. The Covering Kids initiative in Cabarrus County has targeted the following groups for outreach and enrollment: the Latino community, the faith community, and providers, including primary care physicians, hospitals, school nurses, dentists, and vision care specialists. Our mission in doing this is to continue to reduce barriers to children's health insurance and to develop and test outreach methods to increase enrollment. In working to accomplish this mission, we have out stationed outreach staff at NorthEast Medical Center, our regional hospital; Logan Community Family Resource Center, a primary practice and outreach center in a predominately African-American and Latino community; the Cabarms Health Alliance, the local public health department; and at the JobLink Career Center. All of these outreach efforts are targeting both medicaid eligible families as well as working families who need this insurance for their children, and in many cases, are unable to otherwise access or afford health ca~e through their employer. Updated Work Over Welfare: In our ongoing efforts to improve and enhance what we are doing to employ welfare recipients in Cabarms County, the General Assembly granted us updated waivers for operating our Work Over Welfare or WOW program. The WOW program initially began in Cabarrus County in 1995 and was the first welfare reform initiative in the state. It preceded Work First. The original WOW waivers granted us the ability to increase incentives and penalties to those individuals required to participate in the Work First program. It gave us the ability to become involved in a very successful effort known as Grant Diversion. This allowed us to divert the amount of the WFFA check and Food Stamps that a client received. This was put into a WOW account that was matched by an employer to make a working wage for the Grant Diversion employee. It was a benefit to both the employee and employer, by giving a hard to Place client needed job experience and using their own public assistance benefits to supplement the wages that the employer paid. Since Work First adopted many of the WOW provisions, we sought updated waivers in 1998, and now have pay for performance provisions for anyone required to participate in Work First employment services, which takes effect the month following the first month in which they fail to .cooperate with the program. XVI. Special Issues There are presently no special issues in Cabarms County that we feel could impact the operation of the Work First program. XVII. Current Electing Counties ~..~'. Cab~s CounW pl~s to remain a St~d~d Co~W.