dcl9359.htm

Demonstration Grant awards

November 30, 1993

DC-93-59

TO ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

Dear Colleague:

This is to inform you of the new demonstration grants recently

awarded to States as a result of the OCSE Program Announcement

No. OCSE-93-1 dated July 1, 1993. This announcement informed

State IV-D Directors of the availability of research funding

for program improvement grants for three priority projects.

These grants are funded under the authority of Section 1110 of the Social Security Act.

The enclosure announces and describes the funded projects. A summary is as follows:

Two grants were awarded to Colorado and Arkansas for three years and one year, respectively, for: "Experimentation in

Scaling Up From Pilot or Limited Efforts to a State-wide Program for In-Hospital and Pre- and Post-Natal Paternity Establishment".

One grant was awarded to Virginia for three years for:

"Developing a Process for Determining Appropriate Staffing Levels for Optimal Operation of a Child Support Enforcement Program or a Major Component Thereof".

Two grants were awarded to Iowa (with Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) and Vermont for three years and one year, respectively, for: "Developing a Process for Determining the Impact of Training of Child Support Managers and Front Line Workers".

We will keep you informed as these projects move forward.

Meanwhile, if you have any questions, or need additional information, please contact David L. Arnaudo, OCSE Policy and Planning Division, (202) 401-5364.

Sincerely,

Robert C. Harris

Acting Deputy Director

Office of Child Support

Enforcement

Enclosure

cc: ACF Regional Administrators

Child Support Program Managers, Regions I-X

DESCRIPTION OF OCSE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS FUNDED IN FY 1993

PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT GRANT - PATERNITY

COLORADO

Summary:

Colorado has a successful federally-funded pilot pre-natal and in-hospital paternity demonstration project in the Denver metropolitan area. They have just received a grant to extend innovative voluntary paternity establishment techniques on a statewide basis.

This new grant would fund the following activities:

A training curriculum will be developed and implemented on a statewide basis to help outreach workers make brief, effective paternity establishment presentations to unwed parents upon the birth of a child. The objective of these presentations will be to secure voluntary acknowledgements by the parents. Materials will be developed for use by a wide range of personnel including administrators, nurses, vital statistics clerks, child support workers, and social workers. The curriculum would be delivered to regional meetings of professionals and/or to staff at specific hospitals or other test sites.

Three models of in-hospital paternity and child support outreach techniques will be tested at 3 pairs of hospitals (one urban and one rural or small hospital) in order to assess the relative effectiveness of different techniques in securing paternities. The three models include: (1) basic in-hospital paternity outreach without any specific reference to child support, (2) a presentation of the benefits of paternity establishment to interested mothers coupled with expedited child support services aimed at securing paternity and child support order establishment for unwilling fathers, and (3) the basic paternity outreach, offer of expedited child support services and advice to the mother that information obtained will be automatically acted upon by the child support office.

Introduction of paternity outreach services at the pre-natal settings (e.g. hospital, IV-D agency, other social services agencies, parenting classes) through the use of videos, one-on-one presentations, and/or classes for unmarried parents would be tested as well.

Provision of paternity outreach at post-natal settings including hospital based medical care settings, and low income family and pediatric clinics would be tested. Use of videos, one-to-one presentations and/or class presentations are envisioned.

An independent third-party evaluation of the processes used and paternity establishment and child support impact of the project isplanned.

Project Period: September 30, 1993 to September 30, 1996

Funding: lst year: $241,379

2nd year: $344,828

3rd year: $344,828

PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT GRANT - PATERNITY

ARKANSAS

Summary:

Arkansas with their new grant would test and evaluate five different models of training to expand their voluntary paternity establishment program on a statewide basis. The first model to be tested would involve development and use of brochures, videos,

acknowledgement forms, and genetic testing procedures for hospital and birthing facilities staff and lay midwives. Signed acknowledgement forms would then be forwarded to the child support enforcement and vital statistics offices. The activities in this model would be included in all the following models to be tested as well.

The second model to be tested involves providing information about the benefits of paternity establishment to parents at pre-natal health clinics, WIC (Women's Infants and Children Program) offices, and reproductive health clinics.

The third model to be tested involves stationing experienced child support enforcement personnel at the birthing hospitals

on a part time basis to assist hospital staffs in offering voluntary paternity acknowledgements, genetic testing

and explaining child support enforcement services.

A fourth model would be implemented to test whether de-emphasis, but not elimination, of child support enforcement information would increase voluntary paternity acknowledgements especially by the fathers.

A final model provides supportive services such as training, job placement, GED courses, drug treatment, parenting classes, family planning and health education to young (15 to 25 years of age) fathers who voluntarily acknowledge paternity.

Experimental models would be evaluated against comparable control units.

Project period: September 30, 1993 to September 30, 1994

Funding: $281,766

PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT GRANT - TRAINING

IOWA, NEBRASKA, KANSAS, AND MISSOURI

Summary:

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, with Iowa as the lead state, will conduct a demonstration project to improve staff productivity and the quality of service through provision of improved training and comprehensive training certification for existing support enforcement workers and managers. Major emphasis will be on design and implementation of computer-based training for existing workers, use of total quality management (TQM) techniques, management and leadership training, and customer orientation.

An independent third party evaluation will be conducted to determine the costs and benefits of training efforts.

Project Period: September 30, 1993 to September 30, 1996

Funding: lst year: $241,379

2nd year: $327,587

3rd year: $327,587

PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT GRANT - STAFFING

VERMONT

Summary:

The Vermont grant will develop and evaluate computer-based training curricula for front-line personnel and supervisors. Specific topic areas being discussed include: new worker orientation/training and legal training for paralegal personnel.

Training materials as developed will be compatible with computer

formats used by the Iowa grant above.

An independent third party evaluation is to be conducted.

Project Period: September 30, 1993 to September 30, 1994

Funding: $241,379

PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT GRANT - STAFFING

VIRGINIA

Summary:

The project will evaluate how staffing and/or organizational changes can increase cost-effectiveness and productivity while maximizing benefits from Virginia's new automated information management system. The project will be conducted in Fairfax and Norfolk, with each site divided into control and experimental groups. A technical assistance contractor will be hired to assess the current level of effectiveness, work with district staff in conducting management and process analyses, develop a time-measurement system, and develop an implementation plan to streamline case-processing. A second contractor will be hired to develop and conduct the evaluation, and evaluate the pre-project baseline measures and project performance.

Project period: September 30, 1993 to September 30, 1996

Funding: lst year: $241,379

2nd year: $229,310

3rd year: $229,310