Page 21

North Carolina

18 APPENDIX A LOCAL BLOCK GRANT PLANS

Triennially, each Electing County must submit to the Department of Health and Human Services a local block grant plan that describes its proposal for the following:

 Work First Employment Services Program,  Eligibility Criteria for WFFA and other Work First Services,  Emergency Assistance Program,  Benefit Diversion Program (Optional),  Provision of Work First Services to low-income families,  Provision of Work First Services to former Work First recipients (Optional), and  Provision of Work First Services to non-custodial parents of Work First children (Optional).

Electing Counties shall give the public an opportunity to review and comment on their local block grant plans before submitting to the Department. The county board of commissioners must appoint a committee of individuals to identify the needs of the population to be served and to review and assist in developing the county block grant plan in response to the needs. Membership of the committee must include, but is not limited to, representatives of the county board of social services, the board of the Local Management Entity/Managed Care Organization (LME-MCO) for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, the local public health board, the local school systems, the business community, the board of county commissioners and community-based organizations that are representative of the population to be served. In addition, religious organizations, service recipients, and other non-profits with experience in serving the population should be included. The Department provides to all counties a model for use in developing an electing county plan.

The electing county block grant plan should include public and private resources that will help families move to self-sufficiency and should describe how services, such as child care, transportation, housing, and skills training will be used. The plan must include the county’s priorities for serving families who need child care, based on the needs of the community and the availability of services and funding.

Following review by the county social services board and other parties, the county commissioners must approve the county block grant plan before it is submitted to the Department.

The Department has the responsibility to ensure that counties’ programs comply with Federal and State requirements and are consistent with the goals of the Work First program. County plans for FFY’s 2016 through 2019 have been submitted and reviewed by a team representing of a wide variety of agencies and organizations. All plans were reviewed for compliance with State and Federal law and the goals of the Work First program. Counties received comments and/or feedback on innovative strategies, problem areas, and requests for additional information or clarifications.

See Appendix D for additional information on the Electing County planning process.