By Baljit Atwal, Director, Stanislaus County DCSS & CSDA Vice President of Board of Directors

It has been an amazing opportunity to work together on this document.   I would like to add a huge thank you to the workgroups who made the report possible.  Within a few short weeks (about 5 weeks total), the members of Phase 2/Operational Efficiencies workgroup came together, brainstormed on ideas and developed those ideas into detailed narrative. The narrative was then analyzed, with additional information collected where needed, and then further edited by our editor-in-chief Vic Rea.  All this was being done on a flow basis and being shared with Irene and Nan at DCSS frequently while they worked on their narratives too.  So, my heartfelt appreciation to:

As you will see, your contributions make up the majority of the report (pages 9 through 23), so thank you for the your full engagement and support. And thank you, Directors, for being responsive and supportive when the workgroup reached out to you for information.

Additionally, I thank the New Funding Workgroup and those members who assisted the Level of Effort study which is outlined in the methodology section of the report.  The LOE group’s work was equally intense and time-compressed.

I wish DCSS all the best as the report is reviewed by the legislature.  David, Irene, Nan, let us know if we can further assist.

Thank you all!

Click here to view the 2019 Local Child Support Cost Efficiency Report

2019 Child Support Training Conference & Expo was a success!

Here are a few viewpoints from some of our Scholarship recipients:

CLICK HERE to read more about CSDA Scholarship Opportunity and apply today.

Who’s going where? This is a great opportunity to let us know who is promoting and or joining your organization. These are their new positions.

Would you like to let us know who is moving and where? Send an email to Chelsea Robinson to share in our next issue of OneVoice.

We are looking forward to holding this year’s Leadership Institute at the Granlibakken on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe in Placer County. This year we will build on the experiences of our retreat last year to UC Santa Cruz where we engaged in our very first Ropes Course experience in an effort to step out of (and 100 feet above) our comfort zone!

Those who have attended in recent years can attest that this week is an invaluable investment in leaders with courses focused on authenticity, trust, culture, and coaching. We also focus on leadership vision, strategic planning, the budget, and a look into the future of our program. Each year we offer unique courses that coincide with our location. This year will be no exception, as we will offer “night labs” and host leadership activities in the outdoors.

The Leadership Institute is designed for leadership at the lead, supervisory, managerial, and executive levels. Recent participants have noted how the experience is ever evolving and worth attending for a second time if you have not been in a few years. Aside from renewing your own relationship to leadership, the other focus of the event is to create deeper relationships among leaders throughout the California child support program.

Leadership requires each of us to continue our journey of learning and reflection so that we can better support the people and organizations that rely on us. Come join current and future leaders in an experience that you will not forget and an opportunity to make friendships that will last a lifetime.

Co-Chairs:

Lisa Dugan, Regional Director, North Coast Regional DCSS

Cassandra Holzhauer, Staff Services Manager II, Ventura County DCSS

By Bianca Hawkins, San Diego County Department of Child Support Services

The ideas that came from the thoughtful and committed group of citizens who gathered at the 2019 CSDA Policy Symposium ranged from a radical helicopter ride into the future, to strategies for promoting upward mobility for our families, to economic forecasts, to community engagement, and finally to a carrot versus stick analogy for thinking about child support enforcement. We were fortunate to have presenters who are passionate about children and families share their knowledge, stories, and research.

Futurist Mary O’Hara Devereaux started out the day by providing predictions for future technology and innovation in the workplace. Leaders were reminded that innovation is crucial in planning for the future of their organizations. And although technology and artificial intelligence are outpacing human adaptability, humans will always have a competitive advantage because we possess the ability to empathize.

Empowering families was another theme that was present at this year’s symposium. Dr. Heather Hahn shared a qualitative study that sought to answer the question, “What would it take to dramatically increase mobility from poverty?” She shared the researcher’s findings that power and autonomy, being valued in the community, and economic success were key to increasing mobility from poverty.

Part of empowering families means giving them the tools they need to succeed. Community partnerships play a key role in empowering families and breaking the cycle of poverty. Sandra Hamameh and Ashley Anglesey of the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) presented research and resources for local child support agencies in order to fill in the gaps in providing vital and relevant services to our families.

A large factor impacting mobility from poverty is the current workforce climate. Amar Mann provided positive stats showing low unemployment rates, a surplus of jobs, and careers with competitive salaries that do not require a four-year degree. We learned that although the unemployment rate is low, rates are still higher for young people, single women with young children, as well as for the African American and Latino populations.

We had the pleasure of hearing from California Senator Holly Mitchell, District 30, who was interviewed by our moderator, Dr. Sherri Heller. Senator Mitchell, an advocate for women, children, immigrants, minorities, juvenile justice reform, and the environment, shared her journey into the political arena. Senator Mitchell urged attendees to get involved in their communities and engage with their policymakers on the issues that matter to them.

Lastly, we heard from California Department of Child Support Services Director, David Kilgore. Mr. Kilgore reminded us that as we are evolving into a more engagement and incentive-based approach to child support we can continue this momentum by creating more user-friendly forms and updating terminology for parental roles to be more neutral. Mr. Kilgore encouraged LCSAs to think about when using incentives might be more effective than using automated enforcement tools.

Soldier and child holding hands on white background, closeup

By James Murray, Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE)

May gives us an annual opportunity to recognize the unwavering service of current and former military members and their families. There are multiple observances this month, ranging from Armed Forces Day to Military Spouse Appreciation Day. In recognition of their service, we want you to know about OCSE’s Veterans and Military Liaison Network (VMLN), a tool we use to support the veteran and military families within the child support caseload.

What is the Network?

The VMLN is a group of child support professionals across the country who are invested in improving child support services for veterans, military members, and their families. Other members include service providers in veterans’ facilities or organizations. We maintain the VMLN to identify and promote innovative child support services that can help these families have healthy relationships and improve their financial self-sufficiency.

Key activities

We host webinars to provide information about military and child support resources, and child support and Department of Veterans Affairs laws, policies, and procedures to help VMLN members serve veteran and military families more effectively. Members can exchange information and share promising practices for outreach strategies and collaboration.

We provide information on OCSE resources like the Toolkit: Child Support Collaborations to Engage and Assist Veterans and the Handbook for Military Families. We also help identify the appropriate child support or veteran staff who can resolve unique and difficult cases, and make referrals to external partners with technical assistance expertise.

How can I join the VMLN?

Email us at james.murray@acf.hhs.gov. We can also answer questions related to veterans and military outreach. You can play an important part in helping us honor veteran and military families and make sure they have positive experiences with the child support program.

For more resources related to working with veteran and military families, see the OCSE Military & Veterans website.  

By Colin Anderson, Lead Attorney, Yolo County DCSS

On Monday, April 29, 2019, the Child Support Directors Association (CSDA) through the organization of Legal Practices Committee (LPC) Co-Chair Gina Johnston, held its annual Managing Attorney Forum. This is a fantastic opportunity for Managing Child Support Attorneys from all over the state to get together and discuss a multitude of issues impacting the program. Speaking at the forum was Judicial Council’s Anna Maves who provided an update on Court funding for Title IV-D courts. Chief Counsel for the California Department of Child Support Services Kristen Donadee also spoke and provided an update on legal and policy issues. In addition, various CSDA LPC subcommittees provided reports to the gathered Managing Attorneys in order to keep everyone abreast of the latest issues facing the program. CSDA Executive Director Greg Wilson spoke to the group and provided the CSDA perspective on issues presented. It was an informative meeting and well attended.

It is hard to discuss the Managing Attorney Forum without bringing up Terry Symens-Bucher. For years, Terry was the fearless leader of the Managing Attorney Forum and a mainstay on LPC. Terry retired from Alameda County Department of Child Support Services this past year. For people who do not know Terry, he was a pillar of this program for years. When I first started in the program Terry always had time for my questions and always with a smile. There are many times when I would shoot off an email to Terry on some legal issue. It never failed that Terry would respond with an answer, sprinkled with good advice. Terry, your leadership and presence in this program will be missed. We all wish you well in retirement, and please come back and visit us once in a while. Your commitment to the families of the State of California is and was appreciated by a great number of people.

Regional Director, North Coast Regional DCSS (Humboldt & Trinity Counties)

When I think of the influences that have shaped me, I think of my parents. I think of my feisty, big-hearted, underdog of a mother. The youngest of eight, my image of her is that of a scrawny kid, dukes always up, tenaciously standing up to six older brothers. Always poised to “fight the power” be it big brothers or “big brother,” she was once offered a job by Ralph Nader at his watchdog agency. Instead, she became an entrepreneur. A working single parent, she insured my sister and I had an excellent education despite her economic inability to provide it. Her tenacity and creativity prevailed in negotiating with the nuns at St. Thomas the Apostle to keep us in school when she couldn’t afford tuition. A constable’s knock at our door one evening revealed that a few other bills were deferred less successfully. Such was the sometimes-tenuous existence with a struggling single parent. She eked out a life, and in doing so inspired me to believe I could achieve whatever I set my mind to. The world is not black and white, and obstacles are surmountable with extra effort. As a latch-key kid, this knowledge came in handy. At thirteen, you might find me after school taking my little sister and bestie “on safari” in my mom’s car while she was at work. We’d test out the capacity of that 1964 tobacco brown Mercedes Cabriolet (a monument to her champagne taste), sometimes finding ourselves skidding sideways down the knoll in the verdant pasture just behind the house, almost wetting our pants with the hilarity of it all. Once, we tested our mettle by saddling up the lone palomino stallion in the stable in that same pasture (our landlord rented out the pasture to various horse owners). Having poorly cinched up the saddle, our ride got away, bucking off both saddle and rider. The image of this magnificent creature is with me still—sinewy legs kicking, wind in his wild mane as he galloped away to his freedom among the 42-acres, saddle still hanging upside down on his belly, and Chrissy deposited in the mud. Not too long after, one of the pastured mares turned up “with foal.” Who knew the mare’s owner would be over the moon about this fateful accident? It is always helpful when luck and accidents occur simultaneously. It goes without saying that life with mom was far from dull.

From my dad, I got my work ethic and my moral compass. A quiet man, he was a postal carrier, and later an oil refinery manager, the black sheep of his working-class Irish immigrant family of rule followers: police chiefs, clergy, and undercover IRS agents. When my grandfather died unexpectedly in his forties, my dad at seventeen became the father figure for his younger siblings. To this day my dad can always be counted on to show up. In fact, he is always at least an hour early to anything he’s committed himself to. And, he always does the right thing even when nobody is looking. Life with dad was always predictable.

In so many ways, my mom and dad were opposites—he a rule follower, she a rule bender, leaving me a little, well, befuddled from time-to-time. Despite their very different approaches to life, I am fortunate to have always felt love, support, and encouragement from both. I guess it was the rule follower in me that chose government service. Thanks Dad. The rule bending, underdog champion in me is driven to make change from within an imperfect system. Thanks Mom.

Their influence greatly shapes my view of the work I do and what I bring to the community. I’m a testament to the fact that kids need both parents in their lives, separated or not, able to pay support or not. My dad paid my mom support. It wasn’t much. She still saddled the lion’s share of the responsibility of raising two fully charged kids. And sometimes she complained, but mostly she loved us and found ways not to speak poorly to us about her frustrations with our dad. And Dad always showed up, even when we were teens and would have rather spent the weekend with our friends. While it is my dad’s influence that brings me to government services, it is my mom’s that urges me to not look away from the direct impact on families of the ways we accomplish our work. Because of them, my vision for child support is more than simply the dollars, rather the total impact we have on families. I’ve seen the divide become a chasm between parents after we’ve entered the picture. My hope is that we use our knowledge of the importance of both parents to move beyond collections to understand the full impact of our actions on parents and their engagement with their kids. Rather than deepening the divide between parents, my dream is that we help them to bring the best version of themselves to parenting.

Looking around our communities we are challenged to be part of the solution to the struggles we face with increased addiction, mental illness, poverty, and homelessness. We’ve come to understand that childhood trauma greatly increases the likelihood of one or more of these occurrences in people’s lives. We have the capacity to reduce the trauma, not only in the dollars we collect, but in the methods,  we choose to do so. That’s what my parents taught me.