AG 2001 09 17 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

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 for Iow-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 heals insurance and to develop and test outreach methods to increase enrolhnent. In working to accomplish this mission, we have out stationed outreach staffat 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 Cabarrus 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 care through their employer. Updated Work Over Welfare: In our ongoing efforts to improve and enhance what we are doing to employ wellhre recipients in Cabarrus County, the General Assembly granted us updated waivers for operating our Work Over Welfare or WOW prognm~. The WOW program initially began in Cabarrus County in 1995 and was the first welfare relbrm 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 pa3' for performance provisions for anyone required to participate in Work First employment services, which takes effect the month lbllowing the first month in which they fail to cooperate with the program. XVI. Spec~-al Issues There are presently no special issues in Cabarrus County that we feel could impact the operation of the Work First program. XVll. Current Electing Counties county. Cabarrus Count,' plans to remain a Standard County.