DCL-9856 Kit for Outreach to Employers on the ABCs of Child Support

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children & Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement

DCL-98-56 Jun 17, 1998

TO ALL IV-D DIRECTORS

RE: Kit for Outreach to Employers on the ABCs of Child Support

Dear Colleague:

As you know, our nation's employers are key allies in virtually every phase of child support. The fact that approximately 60 percent of child support collections are attributable to income withholding clearly illustrates the tremendous value of their role. In 1997 alone, of the $13 billion in child support collected, $8 billion came from income withholding submitted by employers. Because of the importance of employers to the success of the child support program, it is incumbent upon OCSE and States to continue to strengthen their ties to the employer community.

For the past two years, OCSE and the States have been doing just that: increasing their outreach to employers through the development of new means of communication and materials specifically designed for employers. Last year, OCSE focused its outreach efforts on New Hire Reporting. It was through these efforts that employers and the States identified other materials and information that were needed. This feedback led OCSE to develop the enclosed items.

The enclosed kit, which I am pleased to be sending you, contains additional materials that you may use in reaching your State's employer community. Inside this case you will find the following:

A 16-minute video, The ABCs of Child Support
An information package for employers, The ABCs of Child Support: Employer Overview
A presentation binder that includes a script, presenter's notes and overhead transparencies on The ABCs of Child Support
A compendium of best practices, Bright Ideas: New Hire Reporting Employer Outreach, which contains tips and suggestions from many States on how to reach employers and communicate information on New Hire Reporting
An order form for a Mac-formatted diskette with all of the graphics and text of the ABCs of Child Support or an IBM-formatted diskette that contains only the text. You can also order a diskette of the PowerPoint presentation.

These materials are not copyrighted and we encourage you to make as many copies of them as you need. You may wish to add information to the packet that is specific to your own State. In addition, we have limited copies of the video and the information package, The ABCs of Child Support. An order form has been enclosed for your use.

On behalf of OCSE, I wish to commend you for all of your efforts that make the child support enforcement program the success that it is. We know that your efforts to reach out to employers are paying off because we are getting positive feedback from employers every day. Every effort that you make to encourage employers to support the child support enforcement program will be paid back in increased child support collections and improvement in the lives of our nation's children.

As always, we welcome your feedback on these materials and hope that you will let us know how well they meet your needs. As you make presentations around your State and you become aware of additional tools that would be helpful, let us know. Feel free to contact Carol Callahan at (202) 401-6969 (e-mail: ccallahan@acf.hhs.gov) with your questions and comments. If you have any questions regarding ordering additional materials, please call Mironda Thomas at (301) 495-0400, ext. 254.

Sincerely,

David Gray Ross

Commissioner

Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosures

Cc:	Regional Program Managers Regional New Hire Contacts9 State New Hire Outreach Contacts