Outreach

Advocate and Community-Based Partners Meetings – Calif.

These monthly meetings have been developed to learn directly what is going on in the communities. The advocates attending represent both mothers and fathers. This has been a valuable forum in which to share policies in development, new initiatives, and new legislation.

 

Bilingual Teen Outreach Activities – Ventura, Calif.

The office offers to teenaged students and minor parents educational presentations and information about services available, the high cost of raising children, the importance of parental involvement, and ways to establish paternity. Efforts include the following:

• Staff participation in a countywide Teen Parent Conference.
  
• Presentations at alternative school programs for minor mothers.
  
• Ongoing minor mothers’ presentations for the St. John’s Hospital Prenatal Health program, which includes a large Hispanic population.
  
• Staff participation in Young Women’s symposiums for at-risk junior high girls.
  
• Presentations for young fathers who are enrolled in the Adolescent Family Health Teen Fatherhood Program.

 

Collaborations with Professional Sports Teams – Wash.

Working with professional sports teams to promote responsible fatherhood is a best practice for this child support office, which has run media spots with the Seahawks and the Mariners.

 

Community-Based Organizations/Grassroots Efforts – Yakima, Wash.

The community-based organization “Entre Amigas” is a group of women who provide mutual support and peer counseling for developing self-improvement among Hispanic women in rural Yakima County. Domestic violence prevention is a key function of this group.

La Casa Hogar is a faith-based organization that focuses on the development of women and children. Its flyer states the following: “La Casa Hogar is a center for women and children. It is a place where women can learn English, driving, computer, but more importantly, share as women. It is a place where they can make new friends and find the support they left behind in Mexico with their extended family.”

 

Community Outreach – Imperial County, Calif.

The child support office collaborates with other organizations on presentations. It also participates on other organizations’ boards and in their support groups. Examples include the following:

• Cal-Safe.
  
• Cal-Works.
  
• IVROP.
  
• Project Dads.
  
• Legal Solutions.
  
• High schools.
  
• Junior high schools.
  
• Men’s rehabilitation homes.
  
• Faith-based rehabilitation homes.

 

Community Outreach – Ventura, Calif.

This child support office extends outreach and community education efforts by joining with organizations that directly serve the community.

An example is its close work with El Concilio, a prominent local agency with a number of programs that serve the Latino community, and presenting information about child support services at its civics class for green card holders seeking American citizenship.

The child support office co-produces Young Women’s Symposiums, a prevention and goal-setting program for at-risk girls, in conjunction with El Concilio.

 

Community Outreach – Tampa, Fla.

A diverse cross-section of community groups supports outreach through:

• Redlands Migrant Christian Association (Spanish speaking migrant families).
  
• Father Resource & Networking Center (all fathers).
  
• Upward Bound Program (95 percent black male teens).
  
• Fatherhood Conference (child support workshop for education/outreach).
  
• Lions Club of Tampa (education/outreach).
  
• Brandon Regional Hospital (for paternity establishment; provides training guide and brochure).
  
• University Community Hospital (for paternity establishment; provides training guide and brochure).
  
• Bay Area Legal Services (outreach).
  
• One Child, One Goal Summer Conference (outreach – informational table, brochures, and workshop).
  
• Sprint Domestic Abuse Residential Center (educational).
  
• Head Start Hillsborough County Headquarters (outreach).
  
• Catholic Charities (outreach).
  
• Head Start/Healthy Kids (outreach).
  
• King High School (outreach).
  
• Kenley Elementary (Teach-In; educational).
  
• Fatherhood Assistance.
  
• Lifestyle and Legal Services.
  
• Professional women’s groups, social service groups, and numerous hospitals.

 

Faith-Based Organizations – Milwaukee, Wis.

In a project called Nuestros Hijos, the Christian Family Gathering, a faith-based organization, worked closely on child support enforcement services with the United Migrant Opportunity Services, Inc. (UMOS), a private, nonprofit corporation that advocates for and services migrant and seasonal farm workers, Hispanics and other economically disadvantaged families.

 

High-Risk Families – San Antonio, Texas

A community organization working with the child support office, AVANCE provides assistance to strengthen, support, and educate Hispanic families. It is a national model for helping high-risk families.

 

Low-income Noncustodial Parent Outreach Service (LINOS) – Fla.

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.

Description: The project involved weekly visits to the Orange County Jail in Orlando to present educational sessions on child support so that attendees could make informed decisions once they were released.

Organizations Involved:

• 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.
  
• Department of Children and Families.
  
• Jobs Partnership of Florida.
  
• Central Florida Workforce Development.
  
• Orange Country Jail.