Improve customer service and program efficiency.

South Dakota has 31,369 IV-D cases. Several offices have caseloads of fewer than 3,000 located in cities of fewer than 30,000 people. It is currently not cost-effective or beneficial to have a statewide Customer Service Unit. In order to address specific needs, the South Dakota Office of Child Support Enforcement has implemented a localized Customer Service Unit in Sioux Falls, which has the second largest caseload in the State. The Sioux Falls office has a caseload of 6,439 with an average caseload of 715 per worker. Sioux Falls is South Dakota's largest city and this caseload generates the highest number of calls of any office averaging approximately 200 calls per workday. It is not uncommon for an investigator (caseworker) to handle over 30 phone calls a day. Clerical staff answered the phone but always passed on the calls to investigators if the questions were more complicated than if payment was received.

In order to address this specific, localized need, a Customer Service Unit consisting of three staff was implemented to initially handle all incoming calls. General policy is that if CSU staff cannot immediately handle the caller's questions, a message is taken and forwarded to the investigator who handles the case. A response must be provided to the caller within 24 hours. If the call necessitates case action such as a change in address or employer, then that case action must be taken within 24 hours. In unusual circumstances, or with callers that absolutely refuse to speak with CSU staff, the call may be forwarded to the investigator or supervisor. All incoming calls from attorneys, other State IV-D agencies, and noncustodial parents are immediately forwarded to the Investigator who handles the case.

The IV-D computer system was enhanced to track the number, duration, types, and source of incoming calls. When the CSU staff query the system, usually with the SSN, a match is made, and a call log is automatically opened. The CSU staff provide the tracking system with the name of the caller, and the reason for the call, including a description of the caller's concern. They also "end" the call from this screen and can create an alert to the investigator to review the narrative, if they desire. The call narratives are then stored in the case narrative history.

CSU staff were prepared by attending investigator orientation training that provides experience on the IV-D computer system and child support policy and procedures. Two of the CSU staff are converted clerical staff and one is an Investigator position. The Investigator position directs the work activity of the others and handles the difficult calls. He also fields policy and procedure questions directed to him by the other CSU staff.

The Customer Service Unit:

The Customer Service Unit is localized at the field office level. Currently, only our second largest office has a CSU. Due to its success, plans are in place to implement a second CSU in our largest field office, Rapid City.

Regular IV-D funding.

Initially, the Customer Service Unit passed on calls to the Investigator when the caller asked. Soon we discovered that many clients were attempting to circumvent the CSU because they knew the investigator when CSU staff could have assisted them. A stricter policy regarding calls forwarded to the investigators was implemented. Clients are accepting the change and like the immediate response rather than Investigator voice-mail they previously received.

We feel that it is critical to train the CSU staff as investigators. This enables them to respond to questions that cannot be easily answered by looking at a particular data field on the computer system.

Finally, we have found it beneficial to have at least one member of the CSU be an Investigator position in order to direct the work activity of the CSU and respond to more difficult policy and procedure inquiries.

Assess investigator's ability to interpret policy and procedures to improve child support program.

South Dakota began implementation of a comprehensive Investigator (caseworker) Quality Control Review in March 2001. The review is conducted by one State Office staff who is also responsible for Self-Assessment and new caseworker training, and generally takes two to three weeks to complete. The Quality Control Review entails a detailed, comprehensive analysis of an Investigator's casework, and is conducted by randomly selecting approximately 150 cases. The audit is performed in a central location by sole utilization of our automated computer system. Since South Dakota is a small State with a highly automated system, hard copy files are not required.

The review assesses the investigator's ability to interpret policy and procedures, covers all aspects of the investigator's assigned duties, and encompasses timeframe monitoring to ensure compliance with federal guidelines. Cases are pulled from specific case functionality, such as paying, not paying, paternity required, order establishment required, and locate required. In addition to case functionality, the daily caseworker "tickler" report, the on-line monthly delinquency report, paternity report, case closure report, timeframe monitoring report, and prosecutor report are sampled. Also included in the review are case narratives for completeness and comprehension, correspondence for comprehension, grammar, and spelling, and all Self-Assessment requirements including medical enforcement and review and adjustment.

By its very nature, the Quality Control Review Report tends to be exception based. However, good practices are noted. For cases found to be in error, the report indicates the actions taken, what the correct actions should be, and citations of the appropriate supportive sections of the Child Support Policy and Procedures Manual. The report concludes with praise where appropriate, constructive criticism where necessary, and appropriate recommendations for corrective action.

A copy of the Quality Control Review is sent to the Investigator and the investigator's supervisor. The assistant program administrator, who supervises the field offices, then meets face-to-face with the investigator and his/her supervisor to discuss the report, specific case examples, policies and procedures, recommendations, consequences, and expected corrections. The investigator must correct all errors and take any appropriate case actions within two months of the review. Further, the investigator is expected to provide weekly progress reports to his/her direct supervisor as well as to the State Office trainer.

The Quality Control (QC) Review program:

South Dakota has a small caseload with limited staff. The policy analyst, who is responsible for new staff training and Self-Assessment, conducts the Quality Control Reviews. South Dakota's system is highly automated. The reviews are done at our central office location by reviewing the cases on our computer system.

Regular IV-D funding.

Dedicate at least one staff person to conduct the reviews and, ideally, one that came from a casework background. We have also learned that you must follow up on the reviews to ensure that caseworkers are taking corrective actions both on the identified case problems and on applying proper policy, procedures, and practices. Since field office supervisors are extremely busy, we determined that central office training staff best handles follow-up. By and large, the Quality Control Review has been well received by the child support investigators and supervisors who see it as a learning tool rather than as a critique of their abilities.