February 2024 Child Support Report
February 2024 Child Support Report February 27, 2024 | Volume 45 | No. 2
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Modernizing the Texas Parenting and Paternity Awareness Program
Dr. Justin Reed, Texas Office of the Attorney General’s Child Support Division
In August 2020, OCSS awarded funding to eight state child support agencies through the Economic Mobility and Responsible Parenting Demonstration Grant. In July 2021, OCSS awarded funding to an additional cohort of seven state and two tribal programs. This article is part of a series that features awardees’ efforts to leverage the child support program's responsible parenting expertise. For more information, email michael.hayes@acf.hhs.gov or donna.steele@acf.hhs.gov.

In 2008, the Office of the Attorney General’s Child Support Division and the Texas Education Agency launched the Parenting and Paternity Awareness (p.a.p.a.) program to educate teens and young adults on the importance of responsible parenting, healthy relationships, and the financial and legal obligations of being a parent. We’ve had success with the curriculum, but research in the field of parenting, relationship dynamics, educational approaches, and technology have changed. We realized we needed to modernize the curriculum. Our office partnered with the Nurse-Family Partnership to test and evaluate new and expanded content presented through a digital learning platform. The Partnership is funded by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Vanderbilt University’s Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center.
Creating a video curriculum
Our OCSS Economic Mobility and Responsible Parenting grant helped us build and begin testing our new curriculum, “p.a.p.a. Integrated.” It’s a series of 26 videos on effective communication, building healthy relationships, co-parenting skills, understanding fatherhood, the child support system, acknowledgments of paternity, and financial literacy. The videos are a combination of original and new content from The Dibble Institute’s Love Notes curriculum. Videos range from 3 to 11 minutes and are uploaded into Adobe’s Learning Management System.
Here are some examples of videos in the new curriculum:
- Establishing Paternity
- Communications (Angry Brain)
- How Child Support is Collected
- Applying for Child Support
Evaluation and next steps
Individuals in the Nurse-Family Partnership program are given the opportunity to participate in p.a.p.a. Integrated. If enrolled, they are placed in one of three groups. One group is for participants who want the modules but do not want to take part in the evaluation. If they agree to the evaluation, they are randomly placed in one of the two remaining groups. These two groups contain all six modules that are presented in different order. This allows for a repeated measures design where participants take a pre-, mid-, and final survey as they move through the modules to evaluate knowledge and attitude changes.
Once the research is complete, we hope to understand if or how much participants learned from the material. We also hope to integrate this modernized content into the current p.a.p.a. program offered in Texas classrooms and social service programs. Along with the video and research, we’ve hired a curriculum writer who is working on combining the original and new materials, modernizing p.a.p.a. classroom materials, and developing classroom exercises. Our office expects to implement this new version in October 2024.
For more information, email Korissa.Felan@oag.texas.gov.
Helping Domestic Violence Survivors Avoid Being Retraumatized

OCSS provides domestic violence training to state and tribal child support agencies to help them recognize and respond to safety concerns. This article is part of a series of testimonials from these trainings.
“Rob”
I work in a state child support agency and recently took part in the OCSS Safer Access to Child Support for Survivors of Domestic Violence training. I think every child support worker would benefit from the engaging, challenging, and practical content. It gave me new insight on the connection between our work as child support professionals and the needs of domestic violence survivors.
I also want to share how the training resonated in my personal life. During one session that focused on how child support actions can retraumatize survivors, this vivid memory came to mind:
My wife experienced significant abuse and trauma during her first marriage. She and her ex had one son who ended up living with us exclusively by his choice. Shortly after my wife and I were married, she received an envelope from the county child support agency that seemed to have a card enclosed. I asked her what it was because she left it on the counter for a few days. I still remember her words — “I don’t want it. I’m not touching it. I won’t deal with it.” I was always fastidious about paying our bills and helping to rebuild her credit, so I was a bit concerned.
In [our state], child support recipients get their funds on a debit card. It turns out that’s what was in the envelope. I asked my wife about it again a few weeks later and got the same response.
I ended up going to the child support office to explain our situation with our IDs and marriage certificate. They patiently walked me through the steps, and my wife was able to reset her PIN for the card. Even though there was child support money available on the card, she still wanted nothing to do with it. Ever! For her, just seeing or holding this card was a major trigger.
For the rest of the years that she received support, I set the card aside and used the funds for her son.
I was certainly not a hero by doing this. The point, rather, is that sometimes even things we see as being benefits to a custodial parent — like receiving payments — may be implemented in ways that have unintended consequences and can retraumatize. For my wife, the world would have been much better if the money simply showed up in her checking account every month without her having to hold and use a card that reminded her of the abuse she suffered for so many years.
Thanks for opening my eyes to so much during the training. Not only will the training help me professionally, but it also shed so much light on what my wife went through. I had many “Oh, that’s what it meant!” moments during these sessions.
To schedule a domestic violence training, email michael.hayes@acf.hhs.gov.
“Think Teeth” This Year with Medicaid and CHIP
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Each February we observe National Children’s Dental Health Month to elevate dental health among kids and teens. Poor oral health can cause more than just a toothache - it can negatively affect children’s physical and social development along with their performance in school .
Cavities are the most common preventable chronic disease among children in the country. More than half of children ages 6 to 8 have had a cavity in a primary tooth; half of adolescents 12 to 19 have had one in a permanent tooth. The good news is that children can protect their teeth and support their overall health with healthy dental habits and routine oral health care. Dentists recommend children get an oral check-up every six months to receive important preventive care and treat any issues. However, during the pandemic there were 19% fewer (PDF) dental services provided to children under 19 with Medicaid.
How to promote dental health coverage
The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign (the “Campaign”) encourages child support professionals to tell parents and caregivers about the benefits of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which cover dental health services like x-rays, fillings, sealants, and more for children up to age 19. The Campaign has resources and materials for you to share with families emphasizing the importance of good oral health care throughout childhood and encouraging them to enroll in Medicaid and CHIP. Use these messages to spread the word on social media accounts:
- #DYK free or low-cost coverage through #Medicaid and #CHIP covers dental care services like cleaning, sealants, and fillings? These services are essential to keeping your children’s smiles shining bright. Enroll today: https://bit.ly/3wVNvc7
- Take care of even the tiniest of teeth and start good dental habits at a young age. It’s recommended that children receive their first dental visit as early as 12 months old. With #Medicaid and #CHIP your child’s important dental services are covered. Find coverage here: https://bit.ly/3wVNvc7
- It’s #NationalChildrensDentalHealthMonth! Help your child’s overall health and development by practicing healthy dental habits. #Medicaid and #CHIP offer free or low-cost health coverage that includes dental services for kids up to age 19. Connect to coverage: https://bit.ly/3wVNvc7
You can find more oral health outreach material like coloring pages, posters, flyers, tear pads and more on the Campaign’s Oral Health Initiative page .
Medicaid and CHIP enrollment is open year-round, so it’s the perfect time to make sure kids and teens have access to important health care to help protect them now and for the future.
Resource Alert: National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework
ACF’s National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework reflects research and best practices in violence prevention and health promotion, as well as the expertise of people who have experienced human trafficking and allied professionals. It is a resource for organizations, communities, and governments.
About Child Support Report
Child Support Report is published monthly by the Office of Child Support Services. We welcome articles and high-quality digital photos to consider for publication. We reserve the right to edit for style, content and length, or not accept an article. OCSS does not endorse the practices or individuals in this newsletter. You may reprint an article in its entirety (or contact the author or editor for permission to excerpt); please identify Child Support Report as the source.
Jeff Hild Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families | Tanguler Gray Commissioner, OCSS |
Crystal Peeler Director, Division of Customer Communications | Andrew Phifer Editor, CSR.Editor@acf.hhs.gov |