Child Support Report

Vol. XXVII, No. 6, Jun 2005

Child Support Report is a publication of the Office of Child Support Enforcement, Division of Consumer Services. CSR is published for information purposes only. No official endorsement of any practice, publication, or individual by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Child Support Enforcement is intended or should be inferred.

Virginia's Best Practices Summit OCSE Turns 30: Ohio Director Reflects on a 'Rewarding Journey' Taking Customer Service to the Next Level Electronic Processing of Income-Withholding Orders Strategize to Get the Results You Want! Father's Day HHS Secretary Leavitt's 500-Day Plan Mark Your Calendar FY 2004 Preliminary Data Report OCSE Handbook IM-05-05

Virginia's Best Practices Summit

By: Bob Osbourne

The Virginia Department of Social Services (DSS), Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE), held its 2nd Annual Best Practices Summit, "Building a Better DCSE," April 2005 in Richmond, VA.

In an era of continuing tight resources, it has become even more necessary for individual states to interact and become efficient in providing the best possible child support enforcement program to its customers.

The states in Region III are proud of their unprecedented level of cooperation and coordination accomplished through best practices conferences. These meetings enhance the lines of communication at all levels concerning lessons learned from successes and mistakes.

Attendees took advantage of the networking opportunities and made contacts with other professionals, not only from Virginia but from other Region III states. They also were given the opportunity to learn about future initiatives that will lead to improved performance and service delivery to child support customers.

Each state in Region III hosts a best practices conference each year, inviting the other IV-D directors from the District of Columbia and the Region's five states: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia. West Virginia held its conference in May 2005.

On the opening day of the Summit, Nick Young, Deputy Commissioner of Virginia Department of Social Services and the Director of the Division of Child Support Enforcement, welcomed and introduced guest speaker DSS Commissioner Anthony Conyers, Jr., and keynote speaker David Siegel, Acting Commissioner of OCSE.

"Interstate Interactions," a workshop by which speakers gave ideas to help states work together to overcome common communication barriers. The speakers were Mike Showers from Pennsylvania, Curt Foster from Delaware, David Welker from West Virginia, Robin Markush from Maryland, and John Greenhough from D.C.

In the workshop, "In-Step with the Military," Rodney Winn, Assistant General Counsel, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), and Lieutenant Colonel Mark Gingras, Deputy Director, Legal Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, spoke about best practices in managing cases involving service members.

Other workshops included: "What's Law Got To Do With It?," "Working with Fathers," "Focus on Interstate Case Management," and "Cold Case Establishment."

OCSE Turns 30: Ohio Director Reflects on a 'Rewarding Journey'

By: Elaine Blackman

From his 30th-floor office, Joe Pilat gazes out the window, his reflection speaking volumes as he ponders 34 years in child support enforcement. "The accomplishments are always outnumbered by the challenges."

No wonder: Every year, the program, with its many changes, tests its managers anew. Add to that, "Every step I've taken, I've walked into difficult situations," explains Ohio's Office of Child Support chief; settings which entailed the need to start from the ground up with organizations in disarray.

Pilat began his career in child support in 1971, in the Monroe County Friend of the Court, moving on to several directorships in Lucas County and then Franklin County CSE agencies. In May 2001, it was onto the State Office of Child Support in Columbus as its assistant deputy director, then up to the top job of deputy director in November 2001.

He recalls a retreat in 1975 that "kicked off the State IV-D program," when the head of the new State office called a meeting of child support professionals. At the time the IV-D program's purpose was to reimburse the government welfare program. "We drove to Higgins Lake in Michigan and sat together in week-long meetings, stayed in dormitory cabins, and hammered out how we were going to do this," says Pilat. "We all knew we had to get it done."

With each new job, Pilat faced different aspects of the program requiring start-up or improvements, such as enforcement of court orders, computerization of functions, or reimbursement to families.

And according to many, he met each one head-on and with great success. Judge June Galvin first hired Pilat in Lucas County to set up a child support bureau. She remembers the stack of applications on her desk, with "Joe's containing the shortest and most unassuming resume." In contrast, "his service to the CSE cause was the longest and best I've ever seen."

Maricarol Torsok, an 11-year co-worker in Lucas, believes Pilat's biggest challenge was creating the County's central child support agency, in 1988, by locating a facility and merging staffs, operations, and equipment from courts and offices carrying out the child support functions. "He met the challenge in less than a year," she says. "I firmly believe that Joe becomes bored if he does not see a challenge before him."

Pilat next brought his "wealth of experience and knowledge about a complex system, as well as a genuine concern for staff and customers" to the Franklin County CSE agency, says Jeff Cabot. Cabot offered him the post after asking around the State for the best county director in Ohio. "Several answered 'Joe Pilat.' "

"He's a competent administrator and more," says Cabot. "He truly cares about people, and it shows."

All praise aside, Pilat is quick to laud the "great people" he's been able to work with, saying, "One person can't pull this off." He also appreciates his "broad range and exposure in the program," including his work with judges, courts, in the counties, and now at the State level.

A caseworker early on, Pilat says he misses his connection with custodial and noncustodial parents, "the individuals who need the help ... That's the beauty of the program and part of the reason I've been around it so long. We help people who would otherwise try to feed their kids" with much difficulty.

Pilat's emphasis on the program's customers, and its partners, is displayed through the pages of the Ohio program's Web site: "How can we help you?"; "If you're an employer, the Office of Child Support welcomes you"; and "Our office appreciates your cooperation in this collaborative effort ..."

He acknowledges that "without computers and all the technology, [running the program] would be a tremendous job ... and all the regulations that have been put in place ... We're a $2 billion business. ... Where we've come over the years has been amazing."

Then, Pilat sums up his musings on a personal note: "It's been an exciting and rewarding journey."

Taking Customer Service to the Next Level

By: Carri Brown

Over the past several years, the Fairfield County, Ohio Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) has worked hard to establish and achieve customer service standards. In tune with its mission statement, which emphasizes the importance of customer service, the agency has established the First Point of Contact Initiative where customer concerns are addressed as soon as possible.

Customer input confirmed that those served by the CSEA desire:

• Voice mail to be used less than 25 percent of the time,
• All calls to be returned within one business day,
• Walk-ins, with or without an appointment, to be seen within ten minutes.

Customer service standards were put in place and monitored to ensure that agency standards were met. Breaking the feedback and customer service statistics down even more, the agency found documentation reflecting an increasing need for customers to call back for follow-up. Customer phone logs indicated that there were repeated calls for service, even though all calls were addressed in a timely manner.

Supervisors and employees alike began to notice that, while standards were being met, there was a definite potential to increase customer satisfaction. For example, as many as 110 calls were transferred to other team members monthly, even though they were addressed within 24 hours.

Establishing Priorities
A work group to establish goals was developed with employee input. Participants included management, case managers, assistants, clerical staff, computer specialists, and local government partners, including Job and Family Service (JFS) personnel and local law enforcement professionals.

Lists of prioritized initiatives were established by consensus and with management approval. The group collaborated on the following tasks:

• Determine the reasons for the large number of transferred calls,
• Reduce the number of transferred calls,
• Conduct internal training for combined agency staff and CSEA staff,
• Create a process to assist staff in addressing the customers at the first point of contact, and,
• Meet with IV-A staff to establish a process to encourage Eligibility Referral Specialists (ERS) to integrate with the CSEA. Without the cooperation and collaboration of the IV-A group, the initiative would be unsuccessful.

Putting the Culture in Place
To determine the reasons for the large number of transferred calls, the group solicited input from all staff. Surveys showed that training was a main issue. Many employees felt challenged answering questions about cases outside of their own caseload. In addition, there were several new employees who had not received internal training or experienced job shadowing.

The CSEA added internal training about the basics of child support: locating parents, determining paternity, establishing support obligations, and enforcing child support orders. Also, all newly hired employees of the CSEA and JFS received an orientation provided by the Director on how the CSEA operates.

Many CSEA and Public Assistance customers were not keeping their appointments. To help improve the communication with IV-A customers referred to the CSEA, the agency initiated a committee with membership from both public assistance and child support. This collaboration resulted in more customers maintaining their appointments with CSEA.

Results

• Transferred calls was reduced by 60 percent.
• Fielded calls was increased by more than 440 percent.
• Internal training was conducted for combined agency staff, and the staff of Children Services, Workforce Development, and Public Assistance. More than 150 people attended the training within a twelve-month period.
• Internal training for CSEA staff, both new and experienced workers, was conducted on standard answers to frequently asked questions, in order to build consistency, accuracy, and employee confidence.
• Internal training on appropriate referrals to other local government organizations and non-profit organizations was conducted. Referrals became accurate, appropriate and useful.
• When customers visit the combined agency to speak with an Eligibility Referral Specialist or to apply for public assistance, the ERS escorts the customer to an Intake Case Manager at the CSEA.
• Missed appointments were reduced by 17 percent in just nine months of increased collaboration with Public Assistance workers.
• Teamwork and morale have increased, as staff began to work together even more than they did prior to the initiative.
• Feedback from the internal training sessions and orientations indicated that negative stereotypes about child support diminished.

Essentially, the Fairfield County CSEA has taken its commitment to excellence in customer service to the next level, ensuring that all employees work together to ensure that customers are addressed in the most informative way possible at the first point of contact.

Electronic Processing of Income-Withholding Orders

By: Lynnetta Thompson

In an effort to reduce the amount of time it takes to process an income-withholding order (IWO), OCSE, in partnership with states and public and private sector employers, has begun an initiative to develop a new electronic format. By allowing income-withholding orders to be submitted electronically, the new format would reduce or even eliminate costs associated with traditional paper processing.

In the near future, states will be able to send income-withholding orders directly to employers electronically. The process being developed and tested is bi-directional, thereby allowing employers the opportunity to provide electronic feedback to states in a timelier manner. For example, if an employee has terminated or is not known to the employer, the state will be able to receive this information much sooner. Processing the IWO in this manner reduces the time required for it to be implemented, in turn reducing the time for child support to be collected.

In order to ensure the success of this initiative, OCSE organized an electronic Income-Withholding Order (e-IWO) work group, which held its first meeting in Chicago in August 2004. In addition to representatives from OCSE, this work group is comprised of employers from both the public and private sector. Participants include the American Payroll Association, a large payroll processor; the Social Security Administration; the Department of Defense; the U.S. Postal Service; and 18 states/tribes/territories and private sector. The work group is committed to identifying and addressing issues vital to the successful implementation of this initiative.

The e-IWO format is based on the most recent Standard Notice Order that was approved by OMB and will accommodate "Flat File, Portable Document Format (PDF) and XML" documents, thus affording the states and employers the ability to select the technology that best suits and meets their needs. This format has been completed and several states and employers began testing in May 2005.

A test conducted by the State of Oregon has yielded great optimism for this project. Oregon tested 87 cases through electronic transmission with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The State found that, in most cases, income withholding was implemented earlier, and child support payments were received within 21 days after transmission of the electronic order, which was a full 19 days sooner than when using paper forms.

OCSE is confident that implementation of this project will reap great benefits for the child support program and would like to welcome other states and employers interested in participating in this pilot to contact Bill Stuart at (518)399-9241 or billstuart@nycap.rr.com, or Carol Callahan at (202)401-6969 or ccallahan@hhs.acf.gov.

Strategize to Get the Results You Want!

By: Eileen Brooks

In order for our services to hit the right targets, the 2005-2009 National Child Support Enforcement Strategic Plan is our framework for action and can help us target our resources:

Emphasize prevention and early intervention
We can set support orders at the right levels and modify them consistent with the obligor's ability to pay.

• Ohio's section 1115 grant is testing whether agency and court "navigators" will improve performance by providing more information to non-custodial parents at first contact, including referrals to needed community services.
• South Dakota's Web Site has modification request forms and a guideline calculator to determine the expected amount of support, so that parents can assess their situation and seek assistance, if needed.
• Idaho partnered with other social services agencies on a "no wrong door" initiative with client-driven systems and cross-program planning. Idaho gets more child support information on their common enrollment form.

Provide proactive case management
Proactive case management involves early, consistent contact with parents.

• Tennessee, Iowa, and Nebraska section 1115 grants are testing contacting non-custodial parents upon delinquency to build relationships and improve payment regularity.
• The Center for Policy Research study showed that parents receiving mediation, parent education, or supervised visitation services paid a higher percentage of child support.
• Australia helps non-custodial parents deal with the emotions of separation through their Me and My Series brochures - Me and My Money, Me and My Kids, Me and My Ex, Me and My Health (focusing on mental health and emotions). Voluntary pay cases cost their agency one-fifth as much as enforcement cases.

Ensure health care coverage for children is a primary consideration
State IV-D, Medicaid, SCHIP, and IV-E managers are meeting regionally this summer to address children's health insurance issues. It is a good time to decide what your agency can bring to this partnership.

The OCSE-157 form will include reporting on medical support. Look for ways to:

• increase the percentage of IV-D cases with orders for medical support
• increase the percentage of IV-D cases with medical coverage.

Eliminate barriers associated with multi-state cases

• Pennsylvania facilitates interstate casework simply by sharing case worker contact information with other jurisdictions.

Use specific collaboration protocols with other agencies that serve our clients, emphasizing timely, accurate data exchange
OCSE's judicial/CSE work group promotes collaboration between IV-D and the judiciary to solve common problems. Several initiatives are planned.

Use time-sensitive, specific customer service protocols for TANF clients
Pennsylvania's work with county assistance offices has increased paternity establishments from 66 to 71 percent and order establishments from 54 to 58 percent in a year.

Customize approach to customer service
The strategies in the 2005-2009 Strategic Plan are the targets that the experts in the Child Support Enforcement program say we should hit. Find the things that make a difference in reaching your customers, partners or staff. You will find something good for children and families - and satisfaction in a job well done!

Father's Day

• 66.3 million is the estimated number of fathers in the United States.

• 26.5 million fathers are part of married-couple families with children under 18.

  Among these fathers:

  • 21 percent are raising three or more children under 18.
  • 11 percent are under the age of 30.
  • 5 percent are 55 and older.

• 2.3 million is the number of single fathers, up from 393,000 in 1970.

  Among these fathers:

  • 10 percent are raising three or more children under 18.

• 98,000 is the estimated number of "stay-at-home" dads.

  Among these fathers:

  • 29 percent had children under 3 years old living with them.
  • 63 percent had two or more children.

HHS Secretary Leavitt's 500-Day Plan

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt uses a 500-Day Plan guided by ten principles, to help fulfill The President's vision of a healthier and more hopeful America.

1. Care for the truly needy, foster self reliance.
2. National standards, neighborhood solutions.
3. Collaboration, not polarization.
4. Solutions transcend political boundaries.
5. Markets before mandates.
6. Protect privacy.
7. Science for facts, process for priorities.
8. Reward results, not programs.
9. Change a heart, change a nation.
10. Value life.

Mark Your Calendar

Administration for Children & Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement
15th National Child Support Enforcement Training Conference
October 24-26, 2005

Hyatt Regency Crystal City
2279 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202

703-418-1234

FY 2004 Preliminary Data Report

The FY 2004 Preliminary Data Report is now available at www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/prgrpt.htm.

OCSE Handbook

The updated OCSE Handbook is available at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/. Hard copies are now available.

IM-05-05

The recently enacted Federal bankruptcy law contains a variety of provisions that will be helpful to states and families seeking to establish paternity and support orders and to enforce child support obligations. Information was provided by IM-05-05, dated May 4, 2005. The IM is available at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/poldoc.htm.

Child Support Report is a publication of the Office of Child Support Enforcement, Division of Consumer Services. CSR is published for information purposes only. No official endorsement of any practice, publication, or individual by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Child Support Enforcement is intended or should be inferred. Internet: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/ Permission to reprint articles is granted Acknowledging CSR is appreciated

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