FLORIDA

LOW-INCOME NONCUSTODIAL OUTREACH SERVICE (LINOS)

Goal: Reach incarcerated and formerly incarcerated noncustodial parents who historically, as a group, made no or very sporadic payments toward their child support obligations, and assist them in making child support a regular and reliable source of income for their children.

Strategic Plan: Supports strategies 1, 2, 8 of the National Child Support Strategic Plan.

Description: Low-income Noncustodial Parent Outreach Service (LINOS) began June 2004 with weekly visits to the Orange County Jail in Orlando to present educational sessions regarding child support. This was done so attendees could make informed decisions once they were released. Attendance at the sessions was voluntary.

Close working relationships have developed with Orange County Workforce Development, Orange County Community Action, Orange County Probation, Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Office, the judiciary of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange County Legal Aid, Head Start, Healthy Families, and the Department of Children and Families. In addition, Jobs Partnership of Florida will soon join this network of community partners. Two of the strongest relationships forged to date are with Central Florida Workforce Development and the Orange Country Jail. Both of these relationships will be crucial to the long-range success of the outreach efforts.

Results: As of March 2006, 2320 inmates have been provided with general child support and LINOS information. The weekly educational sessions have 310 enrollees. Each group grows progressively larger as word (and trust in the program) continues to spread throughout the jail. Initial results are very encouraging. Of these traditionally non-paying cases, 159 of them, or 51.3 percent have received a current support payment within the last 30 days. Initial numbers show the long-range positive potential of this program, and there are plans to expand the program to an even broader segment of clients and community partners in the coming year.

Location: Orange County (Orlando), Florida, an urban environment. It is an

Orange County developed program and has not yet been adapted elsewhere in the state or other states but could be.

Funding: Regular IV-D matching funds.

Replication Advice: Stress to inmates that the sessions are only for educational purposes so they can make informed decisions once they leave jail. Make the sessions voluntary. Provide enough staff to handle questions from inmates. Provide contact information for the liaison once they leave jail. Develop a tracking system that can monitor when clients enroll in the program, payment history, scheduled appointments with community partners, and job referral information. In addition to the tracking database, develop internal referral forms to refer cases directly into the program if the NCP meets designed criteria.

Contact:

David Gillen

Revenue Service Manager

Phone: (407) 245-0103

Email: gillend@dor.state.fl.us