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Tbe last seasion of the Germral Assembly enacted provisions for umjor expansions of the b~dinaid ~nd AFdC programs. Mmdicafd will be provided to pregnant ~mon ~md to cldldren to age 2 at incomes up to the poverty level beghuu~g October l. (~m. /~o~ 1/m/t had been en~-half the poverty level.) Jammry 1, 19 to 21 year olds in Madiosid-ellgibile households becc~m eligible for }'~dieaid. Also, January 1, North Carol/~ will implermnt A~DC-Unemployed Parent Pl~ogram (AFDC-UP) benefits to t~c~parent famil/as where the pri~a~y %~ge earned moats strict prior e~ployment re0pzir~nts, is currently unm~ployad, and is mart/ed. State ast~matas, which %~ ~ the Health Department feel are conser~,ative, are that 243 children under 2, 231 pregnant wc~nan, 36 persons 19-21, and 18 unarployad parent fa~tliea will apply and be found eligible for assistance during the remainder of 1987-88. 5hese 577 people wi]/. account for roughly 508 new cases ~%dch will n~ed to be pr~cassed and maintaiued during this period. ~ls will a~om]t to an increase in the existing 1757 c~e caseload in }~dicaid m~d AFDC of 30 percent. If State easeload standards are applied to these projections, five to six additioenl eligibility posltic~s ~u/d be needed to handle the ex/stisg and new cases in the area of }~dicald to families. Our staff~ however, is currently ]mndling caseloads substm]tially heav/er th~n these standsrds. An additisrml concern i~ that the tw~ supervisors h~ ~is program area aro al.ready bayou! the ra~ber of %~rPers they can supe~wise effectively with nirm in ose area and ten in the other. Adding additional staff in either area ~uld asr perm/t effective mmmga~mt. 5he Slate appropriated funding to assist with tbe ,~%mh~istratien of these programs. With the addition of staff we are regmsting, a total of $36,576 in additional State/Federal funding will be aw~,ble frc~ that source. ~d~tlommlly, unbudget~! iscreases /n the C~Jnty's ~irect cost rate make admis/strative revennes of apprc~mmtely twi~e this a~mt available to us about! they be needed later for either sh~ff or program costs. (It should be pointed out bare that anticipated in~reases in the County's s!mre of }t~dicald progra~ co, ts for these a~T~nSiens ara includad in tha Department's 1987-~ approved budget.) With these factors in mind, %~ are requasting the addition of three full-t~m permm~nt positions, t~ Eligibility Specialists I and one F3dgibility Supervisor I, at a cost for ~],r~es m'~! benefits from 11-87 throu~! 6-88 of $36,909.75, k% ~ould a/so li'k~ to budget $3600 for office furniture for these new positions. The~e positions will be accc~audated in space left by the move of the Child Support ~it to the Snyder Building. O~r plan is to take mot three intak~ positions and ~ AFEC~dieaid positions fram the t~o ex, ting units, add the t~ new F~/gibility Spec~lists I (for AFDC-Medicaid) and place these seven under the new Suparvisor I position. (See the attached orga~zation dmrts.) We ealculate that the reorg~zLzation wi// provide the greateat cfr/clancy in handling the expa~ed ~r~/oad. We feel that ~ racy be able to !mndle the increased %grk]oad with o~ly the tw~ additional lin~ staff mm~ers. 5he Social Serv/ces ~oard eadorsed this plan at its September moetibg.