CALIFORNIA

STATEWIDE OMBUDSPERSON AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION HEARING PROCESS

Goals:

• To provide a fair, equitable, accessible and efficient process for parents to resolve complaints against the local child support agency or the department;
• To resolve child support complaints at the earliest possible time with the highest degree of customer satisfaction;
• To provide a standardized local complaint resolution process that ensures parents complaints are handled uniformly throughout the state; and
• To provide superior customer service by providing an Ombudsperson program in every local child support agency to help customers resolve complaints at the earliest time and help customers navigate the complaint resolution process and prepare for state hearings.

Description: A complaint is defined as an unresolved dispute regarding any action (or inaction) taken by the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA), Franchise Tax Board or the Department. A complainant can either be a custodial parent or a noncustodial parent.

The LCSAs will resolve complaints regarding:

• Customer service.
• Timeliness of services.
• Payment and billing issues.
• Decision to close a child support case.

A Local Child Support Agency cannot resolve complaints regarding actions taken by the court, such as the amount of child support order, custody, visitation or spousal support. Only the court can resolve those types of complaints.

Resolving Complaints:

The LCSA is required to respond to each complaint, in writing, within 30 days. If they cannot resolve a complaint within 30 days, they may extend, up to 30 days, the time for resolving a complaint. If the 30-day period is extended for any reason, the LCSA must mail the complainant a notice giving the reason for the extension.

State Hearings:

If the customer is not satisfied with the written results of the complaint resolution or the LCSA does not provide a written response within 30 days of receipt, the complainant may request a State Hearing. The State Hearing is a process where an Administrative Law Judge from the California Department of Social Services (DCSS), State Hearing Office, reviews the parent's complaint, reviews the evidence, takes oral testimony and renders a decision within 30 days of the hearing. The State Hearing Office will grant a hearing only for the following:

• Denial of child support services.
• Untimely or mishandled services.
• Child support services not provided timely or as the law requires.
• Incorrect or missing support payments or amount of arrears.
• Decision to close a case.

The customer may request a state hearing orally or in writing by contacting the LCSA, State Hearing Office, or the Ombudsperson. A customer may request a hearing in the county of their choice or a customer may also participate in the hearing by telephone. Telephonic hearings are becoming increasingly popular as they reduce travel costs to both the customer and the state.

Ombudsperson Program

California's statewide Ombudsperson Program is an integral part of the complaint resolution process. It is the first line of dispute resolution available to customers who are having problems with their child support case. Each complaint received by DCSS is first referred to the appropriate Ombudsperson for resolution.

Each LCSA designated an Ombudsperson with the primary responsibility to provide child support program information to the public, assist customers with inquiries, and to resolve issues before they become formal complaints. Ombudspersons do not carry a regular caseload and are established in all 52 LCSAs and regional LCSAs. The Ombudspersons are well versed in the child support program and generally succeed in resolving most complaints within three days.

The Ombudspersons educate customers about the child support services available to them as well as the role of the Ombudsperson and the complaint resolution and the formal state processes. So long as the customer has not requested the formal complaint process, the complaints are resolved through the Ombudsperson Program and are not entered into California's complaint resolution tracking system. Customer issues and complaints are tracked and reported to the DCSS which tabulates and oversees the program.

Monitoring

DCSS tracks complaint type, resolution and timeliness in resolving complaints. DCSS will use this information to report to the legislature on the progress of complaint resolution, to identify trends, problems, and training issues statewide within LCSAs. DCSS collects complaint information by automation and quarterly reporting by the lead Ombudsperson in every LCSA.

DCSS has created a web-based automated system known as the Complaint Resolution Tracking System (CRTS). The LCSAs are required to enter all formal complaints to CRTS within five days of receipt. Complaints handled through the Ombudsperson program are not included in CRTS, unless the customer is dissatisfied with the Ombudsperson resolution of the issue and requests formal complaint resolution.

DCSS also requires the Ombudsperson to assess customer satisfaction with the LCSA's actions, number of contacts, number of referrals, number and type of complaints handled and referred to the formal complaint resolution process. DCSS requires the lead Ombudsperson to report this information quarterly.

Results: As of July 2001, over one hundred Ombudspersons were located across the state in each LCSA. During state fiscal year 2002, the statewide Ombudsperson program had over 62,000 contacts with customers regarding child support issues and/or complaints. As of May 31, 2003 over 12,000 complaints have been entered into the complaint resolution tracking system and 750 state hearings have been conducted. DCSS is able to pinpoint which LCSA may need additional training, and in which policy area through, the information obtained from reports generated by this process.

Funding: Regular IV-D funds are used.

Replication Advice: Provide sufficient lead time to implement, especially in a state supervised state. All Ombudspersons are county employees. One of the biggest challenges was obtaining county approval for a new Ombudsperson classification. Initially, DCSS gave the LCSA's 90 days to have Ombudspersons in place. However, may LCSAs have had people in an "acting" capacity until they could obtain approvals from their county Human Resources Offices. In some instances it took almost six months to get permanent Ombudspersons in place.

In most cases, the Ombudspersons are the most experienced staff. This experience and their freedom from having a caseload, enables them to provide an objective perspective both in working with customers and in identifying systemic issues within a LCSA.

Flexibility to interchange staff that handles informal complaints should be allowed. Solving informal complaints will be quicker and cheaper than having the customer go through the formal complaint process for resolution. If the informal complaint process is functioning well, then there should be a reduction in formal complaints.

Adequate training of front line staff, Ombudsperson, and complaint investigators is essential to resolving complaints as soon as possible to reduce the number of hearings required.

DCSS was challenged to create a new mindset within the child support program. Prior to 2001, local District Attorneys administered the local child support program. DCSS is marketing complaint resolution as a positive customer service vehicle. We believe that treating complaint resolution as a customer service issue will increase customer confidence in the child support program, reduce complaints regarding non-responsiveness and provide customers with an appeal process which involves an independent third party.

Contact:

Francine Woods

Chief, Customer and Community Services Branch

Phone: (916) 464-5377

Email: Francine.woods@dcss.ca.gov