Child Support Report XXIII, No. 8, 20010801

On July 25, the Senate confirmed Wade F. Horn to be the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), a position that also carries the title, Director of the Office of Child Support Enforcement.

Dr. Horn was most recently the President of the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI), an organization called by President George W. Bush "a powerful voice for responsible fatherhood."

From 1989 to 1993, Dr. Horn served DHHS as Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families and Chief of the Children's Bureau. A member of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Head Start Research and Evaluation within DHHS, he received the Award for Distinguished Leadership in Head Start Research from DHHS in 1993.

The author of numerous journal articles and several books, Dr. Horn is a graduate of American University and received his Master's degree and Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University.

Dr. Horn's interest in and support of Fatherhood issues is well known throughout the child support community. He has addressed numerous major child support meetings and conferences.

As NFI President, he pursued a three-part strategy of educating the public about the importance of fathers to the well-being of children and communities; bringing together national and local community leaders in support of a culture that values good fathers; and producing skill building and community resource materials on how men can become better fathers and how local communities can promote, encourage, and support fathers.

Because of the importance of responsible fathers in the lives of their children, the Boston Partners to Strengthen Fathers and Families, formed in 1997, is moving forward to increase the capacity of young fathers and mothers to become financial, emotional, and nurturing resources for their children. The initiative, consistent with PRWORA's mandate, also seeks to reduce the levels of poverty and dependency on public assistance of these parents, and to establish conditions that may lead to the formation (and re-formation) of two parent families.

Working with existing fathers programs, core partners, and affiliate organizations, the Partners seek to increase the breadth and stability of services for fathers and their fragile families and to institutionalize these services at a higher level than currently exists.

The Boston Partners . . . is moving forward to increase the capacity of young fathers and mothers to become financial, emotional, and nurturing resources for their children. . . . and to establish conditions that may lead to the formation (and re-formation) of two parent families.

Three examples of their services are the Welfare-to-Work Project, an Offender Responsible Fatherhood Initiative, and Access and Visitation Services.

Even though a father's financial support is critically necessary, children of all socioeconomic backgrounds also need emotional support. As a result, child support policy makers are looking for ways to reach fathers and connect them to their children in positive ways that go beyond a financial contribution. Employment is a crucial element in this strategy, as it can lead to increased stability in other areas of family life.

The Boston Partners, in collaboration with the Boston Private Industry Council, the Mayor's Office of Jobs and Community Services, the Marriott Corporation, and Partners HealthCare propose:

To provide employment opportunities and thereby increase the earning capacity of noncustodial parents participating in the project; and

To facilitate noncustodial parents' responsible involvement in the lives of their children by developing their parental nurturing and care taking capacities, and educating them in the positive effects fathers and two-parent families have on children.

This initiative, featuring close collaboration between child support enforcement and county sheriffs, promotes offenders' compliance with realistic and workable child support agreements, while, at the same time, sending a message that incarceration does not excuse child support obligations.

The 17-month pilot project works with noncustodial fathers who have child support responsibilities and are under criminal justice supervision. The focus is on inmates of the Department of Corrections and the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, and parolees in Suffolk County. The purpose is to improve offenders' financial and emotional support of their children by:

There are two primary community-based initiatives under the auspices of Massachusetts' Access and Visitation Program: a parent education orientation program and visitation support services. These programs are currently being piloted in Suffolk County, but they are designed for replication in other parts of the Commonwealth as additional resources become available.

The parent education orientation program is delivered in the probate and family court and by community and faith-based organizations. Since not all never-married parents appear in court, delivering the orientation program through community and faith-based organizations provides an opportunity to reach and influence a greater number of parents. In addition, these organizations provide a supportive environment for parents to ask questions and gain a better understanding of access and visitation issues that may affect them and their children.

The project has contracted with social service providers to provide a number of visitation support services for these families.

The goal of visitation support services is to create a community-based system for needed services and to develop the capacity of these families to reach an early resolution of access and visitation issues with the help of community members, rather than by intensive intervention of service professionals.

If you would like to know more about the Boston Partners' efforts to strengthen fathers and families, contact Richard Claytor at (617) 626-4171.

Richard Claytor is the Director of Massachusetts' Responsible Fatherhood Project.

In June 28, 2001, Acting Commissioner Frank Fuentes testified before the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives.

"We are excited," he said, "about the dramatic results we have achieved under PRWORA and are convinced that the future of child support enforcement will continue on a successful path. Critical to these efforts, though, is a new and determined focus on fathers. . . .

"OCSE has worked to strengthen the role of fathers in families. For example, we have funded eight child support enforcement responsible fatherhood demonstration projects that will help bolster fathers' financial and emotional involvement with their children. Each project is different, although they all provide a range of services to aid in collecting child support, such as job training, access and visitation, and social services. . . .

"In addition, PRWORA created a $10 million access and visitation program for states, a program that provided services to more than 22,000 individuals in 1997 and an estimated 50,000 in 1998. . . .

"We can improve on existing efforts by focusing more attention on strengthening our commitment to fatherhood, and we look forward to working with you."

The Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor- tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) provided states with increased flexibility to operate programs designed to help fathers train for jobs and obtain employment. The Act also encouraged states to promote marriage and the formation and maintenance of two parent families.

PRWORA . . . encouraged states to promote marriage and the formation and maintenance of two parent families.

Welfare-to-Work, created in 1997 to augment PRWORA, serves a related purpose by providing employment training for low income parents. Regular employment is a strong predictor of family formation. Welfare-to-Work rules were recently relaxed to enroll even more noncustodial fathers.

Fathers who want to pay their child support need to have a job, for, except in very few cases, employment is fundamental to paying child support. The vast majority of money children receive from their noncustodial parents derives from regular employment.

Sustained employment for the noncustodial parent can mean more than just income to children and families. Noncustodial parents who are regularly employed and pay their child support also are more likely to participate in the lives of their children. And through that participation, they will be better positioned to establish (or re-establish) a good relationship with their children.

Welfare-to-Work is targeted to low-income families and is designed to serve both parents through an array of job preparation and job retention services. Collaboration between child support agencies and the Welfare-to-Work program is beneficial because it can help recipients of services better understand the importance of having a steady job and making regular child support payments.

Each father who enrolls in Welfare-to-Work also agrees to cooperate with child support enforcement. Thus, child support agencies can benefit in a variety of ways from the successes of Welfare-to-Work fathers. Examples of benefits can include:

To develop and encourage the child support/Welfare-to-Work connection, OCSE has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Welfare-to-Work and OneStop Offices of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.

In that Memorandum, OCSE and DOL agree to cooperate on several joint ventures to encourage collaboration and increase enrollment of noncustodial parents in Welfare-to-Work. Among them:

Through these kinds of activities, states are moving forward in pursuit of their goals to promote job preparation, work, and marriage, and to encourage the formation and maintenance of two parent families.

If you would like more information, contact Dail Moore at(202) 401-3438 or e-mail dmoore@acf.dhhs.gov.

Dail Moore is Welfare-to-Work Officer, Division of Special Staffs, in the Office of Child Support Enforcement.

The Texas Young Lawyers Association's Child Support Enforcement Project (CSEP) is a joint project with the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The purpose is to assist the OAG's efforts to collect child support owed to custodial parents in Texas.

The project addresses an important community need while providing young attorneys with an opportunity for hands-on courtroom experience and continuing legal education.

Through this project, volunteer attorneys assist the courts and OAG by spending at least one day per quarter prosecuting child support cases in order to establish, collect, and enforce child support payments. The project addresses an important community need while providing young attorneys with an opportunity for hands-on courtroom experience and continuing legal education.

During the 2000-2001 bar year, more than one hundred young lawyers were provided classroom training to work with Assistant Attorneys General in Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth. The training they received was a condensed version of the family law education and training that an employed Assistant Attorney General would undergo before working in the Child Support Division of the OAG.

Each volunteer attorney received 6.25 hours of continuing legal education credit for attending the classroom training and committed to spending one half day of observation of a normal docket call in child support court, and to returning to assist the OAG at least once per quarter during the following year.

In July, 2000, Texas State Attorney John Cornyn made a public commitment to the project and by April, 2001, 106 volunteer attorneys had been trained. Forty-four volunteer attorneys, working in six counties (Bexar, Travis, Williamson, Tarrant, Dallas, and Harris) assisted with 1,471 cases during the past year. These numbers are certain to increase as more of the attorneys who have received the training begin to volunteer their time.

The project received the Texas Young Lawyers Association's President's Award of Merit at the June, 2001 Texas State Bar Convention. The award recognizes significant contributions to the furtherance of the goals and objectives of the Association.

Frank Pierce is Special Counsel for the Attorney General's Child Support Division. Veronica Torrez is Managing Attorney for the Attorney General's Child Support Division.

[The Texas Young Lawyers Association Child Support Enforcement Project was developed and implemented with the guidance and direction of Mr. Pierce and Ms. Torrez.]

The Midwest HUB Tribal Conference, hosted June 5 - 7 in Prior Lake, Minnesota by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, featured the theme "Linking Together for a Better Future." All ACF funded programs were represented and ACF initiatives on fatherhood and domestic violence were highlighted.

Dr. Brown's speech, "Nation Building," emphasized the necessity for Tribes to build and sustain strong self-directed communities, based on the premise that only when those Nations achieve this landmark, will they be able to move families from welfare to work.

"The conference theme captured the true spirit of this three-day adventure," said Midwest Hub Director Joyce A. Thomas. "In partnership with our 44 Federally recognized Hub Tribes, Federal staff from the Central Office, staff from the Midwest Hub, and representatives from the West-Central and Pacific Hubs, we have begun a journey to improve the lives of tribal families and children. I am tremendously proud of everyone who participated with us and worked so hard to make this historic meeting a success."

Dr. Eddie Brown, Associate Dean for Community Affairs and Director of the Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, provided the keynote address. Dr. Brown's speech, "Nation Building," emphasized the necessity for Tribes to build and sustain strong self-directed communities, based on the premise that only when those Nations achieve this landmark will they be able to move families from welfare to work. He encouraged federal, state, and local governments to eliminate fragmentation of services, promote coordination between various human services programs, and offer streamlined funding mechanisms.

The four Tribal Child Support Enforcement Program (TCSEP) sessions sought to provide comprehensive tribal child support information and regulations to Midwest HUB tribes currently operating the TCSEP Program (the Menominee Nation and the Lac du Flambeau Nation of Wisconsin) and to those Midwest Hub tribes contemplating operation in the future.

A highlight of the conference from a child support perspective occurred at the Tribal Roundtable sponsored by the Native American members of the child support planning workgroup. The tribal representatives attending the Roundtable unanimously agreed on the need for a national tribal child support enforcement association. For more information on the association, contact Jerry Sweet, the Child Support Director for the Chickasaw Nation at (580) 436-3410 or Tami Lorbecke, Tribal Child Support Manager, Lac du Flambeau Tribe at (715) 588-9636. For more information about the conference, contact Sally Kolanowski at (312) 353-7073 or Sherri Larkins at (816) 426-3981 X 167.

Sally Kolanowski is a Program Specialist in ACF's Region V, Chicago Office; Sherri Larkins is a Program Specialist in Region VII, Kansas City.

A partnership agreement between the child support offices of the Chickasaw Nation, the State of Oklahoma, and the Federal Government was signed recently, making each full and equal partners in providing child support services to all Indian children in Oklahoma. The Chickasaw Nation's tribal child support program is the first to receive direct funding from the Federal Government. The grant award is for more than $1.2 million annually.

Shortly after passage of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act authorized tribes to enter into agreements with state child support agencies, the Chickasaw Nation child support enforcement office entered into a cooperative agreement with the State of Oklahoma and OCSE. Under the terms of that agreement, the Tribe provides services to Indian children residing within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation.

"The Chickasaw Nation is at the forefront of new beginnings in tribal relations for the nation's child support enforcement program." ... Diann Dawson

"I want to commend Governor Anoatubby and the Chickasaw Nation for their leadership on this issue and for being recognized with this historic grant," said U.S. Representative Wes Watkins, of Oklahoma's Third Congressional District.

This grant, Governor Anoatubby said, "provides additional funding . . . so that even more Indian children will receive the financial and emotional support they deserve."

As the first Tribe to receive direct federal funding for its child support program, "The Chickasaw Nation is at the forefront of new beginnings in tribal relations for the nation's child support enforcement program," said Diann Dawson, principal deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families.

"These funds will help us continue to pursue our mission of providing a voice for Indian children." ... Jerry Sweet

The Chickasaw Nation's child support enforcement program is directed by Jerry Sweet. "This grant," Mr. Sweet said, "will help strengthen the partnership we have developed with the State, Federal, and other Tribal governments. More importantly, these funds will help us continue to pursue our mission of providing a voice for Indian children, as well as holding parents accountable for the support of their children."

A practice used by businesses to get good results is now used by government to improve service to customers.

In the corporate world, a "Community of Practice," or COP, might help computer technicians to swap advice on repair problems not described in the company's repair manual. A web site would contain the information so it would be available at any hour to any technician anywhere in the country.

In the child support enforcement community, OCSE set up a COP for SDU coordinators so they can ask each other for advice on operational issues using a master e-mail list called a ListServ.

The information exchanged is then stored in a WorkPlace (a cyber-library) for later reference by members of the SDU community. OCSE has made similar arrangements for state training representatives, access and visitation program coordinators, and systems project directors.

For more information about COPs, contact OCSE's Myles Schlank at (202) 401-9329.