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Child Support Celebrates Silver Anniversary

OCSE's Tenth National Child Support Enforcement Training Conference, held in Baltimore, Maryland, September 25 - 27, drew more than 600 participants to celebrate 25 years of program success. Opening ceremonies addressed the theme of "25 Years of Giving Hope and Support to America's Children" and highlighted the history and accomplishments of the Child Support Enforcement Program.

A variety of workshops over the three days gave participants a chance to interact with their peers from around the country. Topics included interstate, caseload demographics, welfare-to-work, certification for CSE workers, data reliability audits, security, medical child support, systems, tribal regulations, best practices, and many others.

In his keynote address, OCSE Commissioner David Gray Ross reviewed the "twenty-five truly productive years since the beginning of the CSE Program" and cited numerous personal highlights. "I wanted to accomplish three things when I took this job," he said. "To make the support of children a national priority; to make OCSE a visible agency; and to help the states run effective, successful child support programs. While there will always be room for improvement, I think we're well along the road to all three."

The Commissioner remarked also on how the culture of the agency has changed under his leadership, how it has become more inclusive and welcoming to those who would like to share the struggle with us but who were in past years sometimes overlooked. "When I first came to OCSE," he said, "I placed a banner over my office door that said, 'Children First.' It's still there to remind each of us that we have just one job to do and that is to give hope and support to America's children. The rest will follow."

Speaking to an audience representing 40 states and jurisdictions, Commissioner Ross said, "I am sincerely proud of the work you do, but despite our achievements we cannot rest." He challenged his audience to work together "to ensure that all our Nation's children have the financial and emotional support they need and deserve."

Assistant Secretary for Families and Children Olivia A. Golden later addressed the group. Calling the conference "a celebration of our success and a challenge for the future," the Assistant Secretary called attention to five policies that have contributed significantly to program accomplishments: Children First, staffing teams, partnerships, technology, and training.

Anne Donovan, Deputy Director of the White House Millennium Council and a former OCSE Assistant Commissioner, read a letter from the President to conference participants expressing his appreciation for their work and congratulating them on their success (see below for full text of the letter).

President Salutes Child Support Program's Achievements

The White House Washington September 22, 2000

Warm greetings to everyone gathered in Baltimore for the 10th National Child Support Enforcement Training Conference. I am pleased to join you in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Child Support Enforcement Program and in paying tribute to David Gray Ross, whose leadership has been instrumental in the program's extraordinary success.

For 25 years, our nation's Child Support Enforcement Program has played a vital role in ensuring that all our children have the chance they deserve in life-the chance to reach their full potential.

Children are our greatest hope and our most profound responsibility. Only when all our young people are provided with the best care and support possible can we truly say that we are prepared for the challenges of the 21st century.

Unfortunately, too many of our children suffer needlessly because of parents who have not fulfilled their responsibility to provide basic economic support for their children. Millions of these young people are being forced to grow up in poverty, and their chances to lead full and happy lives are compromised.

For 25 years, our nation's Child Support Enforcement Program has played a vital role in ensuring that all our children have the chance they deserve in life-the chance to reach their full potential. Each of you can take great pride in your dedicated efforts in this endeavor. Your commitment to making sure that parents honor their responsibilities to their own children has helped increase total child support collections nearly every year. In the past year alone, collections increased 10 percent, double what they were in 1992.

These collections have helped open for millions of our nation's children and families doors of opportunity that would otherwise remain closed.

In addition to the funds you have helped families collect, you have also helped to foster strong families and responsible parenting. We've known for a long time now that students do better in school and later in life when their parents are more actively involved in their learning, and that the involvement of fathers during their children's infancy and early childhood years also contributes to their sons' and daughters' emotional security and intellectual development.

While we have made great progress in ensuring that both fathers and mothers provide their children with the emotional and financial support they need to thrive, we still have more to do, and I look forward to future progress on such issues as ensuring that all children born out-of-wedlock have paternity established, that more child support goes directly to families, and that we do everything we can to help low-income fathers work and support their families.

As we move forward in our efforts on behalf of America's children, I'm grateful for all your hard work and the efforts of the 60,000 child support workers you represent. What you do each day matters enormously, and I extend my appreciation and thanks.

Best wishes for a productive conference.

Bill Clinton

Census Bureau Reports That More Custodial Parents Receive Full Amount of Child Support

The proportion of custodial parents receiving all the child support payments they were due increased from 34 percent in 1993 to 41 percent in 1997, according to a recent Census Bureau Report. Another 27 percent of custodial parents received partial payments in 1997, down from 35 percent in 1993.

Overall, two-thirds of custodial parents due child support in 1997 received either full or partial payments, unchanged since 1993. The average amount of child support received by these custodial parents was $3,600, also unchanged since 1993.

The proportion of custodial parents receiving all the child support payments they were due increased from 34 percent in 1993 to 41 percent in 1997.

The proportion of custodial parents with full-time, year-round jobs increased from 46 percent to 51 percent between 1993 and 1997. The poverty rate for custodial parents declined between 1993 and 1997 (from 33 percent to 29 percent), as did the incidence of participating in a public assistance program (from 41 percent to 34 percent).

Other Report Highlights

• As of spring 1998, an estimated 14.0 million parents had custody of 22.9 million children under 21 years of age whose other parent lived elsewhere; 85 percent of these parents were mothers;
• Payment of full or partial child support was most likely when the noncustodial parent had arrangements for joint child custody and visitation. About 83 percent of custodial parents with these arrangements received full or partial support payments, as opposed to 36 percent for those without either shared custody or visitation. The 7.0 million custodial parents with agreements or current child support awards received an aggregate of $17.1 billion, or 59 percent, of the $29.1 billion in child support. Custodial mothers received a greater proportion of the total they were due than did custodial fathers (60 percent versus 48 percent);
• About 7.9 million custodial parents (56 percent) had some type of support agreement or award for their children in 1998. This group comprised 59 percent of custodial mothers and 38 percent of custodial fathers; and
• More than half (56 percent) of all custodial parents received some type of noncash support (gifts, clothes, food) from noncustodial parents for their children.

These data were collected from the April 1994, 1996, and 1998 supplements to the Current Population Survey co-sponsored by the DHHS Office of Child Support Enforcement.

Final Tribal Consultation

The fourth and last Tribal CSE consultation on the Proposed Rule and Interim Final Rule for operating Tribal Child Support Enforcement programs will be held November 28 - 30, 2000. The event will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

All interested parties are invited to attend these public consultations. For hotel reservations, call (602) 333-0000. For more information about the consultations, call Virginia Apodaca at (202) 401-9376. If you would like more information, contact OCSE's Carol Callahan at (202) 401-6969.

Parent Responsibility Employment Program Produces Results in Mesa County, CO

Janet Hamilton

Mesa County's Parental Responsibility Employment Program (PREP) is designed to provide employment and/or training services and counseling to noncustodial parents in an effort to help them meet their child support obligations and build positive relationships with their children.

The Colorado County's Human Services child support and workforce programs, led by the County Commissioners and Executive Director Thomas Papin, are working through PREP to reduce barriers faced by noncustodial parents in meeting their support obligations. Partnerships previously formed with Human Services and Hilltop Community Resources, a local non-profit agency, have been enhanced to include the District Court and the local business community.

Services include employment training and placement, educational opportunities, counseling (drug and alcohol, credit, family) and addressing court actions against those individuals. The effort has resulted in improved relations among noncustodial parents, courts, former spouses, and child support staff.

The flexible nature of this cooperative venture is built upon the strengths and needs of the family and community. Employers are beginning to reap the benefit of a trained workforce, courts are less burdened, child support workers are seen as advocates, and parents are gaining financial independence. But children are enjoying the greatest gains, as parents meet their support obligations.

The flexible nature of this cooperative venture is built upon the strengths and needs of the family and community.

While PREP participants are given temporary suspension of interest accrued on arrears, they are required to pay current support (plus a minimum of $1 on arrears). Any failure results in immediate enforcement action.

In cases referred to PREP during FY 2000, 48 percent of participants are making regular monthly support payments, 41 percent make occasional payments, and 4 percent paid their arrears in full.

Employers are beginning to reap the benefits of a trained workforce, courts are less burdened, child support workers are seen as advocates, and parents are gaining financial independence.

In designing a much needed program that respects an individual's desire to be an active and responsible parent, Mesa County employees and business leaders have created a family-centered program that works-one that can be duplicated wherever a community spirit of cooperation motivates government to focus on uplifting individuals, strengthening families, and benefiting children.

For more information call Janet Hamilton at (970) 248-2787.

Janet Hamilton is Mesa County, Colorado, Child Support Administrator.

Head Start Loses a Leader, Child Support a Friend

Helen Taylor, long-time director of the Head Start Bureau and a good friend of child support who did so much to bring the two programs together, passed away on October 3rd. Her compassion for children and concern for families in need were well known to all who had the pleasure of working with her.

An early promoter of collaboration between Head Start and child support, her efforts to strengthen the bonds between the two programs stand as a tribute to her leadership.

She will be missed.

Interstate Training: the Controlling Order

Dianne Offett

While the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) has been in place nationwide for several years, most interstate staff--when asked what is needed to improve interstate case processing--put training at the top of the list.

The Concept of One Controlling Order

At the heart of UIFSA is the concept of one-order-in time. That is, at any given time, there should be only one controlling order setting out the ongoing support obligation. So, in cases with multiple orders, child support professionals must work with state tribunals to sort through the existing orders and determine which one will be enforced in the future.

For some, however, the controlling order determination process can be confusing. Because of this and because of its importance, sessions on controlling order decision-making are routinely a part of national training conferences, such as OCSE's recent 10th National Training Conference, as well as many regional and state training meetings.

Interstate training sessions typically walk participants through the steps required to reach the one-order-in time that UIFSA requires for interstate cases.

Interstate training sessions typically walk participants through the steps required to reach the one-order-in time that UIFSA requires for interstate cases. To introduce the controlling order concept, participants are typically presented with a series of questions.

Questions to Answer in Determining the Controlling Order

• Where can you enforce an interstate order?
• Which order do you enforce?
• What types of orders are eligible for selection as the controlling order?

The key is to know how many orders are eligible to be the controlling order.

What If There Is More Than One Order?

It's easy if there is only one order: that's the controlling order. If there is more than one order, however, UIFSA sets out some straightforward rules to help you figure out which, if any, of the existing orders controls. But first you must know:

• What states issued the orders;
• The dates of the orders;
• Where the parties currently are living; and
• Where the child has been living for the period leading up to this decision.

At the heart of UIFSA is the concept of one-order-in time--the controlling order.

With this information, you can determine the order to be used for ongoing support enforcement purposes.

Interstate training sessions also typically present information on the process for making--and the possible timing of--controlling order decisions. Because binding controlling order determinations must come from a state child support tribunal, participants examine IV-D and tribunal roles in both single-state and two-state actions.

Further, because the controlling order only settles the issue of prospective child support, training sessions also generally provide an overview of how to calculate arrears in cases with multiple valid orders.

To learn more about OCSE's interstate training and technical assistance efforts, contact Dianne Offett at (202) 401-5425.

Dianne Offett is OCSE's Interstate Officer.

Preliminary Findings from the Wisconsin Child Support Demonstration Evaluation

In most states, children in families receiving TANF cash assistance do not benefit when their noncustodial fathers pay child support. What would happen if all child support paid on behalf of TANF children was passed through to the family and the TANF grant was not affected?

The State of Wisconsin decided to try to answer this question, and the Institute for Research on Poverty is conducting an evaluation of this reform. The evaluation compares outcomes for those who receive a full pass-through with those in a control group, who receive only a portion of what is paid, with the government retaining the balance.

Fathers of children in the full pass-through group are more likely to pay support than are fathers whose children would not get all the support they paid.

Key findings from the evaluation to date:

• As expected, mothers who are in the full pass-through group receive more child support;
• This increase in the incomes of economically vulnerable families comes at little or no overall government cost;
• Fathers of children in the full pass-through group are more likely to pay support than are fathers whose children would not get all the support they paid;
• Those in the control group in Wisconsin keep some child support paid on their behalf. Thus, researchers expect the increase in child support payments and receipts would be even greater in most other states-the majority of which currently retain all child support paid on behalf of TANF recipients; and
• The largest effects are for mothers who have not had recent TANF experience. This suggests a full pass-through policy might have larger effects in the future, because a greater proportion of the TANF caseload in Wisconsin and elsewhere will consist of new cases.

A final report from the experimental evaluation comparing a broad range of outcomes will be available in Spring, 2001, and a report that compares the results from the experimental evaluation with lessons learned from in-depth interviews with low-income fathers and with other nonexperimental analyses is scheduled for Fall, 2001.

For further information, contact the Project Manager, Emma Caspar (608) 265-4168 at the Institute for Research on Poverty; or the Principal Investigators, Dr. Daniel R. Meyer (608) 262-7336 and Dr. Maria Cancian (608) 265-9037; or the Project Officer, Barbara Kipp (608) 264-7737 at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Used with permission.

Tell Us How We Can Improve Child Support Report

Surely this is one of the most exciting times to be working in child support enforcement since the beginning of the program. The idea behind Child Support Report is to promote the interchange of news and ideas among federal, state, and local child support enforcement personnel.

Your opinion matters to us. Any comments, concerns, or compliments you can share with us will help us do a better job for you. Tell us how we can improve CSR to make it a more useful publication to your needs. Take a minute now to send a note to Phil Sharman, Editor, Child Support Report, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20447. Or call him at (202) 401-4626. The report spotlights an issue that is important to child support workers: the connection between good paying jobs and the ability of noncustodial parents to make regular child support payments.

OCSE Responsible Fatherhood Programs Report

The report, OCSE Responsible Fatherhood Programs: Early Implementation Lessons, is a preliminary assessment of eight responsible fatherhood projects funded by OCSE from 1997 - 2001. The funded projects are in the states of California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Programs are collaborating with child support agencies in new ways to educate parents about the child support program, understand their cases and explore their options.

The report indicates that, through December 1999, approximately 1100 unemployed or underemployed fathers were assisted by these demonstrations through job and skills training, child support assistance, parental motivation, access and visitation, and various social services. A future report will evaluate the effectiveness of service delivery.

Based on discussions with program officials and staff, the following lessons concerning implementation of responsible fatherhood programs have been noted.

Findings

• Programs seeking to increase income and stimulate responsible fatherhood should serve a broad group of participants, be flexible about program design and recruitment, and generate services that match the needs of participants;
• While programs should take advantage of collaborations with other community agencies, staff must be knowledgeable about eligibility restrictions that may be in place in other program and funding sources;
• Services provided to project participants by outside agencies should be customized;
• Parents with a history of incarceration and other barriers face particular difficulties;
• Programs are collaborating with child support agencies in new ways to educate parents about the child support program, understand their cases and explore their options;
• Legal information and assistance on access, visitation, and child support have proven to be extremely popular at every site where they are offered;
• Peer support and case management help to cultivate the sense of concern and dignity that participants appreciate;
• Recruiting young or new fathers has proved to be difficult, but there is no single formula for recruitment and retention: many strategies and sources need to be used to attract participants;
• Referrals from child support agencies are an important source that should not be overlooked, though they should not be relied on as the only source; and
• Programs need to have dedicated and energetic staff who know about community services and are good at identifying resources.

For more information, contact David Arnaudo, Deputy Director of OCSE's Planning, Research and Evaluation Division, at (202) 401-5364.

The report, OCSE Responsible Fatherhood Programs: Early Implementation Lessons, was produced by the Center for Policy Research and Policy Studies, Inc., under contract to OCSE.

California Holds Customer Service Summit

California's Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) hosted a Customer Service Summit September 14 - 15 in Sacramento, with statewide attendance from county program directors and other senior officials. Participants from Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, and OCSE also were invited to share their perspectives on customer service.

DCSS Director Curtis Child opened the summit by emphasizing his commitment to customer service and his belief that a service-oriented approach will ultimately lead to more dollars collected for children.

To establish a performance baseline, the Director indicated his intent to carry out a statewide customer service survey. The State has set aside $25 million for local customer service initiatives, half of it to be used to establish an ombudsperson position in each county, the other half for local customer service initiatives.

Mr. Child encouraged participants to be innovative in their deliberations over the two days, to share best practices, and to debate and recommend allocation strategies for the available funding.

Among the topics considered by the groups were public outreach, complaint resolution, services to noncustodial parents, changing the public's perception of child support, and customer service best practices.