dcl9649.htm

October 16, 1996

DC-96-49

TO ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

Dear Colleague:

The Office of Child Support Enforcement and the Head Start Bureau are engaging in an initiative to promote child support services for single-parent families enrolled in Head Start programs. We are sending you this jointly signed letter to tell you about the initiative and enlist your collaboration in its implementation.

As you may know, Head Start offers children and their families a number of services, including education, health, nutrition and social services. Among critical social services many Head Start families rely on are child support services. This is why we are collaborating --here and in the Regional Offices-- to promote child support services for Head Start parents who depend on them.

We recently sent a copy of the enclosed letter to every Head Start program director in the United States inviting them to adopt a three-step initiative to promote child support services for the families in their programs. As you will note, the steps are: to provide each family with information on child support services, to establish a procedure to refer potentially eligible parents to the local child support office, and to make referral arrangements with the local child support enforcement office. We also provided each Head Start program director with a copy of the Handbook on Child Support Enforcement and a listing of the State IV-D agencies for them to contact for assistance in carrying out the initiative.

Needless to say, you --the State IV-D Directors-- and your staffs have an opportunity to play a vital role in this initiative; that is, to link each Head Start program with its local Child Support Enforcement office so the two may collaborate to promote child support services for Head Start single-parent families. (We know that many Head Start programs and local Child Support offices are already doing this, and we commend them.) We are requesting you to undertake this key role and we offer some suggestions on ways you may wish to proceed.

First, we encourage you to alert all the local IV-D offices throughout the State about this initiative and their role in it. They will need to know that Head Start program directors may be contacting them. You may wish to share our letter to the Head Start directors with the local IV-D offices so they will know exactly what the Head Start program directors will be attempting. We hope the local IV-D offices will be ready for the calls from Head Start and receive them warmly.

We also encourage you to suggest that they be ready to set up referral arrangements with the Head Start programs and offer to speak to Head Start staff and parents about child support services. In sum, we would greatly appreciate your exhorting each local IV-D office to enter into an ongoing collaborative relationship with the local Head Start program to promote child support services.

Second, Head Start program directors may contact your office to seek assistance in contacting the appropriate local Child Support Enforcement office. They may also request program material for distribution in their programs. We would appreciate your welcoming their calls and offering to assist them in the initiative. We encourage you to provide them with the name, address and telephone number of the appropriate local Child Support Enforcement office they are to contact. Please invite them to get back to you for further assistance if they have difficulty in making contact with the local Child Support office.

As we jointly invite you to take the State lead in this major initiative to promote child support services, we want to assure you --as we did the Head Start program directors-- of our joint commitment to assist your efforts. Our regional Child Support and Head Start staffs share this commitment and invite your calls on them for assistance. We are interested in showcasing in the Child Support Report best practices under this initiative which you may wish to share with us.

In closing, we thank you on behalf of the many Head Start single-parents and their children who will be strengthened by the child support services they receive through your participation in this initiative!

Sincerely,

Helen H. Taylor David Gray Ross Associate Commissioner Deputy Director Head Start Bureau Office of Child Support

Enforcement

Enclosure