ACTS

AP

Absent
Parent. 
The person in the child support case that has
"deserted" the child and who, therefore, must pay
support.

APP

Adolescent
Parenting
Program. 
Program which provides teen mothers case management to
help (a) avoid/delay a second
pregnancy, (b) finish high school, (c) enhance parenting
skills, (d) avoid abuse and neglect, (e) utilize appropriate
health care for self and child, and (f) prepare for
employment.   Optional
Program.

APS

Adult
Protective
Services. 
Investigation of cases of adult abuse, neglect, or
exploitation.  Mandated
by statute.

Accreditation

Systematic
examination of the way a company or agency conducts itself in both
internal and external procedures and actions. Caldwell County DSS is accredited
by the County Social Services Accreditation Council of NC.

Adoption
Assistance

Payments to
assist adoptive parents with special needs children. 
Payments are for eligible families who need help with
legal and financial aspects of caring for children placed in
their homes.  Mandated
Program.

Adoptions

Service to
help families find children to adopt, place and supervise
these cases, and finalize legal process. 
DSS is by state law an adoption agency, thus the
service is mandated.

Adult
Care Homes

Rest-home-type care.  In
this type of situation, on-site medical services are not
needed on-going.  
DSS monitors rest homes, family care homes, and adult
day cares for compliance with minimum standards and provides
assistance to the facility when violations of licensure
rules exist.

Adult
Day Care

Day program
Monday through Friday for Senior Citizens and disabled
adults who need supervision and care. 
Adult
Life Programs operates this service at First
Presbyterian Church in Lenoir. 
DSS is responsible for monitoring and licensing the
program.

Adult
Home Care Case Management

Case
management in rest homes for more profoundly ill to prevent
move into nursing home.

Adult
Placement Services

Social work
services provided to families trying to place a family
member in a rest home or nursing facility. 
Provides information on available places. 
Mandated by
federal regulations.

Adult
Protective Services

Investigation
of cases of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation. 
Mandated by
statute.

A term used
in the Families for Kids Program to describe children who
have been in the legal custody of DSS for twelve months or
more.

Block
Grant

A method of
funding whereby the federal government offers funds to the
state with rather broad parameters of the use and
accountability for the funds.

CAP

Community
Alternatives
Program. 
A Medicaid program to allow services in the homes of
disabled patients to prevent the necessity of placement in a
nursing home which is much more expensive. 
Optional
program.

CCATS

Caldwell
County Area Transit System, Inc is a non-profit that
provides transportation coordination for human service
agencies and advocacy for improved public transportation.
For more information, click
here.

CIP

Federally
funded financial crisis assistance to eligible families,
only for heating and cooling assistance. 100% federally
funded. Mandated program.

CIS

Communities
In Schools
Program.  Collaborative
community effort to promote school success and, ultimately,
to prevent drop-outs.  DSS
provides social work staff to work in the schools with CIS
students and families. 
Optional
program.

CPS

Child
Protective
Services. 
Investigating cases of abuse and neglect and treating
families to eliminate/reduce problems that create a risk for
children.  Mandated
program.

Caretaker

Any person
other than a parent who has the care of a juvenile. 

Care
House/Noel Home

Facilities
jointly funded by the county and Baptist
Children's Homes of NC to help teenage girls with
behavioral problems  (Noel
Home) and teen mothers who need to learn to parent their
children (Care House). 
Residential in nature. 
Optional
Program.

Carolina
ACCESS

NC program
that helps Medicaid patients establish an ongoing
relationship with a primary care physician. 
Goals:  (1)
Improve health care of patient/family; (2) Reduce costs by
reducing/eliminating inappropriate use of emergency
services.  Optional
Program.

Case
Management

Formerly
referred to as “treatment”. 
After a case has been substantiated as abuse or
neglect, but the child remains in the home, the case manager
creates a case plan with the family to eliminate unsafe
conditions in the home. 
Cases are usually monitored three to six months for
improvement.

Case
Staffing

A group
discussion among all staff working with a particular family
or individual to determine the best course of action.
Pertinent information is presented regarding a case to a
supervisor or team in order to insure safety, efficiency,
and productivity for the client.

Celebration
of Life

One-day event in May celebrating Older Americans Month planned by Caldwell
DSS staff. 
Informational booths, entertainment, and a meal are
provided.

Central
Registry

Statewide
confidential database which lists victims and
perpetrators of child abuse, neglect, or dependency. 
Used when a new report is received by DSS to
ascertain the history of the family involved in the new
report.

Child and Family Review

Child and Family Team

A meeting which includes
family of concern, social worker, facilitator, any
professionals involved, and any concerned family member or
friend of the family brought for support. 
During a CFT, safety issues for a child are brought
out and discussed and all involved work together to come up
with a plan for the child.
 

Child
SupportEnforcement

Child support agents insuring that court orders for child
support are executed.

Child
SupportEstablishment

Child
support agents creating child support orders and
establishing paternity.

Cost
Allocation

Method for
spreading (allocating) the cost of administration in a
proportionate way. 
Cost allocation in DSS is done based on the numbers
of staff funded by each funding source as a percentage of
the total.  For
example, if 10% of the staff are food stamp workers, 10% of
the administrative costs will be charged to the Food Stamp
funding source.

Crisis
Intervention Program

"CIP". 
Federally funded financial crisis assistance to
eligible families, only for heating and cooling assistance. 
100% federally funded. 
Mandated
program.

Test to
determine paternity.

DHHS

North
Carolina's Department
of Health
and Human
Services,
formerly Department of Human Resources. 
The agency at the state level under which the State Division
of Social Services falls organizationally, and which
provides various forms of support and oversight to county
agencies.. 

DSS-1571

Reimbursement
expenditure report for the state and federal government.

DSSPatch

(Pronounced
“Dispatch”) Caldwell County DSS monthly newsletter
sent to more than 300 businesses, individuals, and agencies,
in addition to our own staff.

Day
Care

Child care
for children out of their homes to allow parents to work. 
Our agency is involved in assisting the development of
quality day care and providing subsidies to eligible
parents.

Dependency

A legal
term which applies to a child who has no parent
or legally responsible adult to take care of the child's
needs.

Direct
Charge

Monies
charged directly and 100% to a program or funding source.

Directors'
Association

See NCACDSS; 
North
Carolina Association
of County
Directors
of Social
Services. 

EBT

Electronic
Benefits Transfer. 
Method by which food stamp recipients receive their
benefits.  EBT
replaced food stamp coupons with a magnetic stripe card,
much like a debit card. 

E
& T

Employment
and  Training. 
A term in the Food Stamps program.

Economic
Counseling

Services
provided to clients receiving Work First and/or emergency
assistance, or with income under 200% of the poverty level,
that entails basic budgeting and money management
information.

Electing County

Welfare plan designation which enables Caldwell County and
other counties so designated to have greater discretion in
setting local criteria and services for welfare recipients.
See our Electing-county Work
First Block Grant Plan (in Adobe PDF format) for details.

Families
for Kids

A state
program with 5 outcome goals which 24 North Carolina
counties are involved in. 
The purpose is to redesign the child welfare system
to be more responsive to the needs of children and families.
State funding for this program ended in 2002, but
participating counties still pursue its 5 goals. 
Optional
program.
For more information, click
here.

Family Preservation
Services

Services provided to families
in their own homes by a trained professional Social
Worker to help avoid the removal of a child from the home
due to abuse or neglect. 
Optional
program.

First
Team

Officially,
"Economic Services Programs;" Collective nickname for all eligibility services at Caldwell County DSS,
including Work First Family Assistance, Medicaid, Food
Stamps, Program Integrity, Child Care Assistance, and Child
Support and all their supporting programs. Previously, this
was often called "Income Maintenance."

Food
Stamps

Federal
program to give benefits to eligible people to assist in
purchase of food.  100%
of the cost of the benefits is paid by federal government. 
Food coupons were replaced by EBT system effective
4/1/99.  Mandated
program.

Foster
Care (Child)

Refers to
an out-of-the-home placement where children are placed when
they cannot be cared for properly in their own home. 
Care is provided in a foster home. 
Foster homes must go through a licensing process and
meet certain health, safety, and living space requirements. 
Mandated
program.

Foster
Home Licensure

Social
workers recruit, train, and license foster homes. 
These homes work with children who have been removed
from their birth families because of abuse and/or neglect. 
The foster family, DSS, and the birth family work
together to return children to their own home as soon as
possible.

4-D

See
"IV-D." 

Fraud

The legal
determination that someone has willfully obtained, or attempted to
obtain, a benefit based on false information provided. 
See Program Integrity.

Provides
crisis financial relief. 
Funded by county, donations, and United Way. 
Optional
program.

Guardianship
Services

DSS, by
state law, is designated as an option for the Clerk of
Superior Court in the appointment of a public guardian. 
Upon appointment, staff must perform all duties
necessary to care for the person or estate. 
The Director is the named guardian. 
No funds are appropriated by the state for this
specific purpose.  Mandated
program.

HIPAA

The
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act, a law passed by Congress in 1996. Often used to
refer to only the section of the law dealing with privacy
and the federal privacy regulations adopted by the US
Department of Health and Human Services to comply with
the law. In accordance with HIPAA, our privacy policy can be
read here.

Home Study/ Kinship
Care Assessment

A formalized assessment done to determine if a potential
placement for a child is appropriate. 
Issues addressed include finances, discipline, actual
space in the home, and any other factor that would effect
the stability and welfare of the child.

Housing
and Home Repair

Program to
assist individuals aged 60 and older with needed home
repairs which they might not otherwise be able to obtain.

HSC

Human
Services Coordinator (personnel abbreviation).

Income
Maintenance Caseworker (personnel abbreviation).

IMS

Income
Maintenance Supervisor (personnel abbreviation).

INSYNC

Information
Network
for Successful
Young North
Carolinians. 
State-wide computer system designed to track
information on child abuse and neglect.

IV-D
(Title IV-D)

Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. 
Refers to the Child Support Enforcement Program in
which efforts are made to secure support for dependent
children from location of the parent to court action to get
support.  Locality
can opt out of program if it so chooses and state will
operate it. 
Program
mandated to state.

IV-E

A title of
the Social Security Act which covers services for foster
children.  This
is a major funding source for our foster care program.

IV-E
Waiver Project

Investment
demonstration project using IV-E funds creatively to
shorten a child’s length of stay in custody or prevent it.

Independent
Living Skills

See LINKS.

Information
& Referral

"I
& R".  Information
about and referral to a wide variety of programs, services,
and options for families experiencing any type of crisis. 

In-Home
Services

Assistance
by a trained "aide" in the basic daily chores
required to maintain a person at home including food
preparation, house cleaning and management, personal
grooming, and certain tasks related to medical management. 
The greater degree of personal tasks and medically
related services, the higher level of aide training
required.   

Intake

The process
of accepting applications and requests for services. 
General intake involves, primarily, requests for
crisis financial help such as help with fuel, food, shelter,
etc.

Interstate
Compact

Used to
assess homes or monitor children in other states.

Kinship
Care

When
a relative of a child becomes a caretaker.  If DSS has
custody of a child a “Kinship Care Assessment” is
administered to determine how sound the placement is for the
child.

LIEAP

Low
Income Energy
Assistance
Program
(also known as LIHEAP). 
Provides one-time payment to assist families with
energy costs.  Applications taken in early November. Payments made
in February of each year. 
100% federally funded. 
Mandated
program.

LINKS

Independent
living skills program offered to foster children aged 13-21
years old.  Focuses
on topics such as work, obtaining housing, education, and
budgeting.

Lifeline
Services

DSS funds
electronic checking service for older adults. 
This service and subsidy is designed to help seniors
to feel safe at home and that they will be able to signal
for help if needed.  Optional
program.

Model
Approach
to Partnerships
in Parenting. 
The 10-week course that prospective foster parents
must complete in order to become licensed.
See Foster Home
Licensure.

MOA

Memorandum
of Agreement. 
Agreement defining parameters of programs or grants
between DSS and governing body.

MRA

Mutual Responsibility Agreement.  
Every Work First family must develop a Mutual
Responsibility Agreement between the family's adult
caretaker and DSS, in the person of his/her social worker.
Work First requires caretakers to be responsible for
themselves and the well-being of their children. The MRA
describes what the adult caretaker will do and how DSS will
assist the caretaker.

Mandate

Generally refers to a statute or regulation requiring
certain services to be provided. 
Major mandates include Child Protective Services,
Adult Protective Services, Medicaid, WFFA, and Special
Assistance.  The
term "unfunded mandate" usually refers to those
laws and rules which are passed without funding (or adequate
funding) to implement.

Medicaid

A.K.A.
"Medical Assistance." Medical insurance for
low-income people.  Recipients
can be of any age.   
People who receive a WFFA check or Rest Home Special
Assistance check automatically receive Medicaid also. 
Mandated
program.
For more information about Medicaid coverage and
eligibility, click
here.
 

Specific
types of Medicaid:

MAF -
Medical Assistance for Families
with Dependent Children

MIC -
Medical Assistance for Infants and Children

MPW -
Medical Assistance for Pregnant Women

MQBQ - Medicaid for Qualified
Medicare Beneficiaries

MSB - Medicaid for Special
Assistance to the Blind

MWD - Medicaid for Qualified
Working Disabled Individuals

MAA - Medical
Assistance for the Aged

MAB - Medical
Assistance for the Blind

MAD - Medical
Assistance for the Disabled

Medicaid
Case Management

At-risk
case management services for Medicaid eligible children.
Caseworker will often assist with transportation to medical
appointments as well as general case management services for
the family.

Medicare
Part D

Medicare prescription drug coverage.  Your county
DSS is responsible primarily for assisting residents with
applying for the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) or "Extra
Help" component of this federal program.

Multiple
Response System

New
approach to working with families suspected of abuse,
neglect, or dependency, which gives DSS flexibility in working with families that
have poverty-related issues. 
Does not necessarily require a finding
(substantiation) of abuse, neglect, or dependency, but
instead could just identify a need within the family for
services.
Click
here to find out more.

North
Carolina Association
of County Boards
of Social
Services. 
Statewide organization made up of Social Services Board Members
which acts in concert with other organizations to promote
improvements in programs for clients. 
Efforts are made to help mold policy affecting local
citizens and local DSS.
Caldwell County is part of Region I (One) in the NCACBSS.

NCACDSS

NCHC

North
Carolina Health
Choice is insurance through Blue Cross/Blue
Shield for children ages 0-18 years of age that do not meet
the income guidelines for the regular Medicaid program.
These children cannot have any other insurance coverage.
For more information, click
here.

NCP

Non-Custodial
Parent.
The person in the child support case that has
"deserted" the child and who, therefore, must pay
support.

NCSSA

North
Carolina Social
Services Association. 
Non-profit organization made up of staff members from
all aspects of local DSS across the state with attempts to
improve the "system" in North Carolina, for staff
and clients.
Caldwell County is part of the Northwestern District in the
NCSSA organization.

Neglect

A continued
failure to provide a child or disabled adult with needed
care and protection.  Could
be medical, educational, physical, or emotional in nature.

Non-Supplantation

The
principle that you cannot use one source of money to pay for
a program it is not intended for.

Nurturing
Program

A 14-week
course for parents and their children aged birth-5 years to
teach parenting skills such as positive discipline,
communication, stress and anger management, and child
development.

The
administrative determination that a person has received a
benefit to which he/she was not entitled due to oversight,
error, or failure to provide information in a timely manner. 
Willful intent cannot be identified.

PA

PPPA

Past
Paid Public
Assistance. 
Public assistance check that is received prior to the
establishment of a child support order.

Parenting
Education

"Nurturing
Program" is the primary component. 
Directed towards teaching abusive parents and at-risk
families parenting skills. 
Optional
program.

Paternity
Establishment

Legal
process for determining parentage of child.

Permanency
Planning

The process
of developing a long term plan for children placed out of
their homes due to abuse/neglect/dependency and monitoring
the plan to assure goal accomplishment.

Petition

Legal
document presented to a court to ask for intervention and
orders in a case.

Pregnancy
Prevention and Problem
Pregnancy Counseling

Clients
counseled about birth control, sterilization, and provided
information on available medical alternatives.

Program
Integrity

Task of
investigation, establishment, and collection of
overpayments, whether fraudulent or misrepresentative,
within each eligibility program area. 
Also known as “fraud investigation unit.”

Protective
Payee Services

Assistance
in managing SSI, Social Security and public assistance to
people unable to do so. 
Agency pays bills and accounts for funds. 
Mandated for
certain clients.

Public
Assistance/ IV-A

A legal
term identifying the public aid programs of Medicaid, WFFA,
Food Stamps, SA, and SAB.

Rest
Home Monitoring

Local DSS
is required, as agent of the state, to carry out certain
oversight and monitoring functions of rest homes. 
Recommendations and findings are sent to the State
D.F.S. for action.  No
funds are specifically appropriated for this function. 
State
mandated.

Special
Assistance
to Adults.  Pays
for rest home care for people who cannot pay it all. 
As a rule, the agency pays about 45% of the total
cost with the person paying the balance from Social Security
or other income.  Mandated
program.

SAB

Special
Assistance
to the Blind. 
Provides payments for visually impaired people like
regular S.A. for rest home costs. 
This payment can be made to a blind or visually
impaired person in his/her home. 
Mandated
program.

SAFE

Strategic
Approach
to Family
Emergencies. 
A joint project with the Caldwell County Sheriff's
Department designed to address the problems of domestic
violence.

SNAP

Simplified
Nutritional Assistance Program.  A
Food Stamp program for residents 65
years old and over who receive Supplemental Security Income
(SSI). 

SNF

Skilled
Nursing Facility,
or Nursing home. Often pronounced "sniff."

SSBG

Social
Services Block Grant. See also Title
XX.

SW

Social
worker (personnel abbreviation).

SWS 

Social
worker supervisor (personnel abbreviation).

Services
Team

See
"Social Work Programs."

Initiative
to help young children to be exposed to early education,
early screenings for health and development and remedial
services, to ensure they come to school better able to
learn.  DSS
manages day care subsidies, services to help parents know
where day care centers are located and how to choose good
day care.  Also,
DSS assists in training of family day care homes. 
Finally, parenting classes are provided to prevent
abuse/neglect.  For
more information, click
here.

Success
for Families

A
state-mandated multidisciplinary team approach to working
with families in the Work First program. 
The team is made up of representatives from Smart
Start, Caldwell County Health Department, Foothills Area
Mental Health, Vocational Rehabilitation, Caldwell County
Schools, CCATS, Employment Security Commission, Caldwell
Community College and Technical Institute, and DSS. 
The purpose is to link families with needed resources
on the road to self-sufficiency. 
Success for Families meetings are initiated when a
family has a limited amount of time and financial allotments
before leaving the Work First program.

Temporary
Assistance
for Needy
Families. 
Title of the Federal Block grant which helps fund the
state WFFA
program.

Title
XIX

The section
of the Social Security Act which speaks to the Medicaid
Program.

Title
XX

Section of
the Social Security Act which authorizes block grant funds
to the state to provide "social services." 
This is our primary funding source (at present) for
several social work programs. 
This allocation of funds has remained virtually
unchanged since 1982.

Transportation

Medicaid,
Work First Employment Services, and the Food Stamps E. & T. component
provides funds to pay for transportation of certain
participants.  The
agency also receives state and federal funds to transport
foster children.  Mandated
service.

Uniform
Interstate
Family Support
Act. 
Orders established for out-of-state child support
cases.

Voluntary
Placement
Agreement. 
An agreement in which a family may voluntarily place
a child in the custody of DSS. 
Foster children over the age of 18 may also sign a
VPA to remain in DSS custody until the age of 21.

VSA

Voluntary
Support Agreement. 
An agreement in which the Absent Parent comes to DSS
and voluntarily signs a support order to establish child
support.

Voter
Registration

Under
current legislation, DSS must assist applicants for public
assistance in registering to vote. 
Information is provided to applicants and referred to
the Board of Elections for completion of registration.

WFFA

Work
First Family
Assistance. 
See "Work First;" Often refers to the
component of the Work First program that provides a monthly
cash benefit to eligible parents for their children. Previously, often called "welfare." 
State mandated
program.

Welfare
Fraud

See Program
Integrity.

Welfare
Reform

In 1996 the
federal government passed legislation which eliminated
welfare as an entitlement, limited the time recipients could
receive funds, and emphasized the preparation for economic
self-sufficiency.  In
1997, North Carolina developed the Work First program in
response to federal legislation.
See our county Work
First Block Grant plan, a.k.a. the Welfare Reform Plan (in Adobe PDF format) for details.

Work
Permits

DSS issues
youth work permits for the Department of Labor. 
This service is provided as a state regulatory
requirement inasmuch as, by state law, the DSS is an agent
of the state.  No
funds are specifically appropriated to fund this activity. 
State
mandated.
Download a
work permit form from the NC Department of Labor here.