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Major League Dads Step Up to the Plate

Claudine Payne

With baseball season in full swing, the California Department of Child Support Services(DCSS)and players from all five Major League Baseball (MLB) teams in California plan to launch their Year 2000 Responsible Fatherhood "Major League Dad" campaign at the end of July. Beginning its third year, this public awareness effort sends fathers the message to "Step Up to the Plate, Be a Responsible Father."

California's "Major League Dad" campaign is an effort to get all dads to take responsibility and become active participants in their children's lives. Studies show that children whose fathers spend time with them are more sociable, more likely to mature into responsible adults, and more likely to have higher self-esteem and grade point averages.

"This campaign conveys the importance of connecting with your children. Providing support extends beyond just writing a check; it also means being there physically and emotionally for your child," said DCSS Director Curt Child.

A player from each of the California teams is featured on individual baseball trading cards. The cards carry information about the players, as well as a message encouraging dads to "Step Up to the Plate, Be a Responsible Father." The players are: San Francisco Giants outfielder Marvin Benard; Anaheim Angels outfielder Garret Anderson; San Diego Padres pitcher Trevor Hoffman; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jeff Shaw; and Oakland A's outfielder/designated hitter Matt Stairs.

This campaign conveys the importance of connecting with your children. Providing support extends beyond just writing a check; it also means being there physically and emotionally for your child. ... DCSS Director Curt Child

A poster portraying all five "Major League Dads" and their children has also been developed for the statewide campaign. The players will be honored in a pre-game ceremony at their home stadiums and receive a commemorative plaque from a DCSS representative. During the ceremony, trading cards will be passed out to fans throughout the stadium.

"Major League Dad" posters and trading cards will be distributed statewide to county Family Support Divisions, Social Services (welfare) Offices, public high schools, junior high/intermediate schools, continuation schools, social service programs for pregnant minors,and prenatal clinics.

For more information about the Responsible Fatherhood effort and other Department of Child Support Services outreach materials, contact the Child Support Project at (530) 898-4750.

Claudine Payne is Manager of the Child Support Project at California State University, Chico, California.

President Clinton Promotes Responsible Fatherhood

President Clinton marked the first Father's Day of the 21st century by highlighting in his weekly radio address the critical role that fathers play in their children's lives. His Administration has recognized from the start that responsible fathers are essential to building strong families and communities.

Father involvement during infancy and early childhood contributes to children's development of emotional security, curiosity, problem solving, and math and verbal skills.

In his remarks, the President noted that children benefit from the participation of two loving and involved parents. Father involvement during infancy and early childhood contributes to children's development of emotional security, curiosity, problem solving, and math and verbal skills.

Moreover, higher levels of father involvement in learning activities with their children are associated with higher student achievement. Students living in two-parent families with highly involved fathers were over 40 percent more likely to get mostly As, and even when fathers are not living with their children but remain highly involved in their learning, students were one-third more likely to get mostly As.

NCSL Report Finds That Fathers Need Services

The National Conference of State Legislatures'(NCSL) July, 1999, report, "Broke But Not Deadbeat: Reconnecting Low Income Fathers and Children," finds that many low income fathers are in need of employment and family support services. Children who have healthy connections with their fathers are at reduced risk of early parenting, high school dropout, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency.

According to the report, states, through the TANF block grant, welfare-to-work grants, the social services block grant, and other funds, have the opportunity to invest in services that help low income fathers become the emotional and financial providers that their children need.

The report is available on the Internet at: /programs/cse/rpt/broknot.pdf.

Security Awareness in the Workplace

Danny Markley

In the nation's Child Support Enforcement Program,workers are privileged to have access to powerful databases that provide them with timely and accurate data to improve services to children and families. For example, the Federal Parent Locator Service, which incorporates the National Directory of New Hires, is a national location system operated by OCSE.

The database assists caseworkers in locating noncustodial parents, putative fathers, and custodial parties for the establishment of paternity and child support obligations and in enforcing and modifying orders for child support, custody, and visitation.

The information child support workers have about individuals and their assets carries with it the responsibility to safeguard the personal data of customers. Child support professionals are required to adhere to strict federal and state disclosure laws, and anyone who breaks these laws could be subject to fines, termination of employment, or more severe penalties.

The information child support workers have about individuals and their assets carries with it the responsibility to safeguard the personal data of customers.

The unauthorized disclosure of data could result in persons in child support databases becoming victims of "identity theft" or having their credit ruined. Accidentally releasing locate information to the wrong person, for example, could result in a domestic violence episode.

A breach of security involving unauthorized disclosure of information could endanger the customer, the program and even child support personnel. Violence in the workplace is, unfortunately, a reality.

Keeping child support professionals safe and securing government property are critical issues. In order to provide for a secure workplace, we must all identify and evaluate the risks we and our agencies face. The first step in this process involves implementing safeguards and developing security policies and procedures for data and for personnel.

OCSE, recognizing the responsibility that comes with access to sensitive data and being concerned about the privacy, security, and physical safety of child support staff and offices, has developed a "Security Awareness Program." The Program incorporates items and training mediums geared to various target audiences. These resources address security challenges throughout all levels of the workforce, from line staff to managers.

An important OCSE-product security tool is the video, Securing the Future. The video uses real life scenarios and interviews to illustrate how protecting data and ensuring the physical safety of child support staff and offices is essential to the continuation of services.

OCSE also has developed a Training of Trainers course, The Child Support Enforcement Program - Securing the Future. This six-hour course is designed to prepare trainers to deliver the security course to child support personnel in their home offices.

More recently, OCSE has developed a Security Self-Assessment Tool for states to use in defining where they are in security preparedness, and to assist them in designing and implementing a comprehensive, successful security plan.

A course for managers and senior officials, Securing the Future: A Manager's Perspective, is currently under development. This course will focus on the critical role managers play in ensuring security of information, personnel, and assets, as well as the need for both security and disaster recovery plans.

For more information on any of OCSE's security initiatives, contact Danny Markley at (703) 824-4905 (dmarkley@acf.dhhs.gov) or Richard Shullaw at (202) 401-4843(rshullaw@acf.dhhs.gov).

Danny Markley is a Senior Security Analyst in OCSE.

Coming Soon

OCSE's Silver Anniversary Celebration

September 25 - 27, Baltimore, Maryland

25 years of Giving Hope and Support to America's Children.

Washington State MSFIDM

Mark Mintzer

The Washington State Division of Child Support, using the Multistate Financial Institution Data Match (MSFIDM), recently attached an account valued at $96,317. The custodial parent had received TANF benefits from April 1989 through 1997 for her two children. The noncustodial parent owed a debt totaling $85,951, which was settled for $74,344, with $40,085 going to the custodial parent and the remainder to TANF arrears.

The agency also followed up on a match with a bank that resulted in a $38,417 levy. The custodial parent received $28,494 while $9,923 went to the State as a TANF recovery.

In another case, a delinquent obligor was found to have six accounts with a total value of over $250,000. A levy was issued which resulted in a $34,800 payment.

Finally, a Washington noncustodial parent with a $200,000 savings account at a local credit union had his account frozen. The resulting levy paid off three TANF related debts totaling $31,573 and arrearages owed to the custodial parent in the amount of $6,593. As a result of this levy, two cases were closed and the remaining case was brought current.

Washington's Division of Child Support remains committed to improving the lives of children by providing quality child support services. Over the last 11 months, the agency has contracted and exchanged data with 90 percent of in-state financial institutions. In addition, MSFIDM matches received from OCSE are processed weekly. The Division of Child Support has succeeded in collecting over $3,742,000 as a direct result of FIDM and MSFIDM and is confident this success will continue for the foreseeable future.

For additional information, contact Mark Mintzer at (360) 664-5062.

Mark Mintzer is the Multistate Financial Institution Data Match Coordinator for the State of Washington.

A Snapshot of Changes in TANF Caseloads Since Enactment of Welfare Reform

TANF Cases As Percent of Total U.S. Population

• 1994 5.5 percent
• 1999 2.4 percent

Total TANF Families and Recipients (in thousands)

1,962,000 fewer families

5,637,000 fewer recipients

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

More Special Improvement Project (SIP) Grant Updates

Florida

Bay County, Florida, early cooperation with child support as an eligibility requirement for TANF and Medicaid applicants.

As a condition of eligibility, TANF and Medicaid applicants must visit the child support enforcement office of the Department of Revenue and either cooperate in initiating a child support case or seek determination of good cause not to cooperate. CSE interviewers explain the services offered by CSE, the benefits of establishing paternity and a child support obligation, and show how the applicant can help to move the case forward by keeping all scheduled appointments for genetic testing and court hearings.

Results

• A reduction of sanction actions;
• Savings on TANF payments to recipients who never cooperate with CSE;
• More efficient use of time by staff in interviews.

For more information, contact Susan Mohnen at (850) 414-8949.

Illinois

Illinois Department of Public Aid/Division of Child Support Enforcement and Catholic Charities of Chicago WIC-Expansion of Paternity Establishment Program to 15 WIC sites.

With this project, Illinois' Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) is working with Catholic Charities and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) in Chicago to expand from four sites to fifteen a paternity establishment program of the original WIC Food Center community-based organization pilot.

WIC staff at the 15 sites have spoken to 22,887 mothers about paternity establishment, and 398 parents have signed the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity forms.

Major Activities

• Development of a procedures manual for state and local child support directors, agency heads, WIC managers, and community-based organization leadership;
• Use of audio tapes to provide oral explanation of parents' rights and responsibilities in English and Spanish; and
• Use of private areas to discuss paternity establishment and related forms in a confidential setting.

Other activities include development of a video and a number of new outreach materials on the theme: "Get in Step with PEP."

Results

• Good candidates for signing the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity are parents who are living together with a child of any age, and parents with younger children (under 5 years of age) but especially under one year of age; and
• Paternity acknowledgments appear more likely to be signed where there are not large concentrations of public housing.

For more information, contact Lois Rakov at (312) 793-8213.

Texas/Mexico Border Initiative

To assess enforcement issues and to identify innovative procedures and practices to improve child support efforts on both sides of the Texas/Mexico border.

Together with its U.S. and Mexican partners, the Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) Child Support Division (CSD) has been engaged in identifying and assessing the issues and problems associated with cross-border establishment and enforcement of child support. Key aspects of the project are:

• Locating and obtaining service of process on noncustodial parents and alleged fathers;
• Upgrading systems for communications, funds transfer, and document generation;
• Developing and implementing bilingual forms and standardized procedures for transmitting cases; and
• Conducting an annual training conference and assessment of progress.

The project is designed to minimize involvement of the Central Authority in Mexico and foster more efficient and cost effective State-to-State mechanisms.

Results

• The Child Support Director, the Attorney General, and the Governor of Texas have signed Ninos Primero Implementation Arrangements or "Convenios" with their counterparts in the Mexican Border States of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon;
• The OAG has developed and urged acceptance in Mexico of the OAG's proposed "two way" forms including an authenticated, bilingual abstract of the Tribunal Order form to be used in lieu of a fully translated support order; and
• Negotiations are underway with several financial institutions to use a more cost effective and timely way of transferring and converting payments from dollars to pesos and vice versa by an EFT/EDI process.

For more information contact Howard Baldwin at (512) 460-6122. Elaine Sorensen is a principal research associate and Chava Zibman is a research assistant in the Urban Institute's Income and Benefits Policy Center.

Conference Calendar 2000

The Calendar is printed quarterly in CSR: in January, April, July, and October. If you are planning a meeting or conference and would like it to be included in the Calendar, please call OCSE's Bertha Hammett at (202) 401-5292 or fax her at (202) 401-5559. The Calendar is accessible through the Federal OCSE web site under the "News" section: www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/new.htm.

Select "Calendar of Events."

July

• 16-19 New York State Public Welfare Association Annual Summer Conference, Sheraton Hotel, Saratoga Springs, New York, Laura Staerker (518) 465-9305.
• 18-20 South Dakota Annual Child Support Investigator Conference, Brookings Inn, Brookings, SD, Carmin Sommer (605) 773-3641.
• 26-28 California Family Support Council Quarterly Meeting, Town & Country Hotel & Convention Center, San Diego, CA, Noanne St. Jean (559) 582-3211 X 2403.
• 30 - August 3 NCSEA 49th Annual Conference, Town and Country Resort, San Diego CA, Carol Henry (202) 624-8180.

August

• 23-25 Georgia CSE Staff Training Seminar, Hyatt Regency Riverfront, Savannah, GA, Gail Moon (404) 657-3866.
• 30-September 1 Northeast Hub Fatherhood Conference, Marriott Copley Plaza, Boston, MA, Carol Monterio (617) 565-2462.

September

• 4-7 Southwest Regional CSE Association 2001 Annual Training Conference, Renaissance Hotel, 1 Myriad Garden, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, Dormeil Richardson (405) 522-2705.
• 17-21 Western Interstate CSE Association (WICSEC) Annual Training Conference, Little America Hotel and Resort, Cheyenne, WY, Shawna Hanesworth (307) 773-9001.
• 25-27 Federal OCSE 10th National CSE Training Conference, OCSE's Silver Anniversary Celebration: 25 Years of Giving Hope and Support to America's Children, Baltimore Hilton and Towers, Baltimore, MD, Bertha Hammett (202) 401-5292 or Isabelle Howes (202) 314-3471.

October

• 2-4Washington State Family Support Council Conference, Seattle Center, Seattle, WA, Roy Vervair (425) 438-4949 or Judy Young (360) 664-5063.
• 3-6 Alabama CSE Association Conference, Alabama State Park, Gulf Shores, AL, Wade Drinkard (334) 295-8771.
• 10-12 California Family Support Council Quarterly Meeting, Embassy Suites, San Luis Obispo, CA, Noanne St. Jean (559) 582-3211 X 2403.
• 18-20Nebraska CSE Association 19th Annual Training Conference, Holiday Inn, Kearney, NE, Colleen Lembke (308) 534-4350 X 205.
• 23Indiana Fathers and Families Conference, Westin Hotel, Indianapolis, IN, Joseph Mamlin (317) 233-4482.
• 26-28 Social Commission on the Status of Black Men National Conference, Adams Mark Hotel Downtown, Indianapolis, IN, Stephen Jackson (317) 233-1744.

Communication Eases Acceptance of Change in Arizona

Laura R. Secondo

Welfare reform provided an opportunity for Arizona to create a new child support landscape. How could the new requirements be integrated into daily practice and readily accepted by staff and customers alike? Arizona officials singled out communication as the key.

Information packets and power point presentations insured that every lineworker, supervisor and official received a standard message and understood the implementation efforts.

The Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) began a statewide campaign to educate staff on the magnitude of changes brought by welfare reform. Under the guidance of the IV-D Welfare Reform Administrator, a series of events to support and manage the change effort was coordinated.

• Traditional training and communication forums were analyzed;
• Bi-monthly meetings were held with all contracting County Attorneys and private vendors;
• Interested elected officials were asked to provide regular updates on all on-going welfare reform initiatives;
• Key staff accompanied the Administrator on tours to every local office throughout the State. Information packets and power point presentations ensured that every lineworker, supervisor and official received a standard message and understood the implementation efforts;
• Quarterly newsletters were created with a section reserved for each program administrator;
• Four professional information videos were produced;
• Training sessions on centralized payment processing were delivered to all Clerks of Court throughout the State; and
• DCSE joined with the Administrative Office of the Courts in presenting information on the changes to the private bar, the judiciary, and other interested stakeholders.

Throughout the effort, DCSE's training staff worked hand-in-hand with the project teams to insure that program changes were quickly reflected in standard curricula.

The result? A recognition of the need for change and a willingness on the part of Arizona's child support staff to accept it as part of the price of program improvement. This in turn led to the State's ability to meet the challenges of welfare reform. Among Arizona's most successful outcomes are:

• Implementation of New Hire. For the period 10/1/98 through 1/31/00, we have received 1,615,876 reports of which 59,113 matched our cases;
• Implementation of the SDU. Between 12/1/98 and 2/29/00, the Arizona SDU processed 1.3 million nonIV-D payments, which represented $309.5 million. During that same period, the SDU processed 1,970,590 IV-D payments, representing $278,383,095 of support; and
• Implementation of direct wage withholding. Between 10/1/98 and 2/29/00, DCSE issued 53,659 direct wage withholdings, a majority resulting from information from the New Hire Directory.

Laura Secondo is now with the Texas Child Support Program. She was IV-D Welfare Reform Administrator in Arizona's Child Support Program when this article was prepared.

Update: IRG State Profile Information

OCSE is pleased to announce that the State Profile section of the Interstate Roster and Referral Guide (IRG) is now available on the OCSE Website for viewing by the public.

The State Profiles outline each State's child support enforcement program, providing information on:

• Program operations;
• Age of majority;
• Statutes of limitations;
• Guidelines;
• Review and adjustments; and
• Paternity establishment.

Look for the State Profiles at: http.ocse3.acf.dhhs.gov/ext/irg/pub/sps/selectastate.cfm.