DCL-07-33, Child Welfare and Child Support: Working Together to Help Children

DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER

DCL-07-33

ATTACHMENT:

Dear Colleague Letter and Child Welfare and Child Support: Working Together to Help Children Handout (52KB, Microsoft Word)

DATE: October 12, 2007

TO: ALL STATE AND TRIBAL IV-D DIRECTORS

RE: Child Welfare and Child Support: Working Together to Help Children

Dear Colleague:

As you know, the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) has become an invaluable tool, providing the child support community with accurate and timely information about noncustodial parents involved in child support cases. In turn, we can help our child welfare colleagues by sharing certain information about these parents, to help locate individuals who have or may have parental rights to a child receiving services from the child welfare agency. However, many child welfare staff are unaware of the data available to them through the FPLS.

In an effort to increase collaboration between child support and child welfare agencies in the States, we have prepared the enclosed handout to educate child welfare staff about how they can access FPLS information via their Stateā€™s Parent Locator Service. We also encourage them to work with their child support colleagues so that both agencies can develop appropriate protocols regarding when to refer cases for full child support services and when it might be better to request limited location information.

This information will be shared with child welfare agencies in your State. We encourage you to meet with your State colleagues to discuss data sharing so that we can work together to benefit those children and families that we serve in common.

Sincerely,

Margot Bean
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosure

cc:ACF OCSE Regional Program Managers