(NOTE: Includes Findings from the Final Report)

ProjectPlan

The Urban Institute, in partnership with One Economy Corporation, responded to 2004 Priority Area 6: Improving Child Support Services for Ethnic and Culturally Diverse Populations to develop high-quality online child support information specifically for families in low-income, and ethnic and culturally diverse communities. A guiding principle in the National Child Support Enforcement Strategic Plan is that child support services are most effective when cultural differences are respected, and child support programs have an obligation to provide public education and outreach to all families in need. This 17-month grant will produce three sets of bilingual web pages (one national and two local) on http://www.thebeehive.org, and can be used as a model for other local and national sites. The Beehive is an existing website that is not a government site, and is actively used by many low-income and Spanish-speaking families across the country.

The Beehive will address the four main deficiencies in current online content's relevance for people in low-income and underserved communities: literacy barriers, language barriers, lack of cultural diversity, and lack of local information. To develop the child support sections of the Beehive, the grantee will obtain high quality web-based child support information from various groups of interest, research and provide web page content, conduct focus groups with consumers in two local communities of interest, conduct telephone interviews with child support staff and advocates in communities, present the content and solicited feedback at two conferences, and revise the pages to reflect this feedback.

Project Findings (from the Final Report)

An estimated 68% of Americans use the Internet, and some research suggests that the fastest growing group of Internet users is low-income single-mother households, a group of clear interest to the child support community. One Economy Corporation reports that the number of Hispanics using the Internet is growing at a faster rate than any group. Even individuals without Internet access can benefit when they are given the site's information by advocates and community- and faith-based organizations. Many low-income Internet users log on at libraries, community centers, schools, and at another person's home. The Beehive receives as many as 200,000 visits every month, about a quarter of which are to the Spanish Beehive.

A series of child support web pages are available online at the Beehive via the Family and Money sections. Likewise, the child support pages feature links to other parts of the site. The Spanish version is accessible by changing "Language" at the top of the screen. These pages are designed for the National Site, and for the Washington, DC and Portland, OR sites. Clicking on "Switch" changes the page from the national to local page. The pages are also accessible through several links throughout the Beehive site. The website is written at the 6th grade reading level.

The project was met with great enthusiasm and support by consumers, advocates, and local program administrators, confirming the need for "live" Internet content that is accurate, relevant, and accessible to people in ethnic and culturally diverse communities. These bilingual web pages can help reduce information gaps among custodial parents in Hispanic/Latino communities with basic information about child support enforcement, access to services, Spanish language materials for those with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), and information assuring applicants that cooperating with the child support enforcement program will not affect their immigration status.

Lessons Learned

The project did yield several lessons learned: Program knowledge needs to be supplemented with technical expertise in website design, and it helps to have a visible "home base"--an existing website on the Internet; translating online content into languages other than English can present challenges since there may not be consensus on what terms are best; a key element of creating a successful website is simplifying complex, government programs into readily understood terms and steps; it is important to recognize that the website will not cover all situations individuals face; and the site should provide the audience with opportunities to contact and ask questions directly of local IV-D offices and other service providers.

Note: The April 2006 Child Support Report contains an article on the Beehive - http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2006/csr/csr0604.pdf

(NOTE: Includes Findings from the Final Report)

This 17-month grant responded to 2004 Priority Area 4: Expanding Customer Services through Agency-Initiated Contact. The Center for Policy Research conducted an early intervention, multi-site study to assess the use and impact of early intervention techniques in five jurisdictions of varying size.

The jurisidictions were:

• Mesa County (Grand Junction), Colorado
• Lane County (Eugene), Oregon
• Suffolk County (Boston), Massachusetts
• Tarrant County (Dallas), Texas
• Milwaukee County (Milwaukee), Wisconsin

At each site, workers contacted noncustodial parents and/or employers for a sample of 100 to 200 cases. In Oregon, outreach occurred at case opening, prior to the generation of orders. At the other project sites, outreach occurred immediately following the promulgation of a new or modified child support order. The goal of these worker-initiated outreach efforts was to explain the child support obligation and to identify and address barriers to payment before a habit of nonpayment develops and arrears accrue. If noncustodial parents do not respond, the objective was to swiftly initiate enforcement activity.

Using a common data collection form, workers at each site recorded the efforts they made to reach and communicate with non-custodial parents, employers and custodial parents, and the results of these efforts. Project outcomes were assessed by extracting information on child support payments and enforcement actions for all cases exposed to early intervention techniques over a 12-month period of time. A sample of comparable cases using normal agency procedures rather than early intervention techniques was generated at each site and comparable information on case characteristics and payment and enforcement outcomes was extracted from automated child support records. Comparing the sample of early intervention cases to those treated using conventional techniques was expected to document the types of cases and the stages of case processing that were most responsive to agency-initiated outreach efforts, that is, the most effective early intervention techniques that child support workers should use to promote payments and/or initiate child support enforcement activity in a timely manner, the benefits and costs associated with agency-initiated outreach efforts, and the variations in implementation and outcome for early intervention techniques in a variety of geographical settings of different sizes and administrative arrangements.

Project Findings (From the Final Report)

Four of the five sites used proactive, front-end strategies in cases with new or modified child support orders. Oregon, the fifth site, used early intervention at all State child support agencies as part of an "upfront discovery process" for new cases that are current or past recipients of public assistance and/or public health benefits. At all sites, workers were asked to record the contacts they made with parents and employers and other actions related to establishment and enforcement of orders.

At four of the five sites, a comparison group was generated from comparable cases processed using conventional techniques. At least 16 months following the assignment of cases to early intervention, information was collected on payment behaviors and enforcement actions for cases in both groups.

The study had a number of limitations including some significant differences in the types of cases in the early intervention and comparison groups in Texas, an inability to generate a non-treatment comparison group in Oregon, and inconsistent record keeping of early intervention activities in Wisconsin. Despite these limitations, the analysis showed:

• The primary goal of the early intervention effort varied by site: relationship building (Colorado), establishing orders at the right level (Oregon), and faster enforcement actions (Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Texas).
• The sites differed in the percentage of cases in which the early intervention workers made contact with noncustodial parents: Wisconsin (3%), Texas (14%), Massachusetts (33%), Oregon (34%), and Colorado (54%).
• At none of the sites did workers commonly refer parents for services to address barriers to employment.
• Workers made direct contact with one or more parties (custodial parent, noncustodial parent, and/or an employer) in a majority of cases: Colorado (76%), Massachusetts (63%), Oregon (61%), and Texas (55%).
• Early intervention in Oregon produced orders more quickly than traditional case processing and the orders were rarely challenged. The process led to enforcement actions being instituted more quickly in non-paying cases in Wisconsin (contempt, credit bureau reporting) and Massachusetts (credit bureau and driver's license).
• The treatment and comparison groups in Massachusetts and Wisconsin were identical in the percent paying any support and the average percent paid. In Texas, payment patterns favored the comparison group, and in Colorado, the average percent of support paid was higher in treatment cases where the worker made direct contact with the noncustodial parent (57% versus 40%).
• Colorado early intervention cases with brand new orders were significantly more likely than comparison cases to have at least some payment activity (87% versus 71%) and to have lower arrears balances after 12 months ($2,688 versus $5,984).
• Arrears balances at 12 and 24 months following order promulgation for cases in the full sample, early intervention and comparison groups with both new and older orders were not statistically different in the three sites with information: Colorado, Massachusetts, and Texas.

Lessons Learned

The earlier that early intervention takes place in the process the more successful it is, beginning with establishing a new order and following-up immediately when payments are missed. As administrators and line staff attempt to utilize proactive strategies, they will need a variety of approaches and tools to ensure that their efforts are effective.

• Case Selection: To better target the efforts of early intervention workers, agencies need reliable ways of grouping their cases and identifying those that might benefit from proactive approaches. Some jurisdictions have identified some objective client characteristics that are useful predictors of payment compliance, such as: were the parents married? does the NCP have contact with the child? is the youngest child 4 years old or younger? does the NCP have an existing or previous case and is it up to date? has the NCP been consistently employed for the last 3 years? does the agency have current contact details for the NCP?
• Automation: To effectively monitor payment behavior, child support workers need better automated prompts to let them know when payments are missed and flags to remind them to make relevant calls or send notices.
• Agency Practices and Legal Tools: To utilize proactive strategies, agencies need to collect and update home, work, and cell phone numbers for noncustodial parents and to gather information for a secondary contact. They also need legal authority to subpoena cell phone numbers in a batch fashion.
• Resources: To use personalized outreach techniques, workers need realistic caseloads and/or appropriate specialization arrangements.
• Defining the Intervention and Staff Training: If intensive front-end approaches are to be used, workers need to be trained on intervention goals and how to build rapport and connect with noncustodial parents.
• Future Research: Future studies need to be large in scale and should include randomly generated treatment and comparison groups to permit the analysis of outcome patterns for various relevant sub-groups. They should also use standardized measures of payment, such as the percent of the obligation due that is actually paid.

Additional Comments

Presentation on project findings at the 2007 NCSEA Policy Forum

This 17-month grant responded to 2004 Priority Area 5: "Helping Non-custodial Parents (NCPs) Meet Their Child Support and Family Responsibilities." EPIC was designed to reverse the high rate at which imputed or presumed income was used to establish child support orders. The project partners were the San Francisco Unified Family Court and its designated Family Law Facilitator.

The project set out to test the hypothesis that enhanced customer service and outreach strategies would reduce the order establishment default rate. The evaluation design used a random assignment methodology of new cases, with one set of cases being assigned to the "EPIC Team" and the other set of cases being exposed to the standard establishment practices and procedures employed by the CSE agency.

The "EPIC Team" consisted of two experienced child support workers who received specialized training on the following six alternative establishment intervention methods; they also received ongoing cross-training with court staff:

1. A letter written in basic language was mailed to NCPs advising them of the child support action filed against them. The letter detailed next steps and provided CSE contact information;
2. If there was no response to intervention #1, the case worker attempted telephone contact with the NCP to set up a pre-conference where they would discuss basic elements of the establishment/enforcement process;
3. If steps 1 and 2 proved unsuccessful, the next step taken involved a customized service-of-process;
4. If the NCP continued to be unresponsive, further telephone and mail correspondence was initiated;
5. A "status conference" meeting between CSE and the NCP was the final outreach effort by the EPIC team for the purpose of eliciting cooperation by the NCP in the establishment process;
6. The "post judgment default letter," where issued, was an effort by the CSE agency to explain the meaning of a default judgment and to offer in-office assistance in modifying the order, if necessary.

The EPIC project goals were to:

1. Increase the efficiency of the order establishment procedure.
2. Reduce the number of non-collectable judgments and high arrears orders due to order establishment based on default judgments and imputed income.
3. Provide better customer service resulting in increased NCP participation in the establishment process.
4. Increase the rate of collections and overall support to families.

Project Findings (from the Final Report):

1. Overall results:

   • For the 588 EPIC cases, 399 resulted in judgments (only 46 were by default; 116 were by court order; and 237 were stipulated).
   • For the 581 non-EPIC cases, 439 cases resulted in judgments (284 were by default; 63 were by court order and 92 were stipulated).

2. Goal 1: To increase the efficiency of the order establishment procedure.

   Finding: Over the duration of the project tracking period (1/1/2006 - 9/30/2006) there was no appreciable difference in the amount of time it took to establish a support between the control and treatment groups.

3. Goal 2: To reduce the number of non-collectable judgments and high arrears orders due to order establishment based on default judgments and imputed income.

   Findings: Only 11% of the EPIC cases resulted default judgments while 65% of the non- EPIC cases resulted in default judgments. Also, almost all judgments in the EPIC cases were based on income data; nearly 20% of the judgments in the non-EPIC cases were based on presumed income.

4. Goal 3: To provide better customer service resulting in increased NCP participation in the establishment process.

   Findings: The alternative outreach strategies for the EPIC cases resulted in more than 70% of these cases having NCP participation in the order establishment process thereby eliminating the need to serve notice. This compares favorably to a NCP participation rate of less than 8% in the non-EPIC cases. Further, for 79% of the non-EPIC cases that received judgment (123 of the total 155 cases) it was only after being served that the NCP became engaged in the establishment process.

5. Goal 4: To increase the rate of collections and support to families.

   Findings: Over the consecutive three-quarter tracking period in 2006, custodial parents in the EPIC treatment group received a total of $52,987.50 more than the CPs in non-EPIC cases. The increase in collections was strongly associated with the customer-friendly approach of the EPIC treatment intervention.

Lessons Learned/Next Steps:

1. NCPs and CPs alike must be encouraged by staff to participate throughout the life of a case. The ongoing effort to communicate with the NCP directly was cost-effective and efficient. Results included a decreased default rate, more orders based on income rather than an imputation formula and a more timely entering of support orders into the child support system. Anticipated additional long-term benefits are better relations between CSE and the parents and better compliance with support obligations.
2. Use of the telephone whenever possible to speak to customers gets better results than sending another letter.

3. Building and maintaining open channels of communication with stakeholders and partners is the critical key to success. Communication is especially noteworthy:

   1. with staff and partner agencies when changing the caseload structure from functional to cradle-to-grave.
   2. when joining forces with the Sheriff's Department, Public Defender and District Attorney, and Adult Probation to facilitate movement of non-confidential information between shared customers
   3. to inform staff and the state office of the results achieved by the demonstration and to propose strategies to roll out the tested procedures and protocol to other jurisdictions within the state, if indicated.
Grant Number: 90FI0063
Project Officer: John Langrock, jlangrock@acf.hhs.gov
Project Period: 07/01/2004 through 11/30/2005 (extended through 06/30/2006)

This 17-month project responds to 2004 Priority Area 7: Furthering the Child Support Mission to Ensure All Children Receive Financial and Medical Support from Their Parents. The Connecticut Judicial Branch, Support Enforcement Services proposes a six-fold method of increasing child support payments and preventing non-compliance with child support orders:

1. Initiate contact with the non-custodial parent (NCP) prior to any defaults in payment.
2. Increase access to child support and related assistance.
3. Improve clarity and availability of case-related information.
4. Provide non-traditional office hours of child support agencies.
5. Connect NCPs with support systems (i.e., fatherhood programs).
6. Design organizational packet that assists NCPs manage child support responsibilities (i.e., court date reminders, documentation checklists).

This project strives to approach child support through a proactive, client-centered orientation, similar to that of Australia's child support system.

While still in the development phase, this project has developed significant contributions to the child support community in the form of the following three deliverables: Customer Service Satisfaction Survey (including a telephone script which troubleshoots intercepted survey attempts such as voice mail or no answer); Specialized Informational Brochures; and Specialized Letter of Introduction for an automated notification system.

(NOTE: Includes Findings from the Final Report)

Purpose: This project was in response to 2004 Priority Area 2: Educating Public on Parental Responsibilities and Promoting Healthy Marriage. Its goals are to enhance child support's community interaction to promote parental responsibility and healthy marriage in Polk County, and to increase awareness in the county of the benefits of healthy marriage and delaying becoming a parent until marriage. The project will achieve an increased presence through presentations, public awareness campaigns, partnerships, and staff training.

Project Findings (from the Final Report):

1. Create a better understanding of the purpose and goals of child support and the connection to outcomes for children.

   Due to the increased presence in the community, the grantee felt they would see a decrease in the number of calls to the child support customer service center. After an initial increase which may be attributed to the new awareness within the community of child support services and the child support call center, there was a decrease over a three month period as compared with the previous year. Although not at the 5% figure they had hoped for, a decrease of 4.37%, 1.71% and 3.62% respectively in calls has been realized during the three-month period.

   A 2% increase was projected in the increase of the amount of current child support collected in the month due in Polk County, but a 3.38% increase compared with the previous year exceeded expectations. Likewise a 2% increase in paternity establishment was projected, but 9.5% was the actual increase when compared with the previous year. The goal of a 5% decrease of child support debt owed, did not occur. During that same period an increase in the average amount of arrears per case was noted which may account for this result.

2. Increase the awareness of the costs and commitment to raise a child.

   A broad range of public awareness activities provided Polk County residents with information on the importance and positive outcomes of parental responsibility, the benefits of healthy marriage to children and adults and the advantages of delaying parenthood until after marriage. As part of its public awareness campaign, the agency distributed 69 "Did You Know" email messages to a distribution list that includes community providers, faith-based organizations, business leaders, parents, child support staff, and schools. Topics included information on the positive outcomes of father involvement and healthy relationships. The initial distribution list included 93 names and as of March 31, 2006 there were 189 names on the distribution list. Two examples are found on the attached pdf file at the end of this abstract.

3. Increase local child support staff's awareness of community resources available to help families.

   Seventy five percent of the child support staff in Polk County was targeted for training on community resources and over 82% actually received training. Staff reported improved interaction with community providers. The rate of referrals to these resources increased. The grantee compared the number of referrals to community agencies in January, February and March of 2005 to the same months in 2006. January 2006 reflected an increase of 45.9%; February reflected a 111.8% increase; and March's increase was 151.2%.

4. Create awareness and enhanced cooperation with providers and community and faith-based organizations to promote healthy marriage and fatherhood.

   As a result of increased public awareness the grantee identified 39 additional places of worship offering marriage support groups, 13 additional fatherhood support groups and 25 additional places offering mentoring programs for fatherless youth since the beginning of this grant.

Lessons Learned:

1. Many men crave recognition and respond to venues that specifically focus on them as men and fathers. Men were delighted and a bit embarrassed when recognized at the baby fairs, bridal fairs, baseball games, Kids Fest, and Parents' Day at the Zoo. The CSE project staff also discovered how little affirmation parents, and especially fathers, actually do get.

2. Engaged couples attending bridals fairs are committed to the idea that they will get married and stay married. The theme for the bridal fairs, "Marriage...It is more than a Day", resonated with exhibitors, couples, the event coordinator, and the community.

3. Involvement by CSE staff in providing presentations to the public and volunteering at community events created a culture change within the Child Support agency. There has been a new appreciation by staff of the many community resources that can assist them in referring clients as well as the opportunity afforded them to help enhance the role of Child Support within the larger community. Because of this involvement, some of the CSE staff has requested that an annual refresher be provided to senior staff and ongoing education be provided to new staff on community resources by representatives of the community agencies.

4. Because the program design was very ambitious in scope as well as multifaceted there were many activities to manage and for which the grantee needed to gain support and participation. The project had a large number of strategies to increase public awareness and it was challenging to carry out all of the activities.

Due to the diversity of the program, a variety of evaluation methods were used. Some of the methods included pre- and post- test, self-reporting, telephone surveys, child support payment information, paternity establishment figures and debt data from child support cases in Polk. Iowa State University, the YMCA and child support staff all participated in various components of the evaluation.

NOTE: This New Orleans-based project was forced to close due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina. On October 15, 2005 the grantee indicated that "due to the total loss of our office facility and its contents, it is impossible to conduct the program. Additionally our staff and clients are dispersed throughout the country and many are not expected to return to the area in the near future."

This 17-month grant project responds to 2004 Priority Area 6: Improving Child Support Services for Ethnic and Culturally Diverse Populations. The project's aim is to increase child support payments and paternity establishment by identifying barriers and implementing strategies to "bridge the gap" between culturally diverse populations and available child support services. Project Bridging the Gap targets its services to direct-service delivery professionals and the community at large, with an emphasis on African-American, refugee, and Hispanic/Latino communities.

The Louisiana Family Council is spearheading a collaborative effort with Louisiana State University Human Development Center, Family Court Judges, New Orleans Housing Authority, Caring to Love Ministries' Crisis Pregnancy Centers of Louisiana, Great Expectations Foundation, Support Enforcement Staff, as well as other community- and faith-based organizations. Three primary strategies of this project are to convene forums, develop a two-part, state-wide training for Support Enforcement Staff (SES), and implement a pilot program. The forums address systemic change, current service design, and utilization of state statutes at the macro level. The state-wide training prepares SES to improve customer-service relations and to develop a plan that educates legislators about barriers faced by underserved ethnic and culturally diverse populations. Lastly, the pilot project, entitled "Stop the Drama," educates parents about the child support system, child support resources, and other family service agencies in the community.

LFC utilizes media communications as an avenue for reaching program constituents such as the Black Judges Association, Police Jury Association, and the like. Examples of communication initiatives include, but are not limited to, public service announcements, a televised presentation, and a magazine article.

Furthermore, Project Bridging the Gap proposes the following deliverables: a programmatic brochure and curriculum entitled Everything You Wanted to Know About Child Support But Were Afraid to Ask and Stop the Drama.

LFC identifies two barriers to the project: 1) winter holiday schedules which delayed program development and 2) staffing configuration which limited the amount of requests for services that the program could meet.

This grant responds to 2004 Priority Area 5: Helping Noncustodial Parents (NCPs) Meet Their Child Support and Family Responsibilities. The Family Employment and Support Program (FESP) is a court-supervised program that assists noncustodial parents (NCPs) who are behind in their child support payments to obtain full-time employment. Participants are required to submit employment applications and meet regularly with employment coordinators for job referrals. Assistance in improving interview skills and résumé writing are available for program participants.

One of the key elements of the program is that this project is directly under the control of the Court. It was believed from the beginning that if program goals were to be achieved and have an impact on clients, it was necessary to have the direct leadership of the Judiciary. One of the first steps involved consolidating all of the child support dockets before one judge who would consistently apply the same policy to all program participants. Professional employment coordinators were hired with the grant funds. Two-month review procedures were then established so that progress could be determined with respect to NCPs and their quest for employment. Another important aspect of the program was the use of Writs of Attachment for parents who refused to participate in the program. The word on the street quickly spread that if parents failed to take the program seriously, the Court would intervene when necessary. Therefore, one of the key aspects of this program was court supervision and intervention with unemployed noncustodial parents.

In terms of the general profile of parents participating in the program, the average age was 37. This was very consistent with the Court's survey prior to the grant program. Approximately 79 percent of the population is African American, mostly males living with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or siblings. (Approximately 75 percent of the population lives as a dependent with someone else.) In terms of criminal background activity, current data shows that 86 percent of the participants have a criminal background, most of which is drug-related. The timing of criminal activity is somewhat mixed in that it is more frequent with younger participants as opposed to older parents who may have a history of criminal activity from more than ten years ago. These clients are offered the same services as everyone in the program such as substance abuse treatment, job readiness training, resume writing, skill level advancement training, etc. The only difference is that these noncustodial parents may be given a referral to an employer that hires ex-offenders. It was also noted that the older population appeared to be more focused in terms of reunification, both from a visitation and child support standpoint.

Finally, with respect to education, about a third of the population had less than a high school diploma or GED.

There were various service providers who assisted with this program. They included:

• Judges of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County;
• Baltimore County Executive;
• Family Division of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County;
• Baltimore County Office of Child Support;
• Attorney General's Office (Towson Office);
• Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office;
• Office of the Public Defender Office for Baltimore County;
• Circuit Court Clerk's Office;
• Baltimore County Sheriff's Office;
• Court Administrator's Office; and
• Criminal Justice Coordinator's Office.

Another important element of this program was employment development. To develop this base, project staff worked within the County with the Employment Offender Network. This group was established so that diverse employment programs could share databases for future referrals. Agencies participating in this network included: the County Executive's Office; the Department of Social Services, the Office of Employment and Training; the Department of Economic Development, the Division of Corrections; and the Community College of Baltimore.

Project Findings (from the Final Report):

Goal- In a given year, the program anticipated that 200 NCPs would be ordered or would voluntarily consent to participate in the program.

As of February 28, 2007, there were 201 participants in the program. Of those, 135 parents are employed and paying child support. This represents approximately two out of every three parents (67.16%) in the program who are employed and paying child support.

Goal- The program anticipated that 80 percent of the enrolled parents would be employed within 8 weeks after entering the program.

The average length of time to obtain employment was about 8.4 weeks, which is very close to the stated objective in the grant proposal. The median income of the parents in the program is $12.62 per hour and over the course of the 22-month history of the project history that amount has increased by more than 50 percent.

Goal- After the first year of operation, the program expected that 50 employers would be recruited within the Metropolitan Baltimore area willing to act as a referral source for employment for the FESP program.

FESP has an employer base of 36 employers in the Baltimore Metropolitan area. They are currently working on the stated goal of 50 employers. Additionally, the program utilized six training programs.

Goal- After the first year of operation, FESP would be responsible for collecting $200,000 in child support payments and after two years the total collection rate would climb to $400,000.

In terms of child support collections, FESP is well on the way toward collecting more than $400,000 annually. During the first seven months of operation, FESP collected $35,448.39 or an average of $5,064 per month. Over the next 12 months, FESP collected $292,921.16 or an average of $24,410.09 per month. Between July and September, FESP collected $103,688.69 for the last three months or an average of $34,562.89 per month. Projected over a 12-month period, this would mean that anticipated collections would amount to $414,000 annually. In that event, the collection-to-cost ratio would be approximately $4.10 for every $1.00 spent on program costs.

Lessons Learned/Next Steps

All child support dockets were consolidated under one judge to ensure that the same policy was consistently applied to all participants. Professional employment coordinators were hired who had experience working with similar populations. Under the project model, the employment coordinators worked directly for the court and responded to court policies and procedures.

The key to success of this project was the constant followup and assistance provided by the court so that noncustodial parents would continue to pursue employment to support their children. Another important aspect of the program was the use of Writs of Attachment (i.e., a warrant to bring the noncustodial parent before the court) for parents who refused to participate in the program.

The FESP model can be adapted to various settings depending on the size of the court and its locale. It can be integrated into a Family Court or can remain distinct as a separate program within the Court. It can utilize the professional staff under the direction of the Court or develop in partnership with other agencies that provide similar services within the community.

The keys are court intervention, employment assistance and holding parents more accountable in obtaining employment and paying child support.

The grantee has identified "Ten Important Steps in Developing Successful Employment Programs."

The Ten Important Steps are:

• Judicial Leadership
• Steering/Implementation Committee Guidance
• Coordination with Other Child Support Efforts
• Identification of the Target Population
• Pursuit of Funding
• Involvement of Employment Staff
• Rules and Procedures
• Forms/Assignment/Case Management
• Monitoring
• Publication of Results

Baltimore County has been very helpful in providing assistance to other jurisdictions that wish to benefit from the Program's success. This includes presentations at State and Multi-State Meetings and hosting visitors from a variety of jurisdictions.

Finally, the costs to operate FESP have been completely picked up by the State through the Family Division grant.

The Michigan State Court Administrative Office's Friend of the Court Bureau (SCAO) sought to address the problems related to increasing prisoner arrears through the Prisoner Support Adjustment Project. This 17-month project responded to 2004 Priority Area 1: Improving Judicial Processing of Child Support Case Activities. Imprisoned NCPs were unable to appear at child support proceedings, and rarely possessed either the knowledge or motivation to seek a modification from behind bars to give increased visibility to how they would achieve support goals. The project was designed to test the effectiveness of using audio and video technology in allowing the prison population to gain access to Michigan child support proceedings, and further explore its uses beyond the target population. In addition, the project sought to overcome other procedural barriers by quickly identifying prisoner cases; modifying orders during imprisonment and implementing prospective support orders that become effective upon release; and facilitating new and innovative partnerships between the courts, department of corrections, the office of child support, and the SCAO. The project also was designed to better enable released prisoners to pay future support and involve themselves in their children's lives.

The program planned an outcome evaluation that would focus on the following program objectives: Overcoming procedural barriers related to facilitating court access and case processing for prisoners needing a reduction in support; significantly improving collection percentages; improving customer service to an underserved population (incarcerated, indigent parents); and reducing prisoner-related transportation and security costs associated with inmates' physical presence in court.

Project Findings (from the Final Report)

Statewide, support orders were modified in 3,370 prisoner-related cases and reduced, on average, from $220 per month to $19 per month. Over the next year, these modifications will prevent the accumulation of over $8,150,000 in uncollectible past-due support and surcharge.

In pilot counties, 367 hearings were conducted where the prisoner appeared via telephone conferencing or interactive video technology. The Michigan Department of Corrections estimates that it saves at least $170 per hearing when prisoners "attend" without the need for transport. Pilot county hearings saved the State over $60,000 in transportation and prisoner escort costs.

The project offered prisoners free legal representation to modify support obligations in 838 cases by having prisoners request assistance from two State law schools. Supervised by a licensed attorney, law students gained valuable experience in preparing cases and representing clients.

The project developed user-friendly materials for inmates to use to modify their support obligations without the need to hire an attorney. The materials included easy-to-understand instructions with simplified pro per forms (i.e., for lay people). These forms and instructions were sent to 933 cases for prisoners to use to initiate and represent themselves at legal proceedings.

The project established new working relationships among the Michigan Department of Corrections, State Court Administrative Office, and the Office of Child Support. The agencies have begun working together on child support issues related to planning for prisoners re-entering society following release from incarceration.

Lessons Learned

The project did yield many lessons learned: To the extent possible, do not rely on prisoner communication or responses in order to initiate review and modification of an incarcerated parentÂ’s support obligation (prisoner response rates varied from 20 to 25%). Utilizing administrative processes to review and holding hearings only when a party objects to a proposed outcome modifies orders faster and reduces the number of support modification hearings. In large part, success of any incarcerated parent-related project depends on the cooperation and assistance from corrections officials.

Also, one must be aware that prisoners do not have routine access to the internet or direct access to telephones so they may not be able to access forms or call 1-800 numbers. Correctional agencies also have policies and restrictions regarding receiving and sending mail.

This demonstration and evaluation project responds to 2004 Priority Area 1: Improving the Judicial/Administrative Processing of Child Support Enforcement Case Activities. It enabled the Allegheny County Family Division to maximize the participation of noncustodial parents (NCPs) who do not live in close proximity to Allegheny County in court proceedings related to their child support orders. The project involves the 95% of inter-county cases that are not heard by a Judge, and in which Allegheny County has either long-arm jurisdiction or venue.

The project tested the effectiveness of allowing nonresident parents to "appear" at court hearings through teleconferencing and videoconferencing, and to provide documents for evidence through faxing. Increasing NCP participation should result in fewer default orders based on dated or erroneous income information, greater understanding by the NCP of the child support obligation, and better information about employment. This should result in a higher percentage of support paid.

This project involved an examination of a provision of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.

The project implemented an experimental design, comparing key outcome variables between a group of parents that have the use of video- and teleconferencing and a control group that does not. A process evaluation assessed the project's implementation and potential for replication. NCPs with a Social Security number (SSN) ending in an odd number were assigned to the experimental group and offered the teleconference option. NCPs with an even SSN comprised the control group and were treated in the normal manner. All members of the test group that received good service-of-process were encouraged, but not required, to participate.

The project was designed to increase the appearance rate, obtain better data and increase payments because NCPs from other counties and States would be more invested in the program.

Noncustodial parents in both groups were mailed a notice and assigned a date for a conference and hearing (if needed). NCPs in the experimental group were mailed additional materials inviting them to participate via teleconference and explaining the requirements along with a cover letter and an application.

Project Findings

Goal: Videoconferencing as an acceptable alternative to appearances in person. The project found that other child support agencies for the most part did not have equipment to do this or they were unwilling to assist (this unwillingness to assist also extended to some teleconferences).  Thus, the project was unable to fully assess impact of the videoconferencing.

Goal: Teleconferencing as a technique to increase collections. This did occur. Payments for cases in the experimental group averaged 64 percent of the obligation. This included customers that were offered the chance to appear remotely but chose to appear in person. Payments in the control group averaged 54 percent of the obligation. This is a statistically significant finding.

Lessons Learned

• Many NCPs, when offered the chance to appear remotely, chose to appear in person. Only 32 percent of the 325 eligible cases appeared remotely, 29 percent chose to appear in person and 39 percent failed to appear.
• None of the teleconferencing participants elected to use video technology.
• Convenience was the key reason parents gave for teleconferencing.
• Teleconferencing appealed to NCPs who appear to be better off financially and better educated than many child support populations.
• Teleconferencing appealed to NCPs who lived a great distance from the court.
• Teleconferencing was an effective way of communicating with NCPs about their personal child support situation.
• Both users of teleconferencing and those who participated personally rated their experience highly.
• According to surveyed NCPs, Conference and Hearing Officers took extra effort to explain items and answer NCP questions on the telephone.
• The custodial parents did not object to the teleconferences.
• Discerning credibility and obtaining last-minute financial documents were disadvantages of teleconferences.
• Customers rated their experiences highly both with personal conferences and teleconferences.

Allegheny County considers the "Courtroom of the Future" project a success. This is based on (1) convenience to the NCP customer with no loss in quality and no objection from the custodial parent and (2) a significant increase in payment from NCPs that participated in teleconferencing. This creates a "win-win-win" situation through convenience to the NCP, higher payments to the family and increased collections for the child support office.

As a result, Allegheny County will continue utilizing distance technology. This will include participation in national forums for child support to educate the professional community about video and teleconferencing.

(NOTE: Includes Findings from the Final Report)

Purpose: This 17-month grant responds to 2004 Priority Area 2: Educating the Public on Parental Responsibilities and Promoting Healthy Marriage. The project will use a collaborative approach to reach unwed parents, particularly fathers, at their most vulnerable times (3 months before and after the birth of the child) to provide service intervention (particularly acknowledgement of paternity). The project also targeted unwed teens and young adults who were not parents to educate them on the benefits of marriage and the consequence of having children out of wedlock and to inform them of the various child support laws. A specialized caseworker was housed at the Memphis Regional Medical Center (MED) to fulfill the requirements of the project.

The goals were to:

• Promote healthy marriages;
• Increase voluntary paternity acknowledgements;
• Increase child support payments; and
• Reduce out-of-wedlock births for older teens and young adults who were not parents.

Project Findings (from the Final Report):

1. Acknowledgement of Paternity

   The project appeared to be successful in increasing voluntary acknowledgements of paternity. In comparing the data on voluntary acknowledgements completed during the January - December 2005 period with the same time period for 2004, there was a 3.5% increase in voluntary acknowledgements.

   PSI, the evaluation contractor, believes that the increase in paternities is directly attributed to the specialized caseworker being physically located at the MED.

2. Reduce Out-of-Wedlock Births

   In an effort to reduce the out-of-wedlock birth rate, the specialized caseworker routinely conducted workshops at various locations in the Memphis Area. There is no definitive way of tracking the success of this goal; one can only surmise that the outreach and educational activities of the project were considered to be successful. This conclusion was formed based on the positive feedback received from the participants. This project helped to fill a gap in the need for services aimed at reducing out-of-wedlock births in this community.

   Over 26% of the unwed mothers giving birth at the MED were between the ages of 12 and 19. It is the opinion of the specialized caseworker and the evaluator that more needs to be done to reach teens at an earlier age to educate them on healthy relationships, parental responsibility, abstinence, and birth control.

3. Increase Child Support Payments

   The contractor did not show whether there was an increase in child support collections based on the services provided specifically related to this project. However, it was determined that "a large percentage of the mothers who have had previous children did not receive any child support." Only 18% of those mothers reported receipt of child support payments.

   About 39% of mothers in this population received any cash public assistance. "Additional study of this issue is warranted, including ethnographic studies."

4. Promoting healthy marriages

   Surprisingly, there were more fathers (42.4%) interested in marrying than mothers (29.6%). Even though these individuals indicated that they had thought about marriage, only 17% of the mothers and 21% of the fathers were interested in receiving material on the benefits of marriage; and about 13% of the mothers and 18% of fathers wanted the marriage preparation courses.

   The project worked closely with Families Matter on marriage promotion efforts. A total of 60 couples were referred to marriage counseling or preparation classes; however, only 5% actually showed up or contacted the marriage related services. The marriage prep course was not a success; couples would not show up for the classes.

Lessons Learned:

1. There are special needs to be considered when you are working with low-income and below-poverty level individuals. Education, lack of income, lack of transportation, and lack of moral support are all factors which must be considered.
2. Couples would be more inclined to participate in marriage related classes if there were incentives attached to attending classes; i.e., free baby sitting services, bus fare, gift certificates for baby clothes, disposable diapers, etc. There was a high rate of multiple partners among the unwed mothers giving birth at the MED. The high rate of multi-partnered births presents a challenge for marriage promotion policies and raises a question of "who should marry whom."
3. There were a large number of extremely young girls having babies in this community. Because of this, there is an urgent need to begin services to educate this population at an earlier age.

(NOTE: Includes Findings from the Final Report)

Project Plan

This 17-month project addressed 2004 Priority Area 7: Furthering the Child Support Mission to Ensure All Children Receive Financial and Medical Support from Their Parents. The project was designed to evaluate if a child support agency could effectively identify, assess, and collect child support arrears from pension and retirement plans on a large-scale basis. The OAG Child Support Division (CSD) collaborated with a contractor who provided services to help staff better understand what a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is, including the law and processes involved. The contractor also produced QDROs for use by the CSD.

Background

A QDRO is an order requiring an employer-sponsored retirement plan to pay to assigned payees all or part of the funds in an employee/participant's retirement plan pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Retirement plans established under ERISA are generally exempt from garnishment and liens. The only way to reach this asset is by the QDRO process. In Texas, the child support Domestic Relations Order is based on a finding of arrears pursuant to a prior child support order. It becomes "Qualified" when the plan confirms that the order meets the requirements of the plan for the disbursement of the funds. Disbursements may be in the form of a lump sum or monthly payment, available now or in the future, depending on the participant’s eligibility for drawing funds under plan rules.

The project had two phases: program design and execution. During the design phase, a CSD team identified specific tasks, deliverables, process definitions, and human resources needed for the project. The development of internal policies and procedures for the use of QDROs for child support and contracting with a consultant to gain expertise on the use of QDROs were key items.

The second phase of the project was the actual execution of the project design, which involved a pre/post methodology. Identifying a target group of employers with whom the CSD could work in processing QDROs. Many of the employers had understandable concerns - confidentiality, liability, privacy issues - in disclosing information about employees and their pension plan benefits. It took time to build relationships to overcome their resistance to cooperating with the QDRO team and participating in the project. By the end of the project, the CSD was able to conduct matches with nine employers, while continuing negotiations with several others.

Project Findings

• The project collected $833,998 for 318 cases. The total arrears owed in the cases of the project were $8,231,203 and, over the life of these QDROs, the total amount the CSD projects collecting is $3,897,198. Thus, the program expects to reduce the total arrearage of these QDRO cases by 47%. Actual collections and success of the project will vary depending on many variables. The project had a "return-on-grant" ratio of 9 to 1. The calculation is based on the collections resulting from the grant project vs. the amount of the grant itself. This means that for every dollar of the grant, the project recouped $9 in QDRO collections.
• Ninety-six of the QDRO cases involved defined benefit plans, of which 46 resulted from mass matching and 50 from individual referrals. A lump sum payment was collected if the noncustodial parent (NCP) participated in a defined contribution plan. For a NCP who participated in a defined benefit plan but has not yet retired, a QDRO was obtained that awarded a percentage of future payments to the custodial parent.
• Demonstrated that a QDRO can be an effective enforcement tool in cases where the NCP has a pension plan.
• Project showed that the CSD can collect child support in QDRO cases.
• Introduced mass data matching to CSD field staff as an effective new collection tool. Mass matching consisted of obtaining a list of all participants in a retirement plan for a given company. Using social security numbers, we matched retirement plan participants with NCPs in our case load. Those who matched were deemed candidates for further QDRO investigation.
• Increased the familiarity of the child support staff with using QDROs as an enforcement tool.
• Identified legislative changes needed to simplify the use of QDROS. Federal law specifies that only a QDRO can reach the funds in these retirement plan accounts; however, the procedure for obtaining a QDRO is left up to State determination. The Texas Child Support Division is contemplating legislative proposals to make the QDRO process more efficient.
• Identified employers and plans where QDROs produced collections.
• Discovered that the time period from identifying a potential case to payment pursuant to a QDRO is longer than expected.
• QDRO action prompted some obligors to pay towards their arrears, without the OAG actually filing a QDRO against their retirement fund.

Lessons Learned

• Significant effort is required to build relationships with plan administrators. The Special Collections Unit that processes QDROs must learn the procedures and protocols for dealing with plan administrators and how the various QDRO processes work.
• Each plan and plan administrator has different requirements and procedures. There is no single standard QDRO format, language, or process, because there is no consistency among plans. The OAG identified the basic elements that are required for QDROs and will promote the use of a standardized form to the extent possible.
• Some plan administrators were resistant to sending money through the State Disbursement Unit, preferring to send it directly to the alternate payee. Until the CSD can get automated tracking support, each case/payment must be manually monitored to ensure that payments are credited correctly.
• Automation support is essential for accurate tracking of identified cases, amounts owed and potential collections.
• Actual collections were slower in posting than expected. In numerous instances, the retirement plan administrators had the signed orders, but took in excess of 90 days to process the payments.
• QDRO processing may involve a time-consuming sequence of events due to existing constraints at the courts and the plan administrator’s interpretation of a "reasonable" time frame to act on a QDRO.
• As the field staff gained familiarity with the QDRO process, they embraced this collection tool and identified QDRO opportunities.
• QDROs filed against individually identified retirement plans have resulted in larger collections than those filed after mass matches with employers.

(NOTE: Includes Findings from the Final Report)

Project Plan

This 17-month grant responds to 2004 Priority Area 7: Furthering the Child Support Mission to Ensure All Children Receive Financial and Medical Support from Their Parents. Project Web-Med Support seeks to improve and enhance systems for assuring affordable health care coverage for children served by the Vermont Office of Child Support (OCS). The project's objectives are to increase the frequency of medical support provisions in child support orders; increase compliance with those provisions; and increase enrollment of children in child support cases in health insurance plans available through the employers of non-custodial parents (NCPs).

The project will also streamline court and employer processes by addressing medical support at the time a child support order is formulated and rendered, precluding court reappearances by custodial parents (CPs), NCPs, and OCS staff; producing realistic court orders based on actual cost of insurance rather than on possibly inaccurate estimates; and minimizing employer contacts and use of resources by accessing health coverage data via the OCS/employer website.

Additionally, the project seeks to reduce Medicaid costs; move as many children, as appropriate, off public assistance onto private insurance; and preclude third-party Medicaid billing to insurance companies that have ceased to provide coverage since original coverage data was processed.

The grantee's strategies for attaining the objectives include improving available health insurance data collected by and available to staff in the Child Support and Medicaid programs; improving the data exchange between the programs; providing automated support by enhancing the OCS employer web site with up-to-date information on employer insurance coverage; following-up with employers required to report on available dependent coverage; tracking and enforcing compliance with medical support orders; and providing information to custodial parents regarding available coverage.

A distinctive feature of the project is the collaboration between the staffs of two Vermont programs, Child Support Enforcement and Medicaid Managed Care for Children. Additionally, OCS will partner with employers within the state to compile private insurance information, such as what plans are offered by the company, coverage elements, and cost to the employee.

Vermont will purchase contractual services for the development and implementation of systems improvements designed to fulfill project objectives and for evaluation of the effectiveness of those improvements in assuring affordable health care coverage for children. The contractor will conduct both an implementation and outcome evaluation.

Preliminary Findings-Implementation Evaluation

The implementation evaluation is based primarily on interviews with OCS staff, and addresses the following research questions: Do the implemented system changes work as specified in the functional design document? If not, what are the differences? And, how do the changes enhance or detract from achievement of project objectives? A post-project survey will be conducted among OCS staff to obtain feedback on project effectiveness.

The implementation evaluation also reports on quantitative indicators for the months following project implementation, including the number of employers using the OCS web site to enter health insurance and the number of medical support obligations recorded in ACCESS. As of December 2005, there were a total of 211 employers registered on the OCS website, with the notable addition of the newly-registered State of Vermont-one of the state's biggest employers. Additionally, the Employer Services/Medical Support Unit is utilizing the new ACCESS screens/systems changes to record and monitor employer/insurer responses to the National Medical Support Notices.

Lessons Learned

This project has yielded two lessons learned for the grantee. The first, resulting from differing assumptions made about how the OCS Employer Website and the ACCESS system would share data and respectively update the other systems, is that all assumptions need to be thoroughly discussed before testers and contractors begin work. The second is that employers could register on the OCS Employer Website with one step, but then had to take another step to actually start receiving electronic notices regarding health insurance coverage updates. OCS implemented a change that allows employers to simultaneously register on the site and receive an appointment time with one of the Employer Services/Medical Support Unit staff members. This enhances the grantee's customer service to employers by providing them with up-front assistance.

Outcome Evaluation (In Process)

The outcome evaluation will assess whether the program meets the following goals: at least a 10% increase in the number of support orders with health insurance provisions included; at least a 10% increase in the number of children actually receiving health insurance coverage/benefits; at least a 5% decrease in the number of children in child support cases enrolled in Medicaid managed care; and within one year following project implementation, health insurance coverage information will be obtained from 50 major employers in the state employing parents with child support cases. The outcomes are projected to be achieved one year following program completion. Findings of the outcome evaluation will become available within this timeframe as a follow-up addendum to the project's final report.