Giving Hope and Support to America's Children| Child Support Report | Vol. XXVII, No. 2, Feb 2005 |
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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. |
Assistant Secretary Wade Horn Lauds CSE Program, TANF Proposal, at NCSEA Conference FY 2006 HHS Budget Child Support Legislative Proposals Alabama SIP Project Spurs ACF Study Customers 'Make the Job Worthwhile' For Fairfax, VA Caseworkers OCSE Turns 30: Customer Service - It's in the Mail New Best Practices: Prevention & Early Intervention |
Assistant Secretary Wade Horn Lauds CSE Program, TANF Proposal, at NCSEA Conference
By: Elaine Blackman
Dr. Wade Horn, HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, expressed his commitment to the national child support enforcement program, calling it the "best" in the Federal Government, on the opening day of the National Child Support Enforcement Association's Mid-Year Policy Conference, Jan. 31, in Washington, D.C. He thanked attendees for their accomplishments, and stressed the Administration's belief that "all parents have a financial obligation to their children ... But we also believe parents are more than paychecks" and need to provide emotional and social involvement in their children's lives.
Dr. Horn commended Dr. Sherri Heller for her "extraordinary work" while she was OCSE Commissioner from 2001-2004. He touted the CSE program's high OMB rating and the launch of the Strategic Plan for FY 2005-2009 as Dr. Heller's most important contributions. "Although Sherri Heller is no longer in charge of the CSE program," said Dr. Horn, "I want to assure you that the Strategic Plan ... will continue to move forward so that more children will get the help they need."
With TANF reauthorization and important child support enforcement provisions awaiting congressional enactment, Dr. Horn focused on the need for "all of us to come to the table to get it passed." Dr. Horn reviewed some of the bill's proposals, including: Federal funds for pass-through payments to TANF families; simplified distribution rules, with Federal funds to help states with costs; state requirement to review and adjust support orders for TANF families every three years; expansion of the Federal administrative offset program to allow limited SSDI withholdings; doubling of Federal access and visitation funds, to $20 million over five years; and providing $200 million in Federal funds for healthy marriage activities-"an effective strategy to prevent the need to collect child support," he said.
Also during the conference, OCSE Acting Commissioner David Siegel recognized Dr. Heller and those involved in Strategic Plan revisions for their willingness to look at the program "going forward" while maintaining the core values of the CSE program in the two previous versions of the Plan. "We needed to seize the imagination," he said, "to be risk-takers for those we serve."
Elaine Blackman is a Writer in the Division of Consumer Services.
FY 2006 HHS Budget Child Support Legislative Proposals
The President's HHS budget for FY 2006, "Advancing the Health, Safety, and Well-Being of Our People," anticipates the enactment of the child support provisions included in his TANF Reauthorization proposal, as well as two proposals from the FY 2005 budget aimed at improving and increasing the collection of medical child support. These proposals will also improve automation tools, strengthen existing enforcement tools, and assist families in gaining self-sufficiency. Overall these will have a significant impact on cost savings and increased collections for families:
In FY 2006 the Proposals Will:
- Result in a net Federal savings of $63M, while increasing collections to families by $147M.
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Include:
- $11M for training and technical assistance
- $15M to fund welfare research as included in the President's TANF reauthorization proposal.
Over Five Years:
- Proposals for mandatory review and adjustment, and health insurance from either parent will generate Medicaid savings of $45M.
- Proposals for optional pass through and disregard, and optional simplified distribution will result in significant Food Stamp savings of $114M.
Objective:
- In total, these child support proposals offer increased collections to families of $3.4B at a net Federal cost of $52M.
Proposals to Enhance and Increase Collection of Medical Child Support:
- Require health care plan administrator to notify the IV-D agency when a child loses health coverage.
- Require state child support enforcement agencies to seek medical support for children through health insurance available to either parent.
Proposals to Enhance Automation and Significantly Increase Collections to Families:
- Federal seizure of accounts in multi-state financial institutions.
- Require intercept of gambling proceeds.
- Provide for garnishment of Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act benefits.
- Provide Federal matching of insurance claims and settlements databases.
- Increase funding for access and visitation.
- Authorize direct tribal access to Federal Parent Locator Service.
- Authorize contractors and IV-D Tribes to access tax offset data.
Proposals Under Welfare Reform to Further Assist Families Gain Self-Sufficiency:
- Assist Families on TANF and formerly on TANF by sharing in the costs of state efforts to pass through and disregard child support for TANF families; a second proposal simplifies distribution rules for the benefit of former TANF families.
- Require states to review and adjust child support orders at least every three years for families receiving TANF.
- Reduce the threshold for denying passports to non-custodial parents owing overdue child support from $5,000 to $2,500.
- Give states the ability to collect past-due child support by withholding a limited amount of OASDI payments from beneficiaries, if appropriate.
- Require states to charge a $25 annual fee to families who have never received AFDC or TANF assistance and who receive child support collections through the IV-D program.
To view the FY 2006 HHS Budget, visit http://www.hhs.gov/budget/06budget/FY2006BudgetinBrief.pdf
Alabama SIP Project Spurs ACF Study
By: Elaine Blackman
Now available to the greater child support community are reports of many research projects funded by the Administration for Children and Families to support its healthy marriage initiatives in ACF programs.
One such report is "Implementing Programs to Strengthen Unwed Parents' Relationships: Lessons from Family Connections in Alabama" by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. The report offers lessons from observing the experience of the "Family Connections in Alabama" project, an OCSE SIP (special improvement project) grant to pilot marriage education for low-resource families, to strengthen families and support the financial security of children. The lessons may be of interest especially to ACF grantees having projects that include provision of healthy marriage education services.
The report was prepared as part of a multi-phased ACF project, called "Building Strong Families" (BSF), which is to develop and evaluate a model for healthy marriage services for interested low-income expectant or new unwed parents. The researchers identified the Alabama project as one which might provide useful lessons for those interested in designing, planning, and implementing BSF projects in the future.
The report suggests that organizations planning to implement BSF programs recognize, for example: unwed parents desire more information about healthy marriage; participants value the involvement of married couples in the program as role models who can share from personal experience; creative approaches are necessary to involve couples in the program and sustain their ongoing participation to completion; small group settings are favored by participants; and healthy marriage education programs can be helpful in identifying and providing assistance to victims of domestic violence.
Although no evidence can be gleaned from the Alabama SIP grant project that participation had increased child support payments, the evaluation clearly shows that the father's involvement was vital: Those who participated in the program provided a higher level of support from the beginning to end. In the study, each woman who gave birth during participation, the father attended the birth and established paternity. (Also three women indicated that paternity had been established after participation in the program.)
Dr. Francesca Adler-Baeder of Auburn University, who conducted the evaluation of the Alabama SIP project, is encouraged by its "impact on the quality of the co-parenting relationship, and the support of the mother for the father's involvement." She notes that the average participation length of 10 weeks may not have given sufficient time to document changes in child support payment patterns. With continued improvements in the co-parenting relationship, the father's level and frequency of child support provision could improve as well.
To view this ACF report www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/strengthen/eval_prog/index.html. For further information on the building Strong Families project, visit www. buildingstrongfamilies.info/index.htm.
Customers 'Make the Job Worthwhile' For Fairfax, VA Caseworkers
By: Elaine Blackman
In this line of work, customer satisfaction can mean more than a mission accomplished. Last September, and just four months into her profession as child support caseworker in the Fairfax, VA, district child support office, Cynthia White opened an e-mail from a custodial parent. Linda Lans wrote: "After two years of trying to get the noncustodial parent to pay child support ... I received my first check ... Thank you, thank you, thank you! I truly appreciate the department helping me as a single parent."
And in an e-mail last month, another grateful parent said White "always exhibits professionalism, understanding and a caring demeanor. ... [She] is a true asset .... outstanding listener and caring person."
"It's a great feeling to be appreciated," admits White, who gets thanked sometimes, but not often, and usually when the custodial parent has received a payment unexpectedly after an extended time without one. "Most of the [custodial parents] are struggling and don't get a lot of help," she says, and "most of [the noncustodial parents] are ducking and hiding."
Linda Lans recalls a "stressful time" when she first sought locate help in July 2002. The noncustodial father didn't have a salaried job, meaning the child support agency "had no way to garnish his wages" to pay the monthly child support obligation. "He left me with a lot of debt because both of our names are on contracts," says Lans, who works 60 hours a week between two jobs as a waitress and medical lab manager. Her two daughters are in high school and college.
The breakthrough for Lans came when the NCP's name popped up on the Employment Commission's regular list of new hires and the National Directory of New Hires. (The NCP lives in Illinois.) White contacted his new employer who now is deducting an amount biweekly toward the monthly child support order. "It's coming out like clockwork," says White of the payments on current support and arrears.
"It's so far so good," agrees Lans, pleased with the payments and that her daughters talk regularly with their dad.
White's 900-per-month-caseload usually results in 25 to 30 successful wage withholdings. "But cases with out-of-state noncustodial parents are more difficult," she says, because she can't use the easier in-state remedies such as a lien.
Senior caseworker Amanda Banks views White as "persistent," a trait she knows (with 18 years experience) is necessary when dealing with noncustodial parents. She sees White's background as a collections coordinator for the city of Norfolk as a plus.
Banks also credits two tools that work for caseworkers: a monthly "aging report" that shows workers the status of last-made payments, and a "demand letter"-that apparently does just that.
By sending a demand letter to one noncustodial parent, Banks learned "he owned his own business. .... Then he came in and paid the full amount." Originally a two-state case, it had been closed in Ohio, but was still open in Fairfax. When she called the custodial parent in Ohio with the news, "she couldn't believe it!" says Banks, adding, "That's what makes the job worthwhile."
Elaine Blackman is a Writer for the Division of Consumer Services.
OCSE Turns 30: Customer Service - It's in the Mail
By: Elaine Blackman
About 15 to 20 years ago, OCSE's public inquiries team received this statement in a letter from a custodial parent: "I don't remember his name, but his leg was in a cast."
That one might deserve a chuckle. But answering customer inquiries remains an important component of the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, a key role in fact-finding and in educating and informing the program's concerned customers. This function also has played a role in restoring public confidence in governmental institutions.
In FY 1988, OCSE answered some 1,200 letters via U.S. Mail. The number grew to 4,050 by 1996-the same year some 1,000 inquiries appeared on the OCSE Web site's "frequently asked questions" (FAQ) screen. And, in keeping with the times, electronic messages seem to have become the preferred method of written communication. By 2004, while the number of inquiries remained about the same, questions posted on the FAQs page outnumbered paper letters four to one.
Not only has the mode of communication changed over the years, but the essence of many replies has evolved alongside the cultural shift in the program. Created mainly to enforce child support collections that directly reimbursed the government for welfare to families, the program has turned its focus to "families first" by striving to ensure children receive reliable financial, medical, and social support from both parents.
"We're able to be more responsive to noncustodial inquiries," says Jan Downing, a 22-year veteran of OCSE who heads up the FAQs online site. She explains, "For example, if a parent has been denied the opportunity to spend fair amounts of time with the child(ren), we can now refer him or to the state Access/Visitation program contact." Many states provide job training and counseling for noncustodial parents who want to support their kids but don't have the resources.
Having gained various perspectives about the program from past work, public inquiries chief Dianne Offett believes a holistic approach is best - "writing clear and individualized responses so the customers will know we understand all of their concerns and are trying to be helpful," she says. Letters might suggest any steps they can take to help enable the local agency to resolve their case.
Downing and Offett agree that inquiries often reflect seasonal issues, such as tax-offset at this time of year and passport-denial in the spring-summer months. Late summer brings custodial parents worries of needing back-to-school clothes for the kids; the fall-winter mindset-holiday gifts.
And still they receive the occasional plea, like this one, that would challenge the most knowledgeable and dedicated staff: "I have a 9-month-old son and his father took off as soon as he heard I was pregnant. All I have is a first name and an old cell phone number and the place where his sister used to work. I know he is in the Marines."
Elaine Blackman is a Writer in the Division of Consumer Services.
New Best Practices: Prevention & Early Intervention
Dear Colleague Letter 05-05, dated January 28, 2005, announces that OCSE is dedicating the next series of Best Practice papers to Prevention and Early Intervention Strategies that states and local agencies have developed.
We want to share with readers nationwide, strategies, practices, or methods in your state that have resulted in the prevention of child support problems, or that have achieved improved results on performance measures or in customer service, increased medical support coverage, expanded partnerships with other agencies, the courts or with community-based and/or faith-based organizations.
We are also interested in practices that may be in the early stages of development or projects that you expect will lead to good results.
The 2003 Edition of the Best Practices/Good Ideas Compendium can be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/prgrt.html.
Special Improvement Program Notice
OCSE announces the solicitation of competitive grant applications under the Special Improvement Project (SIP) grant program. For FY 2005, OCSE is seeking innovative projects which promote basic themes of the FY 2005-2009 National Strategic Plan: that child support should be a reliable source of income for families; the child support system should help secure children's health care coverage; and child support agencies should use early intervention strategies to help build a culture of compliance in which parents support their children voluntarily and reliably. Five priority areas are in the announcement.
For FY 2005, approximately $1.8 million is available for all priority areas. A non-Federal match is not required. The due date for applications is May 3, 2005.
The Federal Register Announcement and Grant Application Kit can be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/2005 newsann.htm. Applicants may apply by paper or electronically through www.Grants.gov.
The January Child Support Report highlighted New Jersey's "Child Support 2005" calendar, which contains art work of high school students competing in the State's annual Teen Parental Responsibility Contest. CSR would like to feature additional artistic expression of the feelings of children on the parent-child relationship in future issues. If your state or local office is interested in CSR showcasing such art from your publications, please contact CSR editor Gail A. Bowles at 202-401-4594 or gbowles@acf.hhs.gov.
During 2005, the Child Support Report periodically will share some stories, milestones, and voices from the past to honor Child Support Enforcement's 30-year history. If you have an idea for this column, or know of someone who's been working with a state or local IV-D office from the start, contact Elaine Blackman at 202-401-5353 or eblackman@acf.hhs.gov
In the January issue, "OCSE Turns 30" inaccurately stated that Missouri was the first state to send in a State Plan.
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