The Delaware Division of Child Support hosts semi-annual events title Child Support Information Night to increase client access to our services. The events are held in the evening outside of normal business hours to give clients an opportunity to resolve case-specific issues they believe they cannot resolve through daily business hours. CSE Specialists, available with computers connected by modem to the state caseload database, are on hand to assist them and to educate them about the process. The Director, Deputy Director, Manager of Operations, Manager of Program and Policy, the Executive Assistant, Family Court personnel, and a DAG attend the events to offer assistance to clients. This helps to give clients the feeling that the entire agency is committed to helping them, from the Director down. It also gives the frontline staff the feeling that we are a team and that we all work together to help clients.

A suggestion box is available at the registration table. The comments have been positive and referenced how happy clients are that they have an opportunity to access staff during evening hours.

The idea was to hold the “Problem Resolution Night” (the original name of this event) away from our regular offices to give clients the feeling that they were being offered something different, something special. The hours were 5-7 p.m.

There are approximately 700,000 residents in the state of Delaware. There are three counties and the largest, New Castle County, has about 500,000 residents. Because of the size of New Castle County, and because the main office is located in that county, the test “Problem Resolution Night” was piloted there.

The pilot was held on October, 1998. Notices were sent to all cases with orders. There were over 55,000 including the custodial and noncustodial parents on each of those cases. The total caseload is approximately 60,000. Subsequent events were held in each county during March and September of 1999. Everyone in the system, those with orders and those without, were invited. That number was close to 90,000.

The pilot event was advertised through paid newspaper ads, flyers placed in the community, and mass mailings to all names in our system, including custodial parents and noncustodial parents.

There was a display in the lobby with copies of the Division's pamphlets. A sign-in sheet recorded everyone who came in. Each person received a number to ensure confidentiality when being called and was directed to the waiting area to complete the issue/concern form. This aided the staff helping clients to identify the issue and expedite the process of assisting them. When a worker became available, the next number being served was called and the worker assisted that person.

During the first pilot in October 1998, over 123 people signed in. Those who chose to just leave their Issues/Concerns form were contacted before the end of the week to do follow-up. On Thursday, March 4, 1999, 99 people signed in and we were able to speak personally with all of them. On Thursday, March 11, 1999, 101 people signed in and staff were able to speak personally with all of them. On Thursday, March 18, 1999, 205 people signed in. On Thursday, September 23, 1999, we had 73 clients sign in and on September 30, 1999, we had 40 clients sign in.

The event was well received by both clients and staff. Clients were appreciative and commented that they were pleased to be able to speak to a person about their issues and come in during convenient hours. Staff were happy to assist in resolving the concerns and felt a sense of accomplishment. The pilot and subsequent events went well enough that Delaware plans to continue the events semi-annually in each county indefinitely.

The Division partnered with the YWCA in Wilmington (Delaware's most populated city in the county) for the pilot event in October 1998. While laptops were available for automated access to each client's case information, this was inconvenient and subsequent events were held in a State Service Center. The State Service Centers have computers that are part of the state's network and provide easy access to the database.

Postage, advertising in local newspapers, and overtime pay for staff were funded through regular Federal match.

A very important lesson learned from the pilot in October 1998 was that many NCPs received the notice and assumed that it was mandatory that they attend. Quite a bit of time was spent fielding questions from Noncustodial Parents (NCPs) who believed that attendance was required. There were even instances where NCPs requested a note from staff to take to work as an excuse for an absence, because they told their employer that attendance was mandatory. All notices sent after the pilot contained a highlighted statement that the event was “NOT mandatory”.

Another important issue for consideration is ensuring sufficient staff is available to meet the volume of clients that participate.

Nicole Cunningham, Biggs Building, 1901 N. Dupont Hwy, New Castle, DE 19720, (302) 577-4815 x 259