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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA November 24. t982 Re: Alexander v. Hilt Dear County Director of Social Services: This is a follow-up to the November t2 letter which transmitted a copy of the latest court order in the Alexander v. Hill case. The purpose of this letter is co summarize for you the main points of the order and uo outline both the state's ana counties' responsibilities for compliance. Fortunately, some of the provisions contained in the draft order were modified in the final order. Most importantly, the court did not find the state in contempt. However~ the final order requires penalty awards. These would be paid only to ~hose Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Medicaid (MA) applicants who are found etig[ble for ~ssistance. Tbe_peq~lty awards were cha!___!~ed_[.~om-a_maximum.~o.f__$~O_O_p~lus act__ual_ damages and $100 for incorrect cod- ing._~U.~th~.m~op~J!~y._~p~_~to___$5__~f_~o~e_~ ~!ee_k_~ part ~f--E-i;~ application ~+~overdue without good cause. The orde~ permits-~'~ Disability Determination Section ~o continue to adopt~ social security decisions on d'isability cases; otherwise, applicants would have been required to obtain additional medical information. Counties will be permitted to reclaasify a case overdue without good cause to overdue with good cause afte~ the applicant's delay exceeds the delay of the count),. Finally, the order reduces the time required to hold applications peudlng due to applicant delay from twelve to s~x months unless the applicant has good cause. In each o[ these incidences, the state was successful in reducing the severity of provisions contained in the draft order. The latest order was signed o~ November 4 snd gives the state 90 days to comply. The order requires the state to: 1. Adhere to ail orders issued since August 1975. 2. Ensure tbat applications are processed within 45 or 60 days from the date of application. 3. Classify an applicatioo overdue without good cause on the 45th or 6Cch da}- unless the county has: a. Notified the applicant in writing within 20 days of the date of appli- cation of specific information needed for processing the application; and b. Notified the applicant in writing within five working days when additional information is needed; and . .. c. Sent all necessary information to the Disability Determination Section within 25 days of the date of application when disability is an issue.