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The Department is experiencing pressing needs for additional staff in two progran areas: the Child Support Enforcement Program and the Madicar. e Catss_trophic Coverage_.p__rovisious of the Madtr~d Progran for the elderly and disabled. With.thiq bt~lget ahenrhmnt request, w~ are prope~h~g to meet the 'Departmmt's mmaprm~r requirements without additio~al County expense in the current year o~ in subsequent ~ea[s in the follpwing ~y. The (]ttld ,Support Fnforcaaent Program is 'a revenue-gegerattng program %tdeh, in Caba~zus Co~mty. hgg=.the p6ten~ial for producing substantially Increased rsvenues through increased collections. By edd~g twb Child Support Eaforcament Agents II, we um~ld geserats far more revunue than would be needed to meet the local matching funds requireamnts for the two Agents as %~/1 as for three Inc(mm }t3tntenasce Caseworkers II needed in t~e }~d~ Prdgraa. The Department's Child Support Enforcement 1~ secures a~ maintains financial support for th~ldres by locati[g absent parents, establishing child support ob~Emtiuns, and enforcing these obligations. The Progrmn saves substantial public assistance cost. (In FY 1987, sere $406,891 in A~]C payments alone were saved.) Great ~mphesis has been placed upon this program at the Federal and State levels in recent years. · ~ere [~kq been a dramatic increase in the caseload in the past three years as regulations have mandated that services be made available to non-peblic assistance households and in the pest year as services have been required for families with children receiving P~dicaid. We are currently adding about 40 absent parent cases per month, We currently lmve 2287 ehsest parent cases, an average of 572 for each of cur four agents. The maximam omseload recomsended by the State is 325. Becasse of tbe trmnesd6us overload, we are able to provide adequate services to c~ly a portion of the ceseload. We have, for example~ only 927 or 40% of the absent parents under coart order. A State audit of the Pragran in December 1986 cited deficiencies in our esforce~ent efforts and reccameadad addition of ~ to three agents aad one t~ two clerks. We have been able to add only one agent and one part-time clerk since then ~3ugh the essales3 has also grown. We are certain bhat at a minimam, there is a potential for more than doubling the $650,000 in mmual collections ~a~ cu~cently have, provided ~ can add the staff necessary to get the job done. This wi/1 also help assure that we can provide adequate servioes to the corammity. Medicaid Provisions of ~kdicare CatastroPhic Coverage The second area in which there is a pressing need for additional staff is tbe }t~liesid Program. A major expansion of the Medicaid progran will take place in January 1989 as a result of the Medicare Cat~strophic Coverage ~t of 1988 %ttich was signed into law by President Reagan on July l. Under the provisidns of the Act, elderly and disabled No~dicare redipients whose inccmes are below 80% of the poverty level (graduated to 100% by 1993) esd who have reserves of less tbmn $4000, will be eligible for Medicaid to pay their ~dicare premiums, deductibles and coinsurance. The State tins estimate~ that there are approximately 60,000 people in North Carolina not esrrently on b~dicaid M~o will apply and q,m~y for ~tfs new coverage. The Stats estimates that 669 of these persons /ive in Cabarrus Cotmty. (We have 'estimated at the Department that ther~ ~may actually be ~11 over i100 pers°ns potes~-4]]y o3~g~ble .for the new coverage in Cabarrns County.) Our ourrent adult Madi-~{~ casel _o_ad is 1189 persons. If even the State estimate is acCUrate, this Medicaid expansion wrxdd increase the caseload by 56%. (It shmdd be noted that w~ estimqte that perhaps 30% more people will apply than will qualify, making the increase in the workload even more dr~mmtis.) 3