Are you a self- directed, organized individual who would thrive multi-tasking in a fast paced office environment?  Do you desire to help others who cannot afford the cost of healthcare?   Catawba County Social Services is recruiting for several Eligibility Specialists II roles in Adult and Family Medicaid.  
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Salary is negotiable for applicants who are fully qualified.  (1 year or more of Income Maintenance experience in Medicaid or Food and Nutrition Services eligibility)
• Applicants must possess one year of experience in income maintenance eligibility in a Department of Social Services in order to be fully qualified. However, trainees may be accepted.   Trainee pay is $39,729.10 per year.  

• Providing services to children and families when children must be separated from their parents or caretakers when they are unable or unwilling to provide adequate protection and care and the child enters the legal custody and placement responsibility of social services. 

• Serving families, children, and our community by providing support and comprehensive family-centered, solution focused assessments and interventions that will support a parent’s capacity to protect and nurture their children. 

• Working cohesively with birth and resource families, children, guardian ad litems, court partners, community and in-agency partners, and other child welfare entities to support and strengthen families. 

• Striving for excellence in meeting all mandated standards in a fast-paced and mandated, but rewarding environment that ultimately seeks to assure child safety and develop and reinforce protective family units. 

For the last month, Frank Galaviz has wondered when running water will return to his town.

The 77-year-old resident of Teviston — a small rural community in Central California — has been forced to depend on stored and bottled water after the pump in the town's only functioning well broke down in early June. Since then, residents have had to travel to neighboring towns to shower or depend on the town's water storage tanks for their daily needs.

Temperatures continue to reach into triple digits as a brutal heat wave sweeps across the West Coast. The ongoing drought only exacerbates the problem, Galaviz says.

"[My wife and I] have lived through many challenges," he says. "We both have survived cancer, but we will not be able to survive without water. This is a problem that is not going away."

Teviston sits between the cities of Fresno and Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley and is home to mostly Latino farmworkers. Normal days in town are usually slow-paced and idyllic, Galaviz says, with many residents commuting to the nearby towns and cities on business. Now, they leave to find more water.

This is not the first time Galaviz or his neighbors have struggled with a broken well. He says two other wells had broken down in previous years and had not been repaired. A new, more modern well is in the works, but Galaviz estimates its completion is still a few years off.

The community continues waiting for repair parts to arrive in hopes it will fix the current well's pump, he added, a process that could take a few weeks.

"It is not normal to not be able to flush toilets," he says. "It's not normal to not be able to take a shower."

Residents have managed to come up with a temporary fix, using their water storage tanks to offer relief.

"We were able to get some of the water pressure back," Galaviz said. "We put a submersible pump into one of our old wells and we're forcing water from the storage tanks through that system. But it's not a permanent fix."

Rural Latino communities in California have been particularly vulnerable to drought conditions, according to a report from the state Legislative Analyst's Office.

"Having no water equals bad health," state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, who serves California's 14th District, tells Weekend Edition. Hurtado says her bill, SB 559, would allot $785 million to fund and repair water supply infrastructure. One of the waterways posed for fixing is the Friant-Kern canal, which supplies Teviston and the towns around it. Over the years, the canal has become subject to subsidence — a condition that has caused some parts of the canal to sink and means it can't deliver as much water.

"SB 559 would help fix the canal so that the basin and the communities that rely on water here would be able to have more access to it," Hurtado says.

Galaviz has spent the last few weeks knocking on doors to check in on neighbors and trying to organize help.

"I have a neighbor whose daughter has medical problems. She needs drinking water, pure water," he says. "It hurts to see people suffering."

Hafsa Fathima and Jan Johnson produced and edited the audio story.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Traffic on Interstate 95 was diverted for hours after a group of armed men fled from police near Wakefield, Mass. on Saturday. Massachusetts state police say 11 suspects have been taken into custody.; Credit: Michael Dwyer/AP

Eleven people were taken into custody Saturday after an hours-long standoff with police early Saturday outside Boston.

While police engaged in negotiation, members of the group engaged the public on social media, saying their group was called "Rise of the Moors."

The heavily armed men were said to be driving from Rhode Island to Maine for "training."

The incident started around 1:30 a.m., when state police noticed two cars stopped at the side of I-95 near Wakefield, Mass., apparently out of fuel. As troopers stopped to assist, they noticed that some individuals near the cars had "military-style" gear, and were carrying long guns and pistols, Massachusetts State Police Col. Christopher Mason told reporters.

"You can imagine 11 armed individuals standing with long guns slung on an interstate highway at 2 in the morning certainly raises concerns and is not consistent with the firearms laws that we have in Massachusetts," Mason said.

Police requested backup, and thus began a standoff that lasted several hours. The men refused to lower their weapons, saying that they "don't recognize our laws," police said. Some of the armed men fled into a nearby wooded area, police said, and a portion of I-95 was closed for several hours.

The standoff was broadcast on social media

Around 4 a.m., a man whom the Boston Globe identified as Jamhal Talib Abdullah Bey said he was broadcasting live from I-95 and said that he told police they had nothing to fear.

"I reassured them that we are not sovereign citizens," a man who appeared to be Bey said in a live-streamed video. "I reassured them that we are not Black identity extremists. I reassured them that we are not anti-police. I reassured them that we are not anti-government. I reassured them that these men here will not be pointing guns at them. I reassured them that we are trying to come to a peaceful resolution."

"We're going to our private land to train, which is our Second Amendment right," he said, showing a vehicle he said contained camping equipment.

As police tactical teams brought in armored vehicles to surround the area, and negotiators interacted with the men, they ultimately surrendered. Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan told reporters the suspects were expected to appear in court on Tuesday morning.

State police "don't have any knowledge about this particular specific group" but as state police "it is not unusual for us to encounter people that have sovereign citizen ideologies — I'm not saying that this group does — but we have had those encounters before in the past," Mason said at a Saturday morning press briefing.

"We train to those encounters," Mason continued. "We very much understand the philosophy that underlies that mindset. And we train our officers, actually, at the academy, on these interactions and how to de-escalate those situations, and how to engage with people that have that philosophy and mindset and resolve those situations in a peaceful manner."

The group calls itself "Rise of the Moors"

The same man appearing to be Bey said in a later video: "They keep portraying us as being anti-government, but we're not anti-government at all."

The group's website lists Bey as a leader of the "Rhode Island State Republic and Providence Plantations." According to the site, Bey served in the military for four years, some or all of that time in the Marines, after which he began studying "Moorish Science."

That website, "Rise of the Moors," explains that Moors are not "sovereign citizens" because "sovereignty does not stand alone," but can rather be considered synonymous with "nationality."

"The record show that the Moors are the organic or original sovereigns of this land — America," the FAQ says. "When we declare our nationality as Moorish Americans we are taking back the position as the aboriginal people of the land, to which the sovereign power is vested in."

Bey's group may be associated with the Moorish sovereign citizen movement, which the Southern Poverty Law Center characterizes as an offshoot of the antigovernment sovereign citizens movement. Moorish sovereigns "have come into conflict with federal and state authorities over their refusal to obey laws and government regulations," SPLC writes.

"The Moorish Sovereign movement is a rapidly growing group of people who believe that they belong to a sovereign nation that has a treaty with the US but otherwise operates outside of the federal and state laws," JJ MacNab, a fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism, explained on Twitter.

"They rely on an alternative history that borrows from Moorish Science Temple, Black Hebrew Israelism, Nation of Islam, UFO theories, phony Native American tribes, and the pseudo-legal arguments crafted by white supremacist 'patriot' groups in the 1970s," MacNab said.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

An American flag flies from a crane on July 4th next to the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of victims remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed.; Credit: Lynne Sladky/AP

Preparations continue in Surfside, Fla. for the demolition of a portion of the Champlain Towers South still standing after much of the building collapsed in the early morning hours on June 24.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters on Sunday that bringing down the remainder of the collapsed condominium in a controlled fashion is crucial to the safety of search and rescue teams.

Those teams have paused their work so demolition can take place. Levine Cava said officials are still unsure of a specific time that the demolition will occur.

"Our top priority is that the building can come down as soon as possible — no matter what time that occurs — and safely as possible," Levine Cava said at a morning news conference.

The number of confirmed dead from the collapse remains at 24. The number of people unaccounted for remains at 121.

Preparations for the demolition come as Tropical Storm Elsa is tracking towards southern Florida. The storm is expected to hit the area Monday and Tuesday.

The instability of the building could be made worse by the storm, which is expected to bring strong winds and rain at the beginning of the week. Mayor Levine Cava said that as soon as the demolition has occurred, search and rescue efforts are expected to resume.

Ahead of Elsa's arrival in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency Saturday for 15 counties, including Miami-Dade.

On Sunday, he expressed optimism that the Surfside area may be spared from the worst of the storm.

"We could see some gusts, but it has tracked west over the last day and a half — more so than the initial forecast," he said. "So, we'll just keep watching that."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A tropical storm with 65-mile-an-hour winds is drenching Cuba, and is expected to reach Key West and the west coast of Florida within the next 48 hours.

The National Hurricane Center expects Tropical Storm Elsa to drop between 5 and 10 inches of rain on central and western Cuba, leading to significant flooding and mudslides. The storm probably will weaken somewhat as it crosses the island, but could strengthen again as it approaches Florida.

According to the Associated Press, Cuban officials evacuated 180,000 people as a precaution against the possibility of heavy flooding.

Most of those evacuated stayed at relatives' homes, others went to government shelters, and hundreds living in mountainous areas took refuge in caves prepared for emergencies. The storm had killed at least three people on other Caribbean islands before it reached Cuba

The National Weather Service says that the western coast of Florida, including Tampa Bay, can expect a storm surge that would lift water levels between two and four feet. Much of Florida could see heavy rainfall that could reach six inches in some places. The storm will then bring heavy rains to Georgia and the Carolinas later in the week.

Florida officials were worried that the storm could destabilize what was left of the condominium building that partially collapsed over a week ago. In order to avoid an uncontrolled collapse, they approved the demolition of the remaining portion of the building, which took place on Sunday night.

"The hurricane was coming, the potential for that building to fall on the pile with the victims in it was a tragic thought," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told NPR on Monday.

It's early in the hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted a busier-than-average Atlantic hurricane season, but it would be hard to top last year's, which set an all-time record with 30 named storms.

Tropical storms are fueled by warm water in the upper layers of the ocean, and ocean temperatures have been rising as heat is trapped by greenhouse gases.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Crews searching the building collapse site in Surfside, Fla., have discovered four more victims since Monday, bringing the death toll to 32. Authorities have identified 26 of the bodies.

Another 113 people were unaccounted for, though local officials said they had only been able to confirm that about 70 of those people were in the building at the time of the collapse nearly two weeks ago.

Detectives are continuing to follow up on reports submitted about possible victims in the partial collapse, but in some cases they have been unable to reach those who submitted the tips in the first place.

"People call anonymously. People call and don't leave return phone numbers. People call with partial information, not enough to really secure whether that person may or may not have been in the building," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters on Tuesday.

Some of the reports of possible victims are also incomplete, she said, including a name but no apartment number or no date of birth.

Levine Cava urged people who are missing loved ones to communicate with local authorities. She said there may also be victims of the collapse who have not been reported missing.

The rescue effort stopped briefly overnight due to lightning from a passing storm. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said high winds were hampering the cranes moving heavy debris from the collapse site.

Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez said Florida has declared a state of emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Elsa, which is expected to reach hurricane strength before making landfall Wednesday morning on the state's west coast.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Sonata Software announced that its Unified Enterprise Mobility Platform, Halosys, has been enhanced with additional features that boost optimization and usability

Bharti Airtel has awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to IBM to deploy a blockchain -based pan India network which will allow the telco to protect its 284 million subscribers from pesky calls and messages

Supporting this massive surge, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an entity for operating retail payments and settlement systems, has provided the backbone and the infrastructure to help in the faster adoption of digital systems that has deepened financial inclusion.

Reliance Jio Infocomm is set to sign a $1.7bn deal with Nokia this week to purchase 5G network equipment. This follows the $2.1bn worth of equipment ordered by the Indian telecom operator from Ericsson in its attempt to roll out 5G across India this year. The company has already purchased 5G spectrum and plans to invest $25bn in 5G infrastructure, making its standalone mode the sole holder of the 700 MHz band in the country.

Microsoft-owned OpenAI has announced the general availability of its latest text-generating model GPT-4, through its API.

The Challenge is part of Small Steps to Health and Wealth�, a national Cooperative Extension program developed to motivate Americans to take action to simultaneously improve their health and personal finances. SSHW was built around a framework of 25 research-based behavior change strategies. The Challenge was originally developed in a �paper and pencil� format with printed worksheets and is now available online.

As of January 2, 2010 restaurants, bars and other businesses that serve food and drink in Catawba County became smoke-free. Many health advocates and local residents are pleased that they can now enjoy a healthier dining experience. The ban is a result of a new law that prohibits smoking in all restaurants and bars across North Carolina.

Louise Ackerman serves as the Chairwoman for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention (A.S.A.P.) of Catawba County. A.S.A.P. is a volunteer coalition made up of Catawba County residents with members from all segments of the community, including education, law enforcement, the criminal justice system, the faith community, mental health, social services, public health, local business, parents and youth that work together to combat underage drinking and substance abuse.

In the fall of 2009, as a part of the Catawba Aging Leadership Planning Project, Catawba County, along with aging service providers, volunteers and local municipalities developed a �Livable & Senior Friendly Community Survey�. This survey was widely distributed throughout Catawba County and targeted the County�s Senior Community, their caregivers and professionals in the aging field. The purpose of the survey was to obtain current and relevant information on the quality of life of seniors. Obtaining this information is important when looking toward the future of Catawba County.

Three applied research centers at the Charlotte Research Institute will install instrumentation and conduct experiments at the Eco-Complex, an expansion of innovative waste reduction and waste processing technology already underway at the Complex.

Proper dental care and routine trips to the dentist help to guarantee that children and adults not only have a healthy smile, but a healthy body as well. To help ensure that every child in Catawba County has access to dental care, Catawba County Public Health Dental Practice serves as a resource for children ages 4 to 17.

Children learn their habits, attitudes and beliefs from their parents and other caregivers, and that includes their willingness to try new and healthy foods. The American Dietetic Association and Catawba County Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) encourages adults to be good role models and teach children how to appreciate nutrition and enjoy healthful eating.

When it comes to air quality, many believe it's only an issue during the summer. Air quality remains a problem year round, with ozone being a concern in the summer and particulate matter posing a problem year round. Public Health is working with local officials to raise the importance of air quality awareness and what citizens can do to help improve air quality.

The final stages of the 2011 property revaluation process in Catawba County have begun with the presentation of the proposed 2011 Schedule of Values to the Board of Commissioners, and will continue into November, when property owners will receive notice of the new value of their property, and into December and early 2011 when the appeal process begins.

As it continues to note National Emergency Preparedness Month, Catawba County Emergency Services reminds citizens who have family members with special needs, and caregivers of those with special needs, that it�s very important to be prepared in advance to help those with special needs cope with an emergency or disastrous situation.

Lindsey Smith was recognized by the North Carolina Society for Public Health Education as a new health educator in North Carolina who has made outstanding contributions to the profession.

Cyndy Benson, who recently retired as Family and Children�s Services program manager in the Department of Social Services, has received the Kimberly F. Crews Memorial Award from the N.C. Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. This award is presented annually to honor a person who works directly with children suspected of having been abused.

Residents and businesses affected by severe storms and tornado on Oct. 26 in Catawba County can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills announced today. Mills made the loans available in response to a letter from North Carolina Gov. Beverly E. Perdue on Nov. 12, requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA. The declaration covers Lincoln County and the adjacent counties of Burke, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell and Mecklenburg in North Carolina.

Between February 16 and 24, 2011, more than 2,500 students in Catawba County�s three public school systems received the 2010-11 flu vaccine due to a successful partnership between the schools and Catawba County Public Health. School nurses collected permission forms from parents and coordinated flu vaccine mini-clinics at 43 schools.

Family Builders, the adoption service of Catawba County Social Services, can now help adult adoptees, birth parents and their close relatives find each other. Not all counties in North Carolina offer this service, which is called Confidential Intermediary Services. Until recently all adoption records were sealed under North Carolina state law. In 2008, a new law took effect that allowed the release of certain records to adult adoptees and birth parents, if both parties agreed.

Three area mayors and several other local officials recently participated in Mayors for Meals in Catawba County. This event was sponsored by Catawba County Social Services� Senior Nutrition Programs, which operates Meals on Wheels, Seniors Morning Out and other senior nutrition programs serving more than 1,000 people.

RealtyAnalytix Advisors, LLC announces the introduction of Catawba Industrial Commons, a multi-tenant industrial campus offering the most attractive, affordable and functional manufacturing, distribution and warehousing space in the Greater Catawba County region.

For the twenty-second straight year, Catawba County�s Budget Office has been recognized by its peers for producing a budget document which is easy to read and understand. The Office has won the 2010 Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association. This award recognized the County�s fiscal year 2010-2011 budget.

The Catawba County Finance Department is a winner of the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2010. Catawba County has now won the award for 29 consecutive years.

A Catawba County Department of Social Services program that helped teenagers enrolled in a poverty reduction and teen pregnancy program better understand the myths of government support programs has been named a winner of a 2011 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award.

Senior Nutrition Services is now housed at 507 Boundary Street in Conover. Senior Nutrition Services includes Home Delivered Meals (Meals on Wheels), Seniors Morning Out, Nutritional Supplements (Ensure and Boost), Frozen Meals, and In Home Aide Services.

Area youth participating in the NC Cooperative Extension�s 4-H program helped children at Catawba County Public Health plant vegetable seeds. The activity was one of a series of visits by local North Carolina Cooperative Extension staff and volunteers to Public Health�s Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clinic designed to encourage WIC families to grow and eat fresh vegetables.

Catawba County�s Meals on Wheels program has nominated Winnie Hovey for the award and is asking the public to vote for Hovey in the contest. The contest is featured on Facebook, and the top vote-getter will be named the winner.

The facility is now testing biodiesel fuel being produced by several companies in the region and from the harvest of crops growing around the landfill to test which ones grow best in the local climate while producing the best oils for biodiesel.

�Catawba Communities,� a monthly show which will feature information about programs and services provided by local governments, school systems and associated agencies across Catawba County, will premiere on Charter Communications� Government Channel (Channel 3) on Tuesday, August 23, 2011, at 8:00 p.m.

What if the August 23 earth tremors had been closer or stronger? Would you know what to do? Here are some tips from Catawba County Emergency Services.

Vaccines will be administered on a first-come, first-serve basis, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., or until the supply is depleted on September 21, World Rabies Day, thanks to 250 vaccines provided by the World Rabies Organization and Pfizer Animal Health.

Winnie Hovey has won the American Volunteer contest sponsored by the Meals on Wheels Association of America. Hovey is a 92-year-old Hickory resident who has been volunteering with the local Meals on Wheels organization for approximately 30 years

Catawba County 4-H Club members are collecting dry dog and cat food for the pets of Catawba County Meals on Wheels recipients.

The award was presented for the agency's Children and Aging Strategic Planning Projects in the category �Profiles in Community Collaboration�. The entry described the Children�s Agenda Planning Committee and the Aging Leadership Planning Project. In both cases, Social Services took the lead in collaborating with area agencies to develop reports about the needs of children and older adults.

More than 120 people recently attended the seventh annual Foothills Regional Conference for Early Childhood Educators in Statesville. This year�s conference theme, "You Make a Powerful Difference", explored the difference that early childhood educators make in the lives of young children.

Internal Systems Analyst Scott Klinger was recognized, in part, for integrating a new billing program that resulted in improved efficiencies across the organization.

The expansion will more than double clinic space. It will allow the clinic to provide routine dental services, such as cleanings, fillings, sealants, and extractions, to an additional 1,500 children and young adults. During the renovation, the current dental practice will remain open and operate under current hours

Catawba County�s Budget Office has been recognized by its peers for producing a budget document which is easy to read and understand. The County Budget Office has won the 2011 Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).

The Catawba County Building Services Division has built a web page with links to the new code.

Enhancements include an auto-fill feature, the ability to search on a business or landmark name, and links to both Google and Bing maps.

A Catawba County Social Services program that serves as an ongoing, immediate source of food for students who often go hungry, during weekends and extended breaks from school, and a Green Vendor Exhibition designed to shine a spotlight on existing and potential vendors that specialize in providing recycled and environmentally-friendly products and services, have been named winners of 2012 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Awards.