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Fish Cabarrus County Intranews-Net August 2000 Issue There is a familiar adage that says "give a man a fish and feed trim for a day, teach a man to fish and feed lfim for a lifetime". For years, the Department of Social Services was bound by rules and regulations that in many cases created dependency rather than self-sufficiency. In a typical scenario clients received cash to solve their immediate need without a thorough look at how, why and if or when the situation may recur. That is until new. The Cabarrus County Department of Social Services' "l~ewFocus" program has changed the way the Department does business. It also has earned thom cite Ralph Ketner Employee Pro ductivity Award from the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. NCACC Executive Director C. Ronald Aycock says the DSS entry was rated among the top ten of the 84 participants. "County employees like you set awonderful example to others to rettdttk their way of doing business", he says. According to Jim Cook, "the ~TewFocus program is designed to help families avoid long-term welfare cash assistance by providing effective services and short-term assistance when they initially come to the agency for help. Unfortunately, for many years, the policies for the Federal cash assistance program we administered essentially required the agency to take applications for ongoing cash assistance. Welfare dependency was too often the result. The ~ewFocus is a newway of doing business." That newway of doing business begins with a newidea about the business says Pran O'Connor DSS Social Work Supervisor TIT, who manages the Employment Programs at the department. The l~ew Focus is a "paradigm shift in Work First Cash Assistance". What that means is DSS nowlooks at ways to create self-sufficiency long term while getting a family past the immediate crisis. Ms. O'Connor says that the solution can be in childcare, employment, or short-term transportation, among others. So far, 70% of cash assistance applicants have been diverted from receiving ongoing cash assistance. It has restflted in savings of over $200,000 that families would have received for cash assistance. The New Focus is both an invaluable asset and long-term solution, according to Frogram Administrator James Polk, "The l~ew Focus is a real benefit to all concerned. For the welfare client, it provides immediate help, to get them out of a crisis situation or over a hurdle, and back on their feet. To the taxpayer, it saves money by not having clients being lang-term dependent on a welfare check."