Washington

Non-Custodial Parent WtW Employment Project (Yakima & Kittitas Counties)

Goal

Assist non-custodial parents to begin, resume and/or increase child support payments, encourage parental responsibility and strengthen families.

Description

"Support Has A Rewarding Effect" or S.H.A.R.E., is a pilot project designed and implemented by the Tri-County Workforce Development Council (WDC), Yakima and Kittitas County Prosecuting Attorneys (PA), and the Yakima Office of Division of Child Support (DCS) to assist unemployed or under-employed non-custodial parents (NCP) in securing and retaining employment. S.H.A.R.E. targets the non-custodial parent of minor child(ren) who meets the eligibility requirements for Welfare-to-Work (WtW) as established by the federal regulations. S.H.A.R.E.’s program design is as follows:

• DCS identifies and refers prospective non-custodial parents to the Prosecutor through the Contempt Process
• If non-custodial parent appears to qualify, the court orders the non-custodial parent to participate in S.H.A.R.E. The PA then refers the non-custodial parent to WDC for WtW Services.
• WDC refers non-custodial parent to appropriate WtW Service Provider.
• WtW Service Providers determine program eligibility, conduct the employability assessment, develop the individual service strategy and enter into a Personal Responsibility Contract with the non-custodial parent. An initial written assessment is provided to the PA to enter into the case file.
• Non-custodial parents receive the full range of services allowable under the WtW legislation, such as case management, job readiness, paid work experience, subsidized employment (on-the-job-training), job retention/support, post-employment activities and other allowable services. The mix and sequence of services provided are based upon the individual non-custodial parent’s skills, abilities, and barriers. All activities are employment based to secure and retain unsubsidized employment while at the same time developing strategies for wage progression.
• The courts and DCS may temporarily reduce the current support payments for the non-custodial parent who is in compliance with the contempt court order and strategies agreed upon in the Personal Responsibility Contract.
• DCS may consider waiver of excessive child support debts owed to the state, especially if the support obligation was originally set higher than ability to pay.
• DCS and Prosecutor may review the support order for modification if out of line with non-custodial parent’s ability to pay.
• WtW Service Providers report monthly non-custodial parent’s progress to DCS and PA.
• All referrals are tracked to determine the overall impact of the project.

Because the S.H.A.R.E. Project is aimed to help the "hardest to serve" non-custodial parent, it was determined the Prosecutor's help was necessary to require non-custodial parents to follow through with paying support if they were able, find employment so they could pay support, or enroll in WtW Employment/Training Services to aid them in finding employment. The majority of non-custodial parents referred to S.H.A.R.E. have been referred to the Prosecutor for the contempt diversion process. A small number of non-custodial parents have volunteered to be in the program. These volunteers did not need to go through the contempt process, but have been referred directly to the WtW Providers for employment services.

Key Partners

Division of Child Support/Yakima Office, Kittitas and Yakima County Prosecutors, WorkForce Development Council. WtW Service Providers are: People for People, Yakima Valley Opportunities Industrialization Center (O.I.C.), IAM Cares/Washington State Labor Council, Americorps/Washington Service Corp. The WtW Service Providers include both Formula/State-match Grantees and Competitive Grantees.

Dates of Operation:

Implementation of the S.H.A.R.E. Project occurred in June 1998. Workforce Development Council was to receive WtW funds in August, 1998. NCP's were referred to the Prosecutors beginning in June so that the legal process of the contempt actions could be completed and a number of NCP's would be ready for immediate referral to WDC on August 1, 1998. The S.H.A.R.E. Project continues to operate and is expected to continue until authorization of the federal WtW program ends.

Results

Results

Activity	Totals
NCPs referred to S.H.A.R.E. through June 2000	569
Number of NCP's who paid support during the 3 months before referral	48
Total dollars collected from the 48 NCP's during the 3 months before referral	$8,922.00
Number of NCP's who paid support during the 3 months following referral	122
Total dollars collected from the 122 NCP's during the 3 months following referral	$31,066.00

To be consistent in tracking collections which we believe resulted from this project, we continue to count dollars received 3 months before referral and 3 months following referral but not counting the month of referral. It is interesting to note, of the 122 NCP's who paid following referral only 23 of them had paid support during the 3 months before referral for a total of $4,040.00.

This early increase in collections shows the Prosecutor's interaction with the non-custodial parent is a very important component of S.H.A.R.E. Program. Not all NCP's referred to S.H.A.R.E. are in need of or enrolled in WtW Employment and Training Services. The Prosecutor gives the NCP the choice to either pay their child support, enter the WtW program or face civil contempt penalties.

As of June 2000 there were 134 NCP's enrolled in WtW Employment and Training activities. The following characteristics have been identified.

WtW Employment and Training Activities

Category	Percent
Basic Skills Deficient	78%
Dropout	60%
Poor Work History	87%
Offender (any)	85%
Offender (felony)	52%
Substance Abuse	64%
Ages 18-21	8%
Ages 22-29	37%
Ages 30-54	58%
White	45%
Hispanic	38%
Native American	9%
Black	8%
Male	82%
Female	18%

Location

Kittitas and Yakima counties in rural Washington State

Funding

Welfare-to-Work Formula/State-match grants and Welfare-to-Work Competitive grants administered by the Department of Labor.

Replication Advice

Communication and coordination among the partners has been the key to the success of this project. Having a clear understanding of each partners' role in the project is essential.