November 2023 Child Support Report
November 2023 Child Support Report November 27, 2023 | Volume 44 | No. 10 | Monthly
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Grant Helped Standing Rock Build Office Space
Jerl Thompson, Director, Standing Rock Child Support Enforcement Agency

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe established its own tribal child support agency in 2013. Over the last decade, we’ve quickly grown to managing over 1,000 child support cases and collecting over $400,000 a year for families.
In 2018, our program was housed at the Old Sitting Bull College building after the school moved to a new campus. The building was 50 years old and had a flat roof that had been decaying for some time. Estimates indicated that it would cost too much to fix the problems with the existing building, so we knew we needed to find a better permanent solution.
We identified a company called Satellite Shelters that sells modular offices. The company had six units available built in 2011 that would form a building 72 feet by 84 feet. The purchase price included freight and assembly. Our tribe agreed to provide the land and landscaping and got estimates to install these necessities:
- Concrete pier supports (required 49)
- Water and sewer hookups
- Electrical hookups and networking

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Grant
Once we knew the cost and scope of our project, we applied for a grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC). They allow tribal governments, Native American organizations, and schools serving Native American students to apply for non-cash donations and grants. Each organization can submit only one request for a monetary award and one request for a non-cash award per fiscal year (October to September).
Our tribe submitted a grant request that included our project budget and justification narrative. In September 2018, SMSC notified us that our grant request was approved. We immediately got to work and our staff was able to move in to our new office in 2021. The new building helped us continue to deliver high-quality services to our community in a safe and healthy environment. We’re so grateful to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community!
You can learn more about these non-cash and cash awards and how to apply by visiting the SMSC website .
To learn more about the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe project, email JerlThompson@standingrock.org.
Checklist for Modernizing Your Child Support System
Raghavan Varadachari, Director, OCSS Division of State and Tribal Systems

Are you considering modernizing your child support system and don’t know where to start? Are you in the middle of system modernization and feel like you’re forgetting an important step? Modernization is an important way to ensure you’re serving children and parents effectively and efficiently, but it can be confusing if you don’t have a good roadmap.
We’ve created a checklist (PDF) of tasks you’ll need to complete to modernize your system.
Outline Vision: Plan how you’ll collaborate with all partners who will use the system. Is this an enterprise system used by Medicare/Medicaid, child welfare, TANF, SNAP, or other programs? Is this a system used only by child support?
Secure Funding: Secure funding for the entire project from legislators.
Choose the Right System: Use the Streamlined Feasibility Study guide (PDF) to analyze system options (Replatforming or refactoring does not require a Streamlined Feasibility Study).
- Conduct cost-benefit analysis on transfer, hybrid, and commercial off the shelf options.
- Determine cost savings between alternatives you identified.
- Choose the system that’s best for your program.
Get Approval: Submit the Streamlined Feasibility Study to OCSS.DSTS@acf.hhs.gov for approval.
Develop Project Plan: Once OCSS approves your project, create a plan from beginning to end.
- Identify start and end dates, duration, and task dependencies
- Identify business sponsor (usually IV-D director)
- Involve your IT division to explore on-premises hosting v. cloud
- Identify PMP-certified project manager
- Involve all counties and get their unique requirements (critical)
Procure Vendors: You’ll need to secure vendors for these phases:
- Design, Development, and Implementation (DDI)
- Project Management Office (PMO)
- Quality Assurance (QA)
- Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V)
Choose Methodology: Decide whether you’ll use the agile, iterative, or waterfall approach to managing your project.
Get Certified: Follow the steps in the certification guide (PDF). If possible, have the IV&V vendor do a pre-compliance check. You’ll also want to identify small, medium, and large counties for your pilot.
Celebrate Modernization Success: Congratulations on implementing a system that helps families and staff!
Feel free to share this resource with your team and print it out for easy reference. Remember, OCSS is here to help! We can guide you through the technical and procurement elements in this checklist and share lessons learned from other states.
For questions about the modernization process, email OCSS.DSTS@acf.hhs.gov.
Promoting Responsible Parenting in the Blackfeet Nation
Agnes Black Weasel, Blackfeet Child Support Enforcement Program
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.

Amid the breathtaking landscapes of the Rocky Mountains, Blackfeet Child Support and Blackfeet Manpower, a nonprofit providing job readiness services, are hard at work helping our community. We’ve launched a project called Iiksook’ksooksik, which means “good future” in the Blackfeet language, to help local youth imagine a good future for themselves. Building that future will require tools like financial literacy, responsible parenting practices, and, above all, a strong cultural identity.
Our project serves teens and young parents age 14 to 24 and noncustodial parents not meeting their child support obligations. Last summer, Project Director Jayla Wells led our first event, a five-day in-person financial literacy program for over 80 youth as part of a Blackfeet Manpower Job Readiness Program.
Participants who completed a survey afterward said they enjoyed the program and found it useful — our first glimpse that the program was helping our community. Next summer, we plan to host a multi-day, in-person culture camp for youth that will integrate key elements of the curriculum. We’ll also host a digital storytelling event to introduce our vision for a culturally responsive approach to responsible parenting and economic mobility to the community.
Our Partners
Our partnerships have been critical to the growth of our program. We’ve worked closely with the public schools in Browning, Montana, the Blackfeet Nation Tribal Court, the Blackfeet Community College, and others. We’re especially excited to be working with our Piikani Youth Council, a group of young leaders with a vision of change for our community. They’re particularly interested in finding ways to increase exposure to the Blackfeet language.
With the enthusiasm and drive of these young leaders, we’re confident that the Iiksook’ksooksik project can help set the Blackfeet Nation on course for a bright future. We hope this program can also serve as an inspiration for similar initiatives across the country.
For more information, email Agnes Black Weasel at ablackweasel@blackfeetnation.com.
Increasing Tribal Collaboration
Andrew Phifer, OCSS

One of the ways OCSS serves tribal child support programs is through human-centered design. This problem-solving approach helps us collaborate with tribal directors to identify problems and gain insight and input about potential solutions. Three OCSS teams partnered with the University of Maryland Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to learn about human-centered design and interviewed tribal directors about their program needs and how we could help.
One of the teams launched a workgroup of representatives from several tribal programs and OCSS staff to work on outreach materials for tribes. The workgroup identified areas where outreach materials could be helpful, and then OCSS created the products through an iterative process. Here are two flyers available to tribes:
- Child Support 101 for Tribal Child Support Programs: This is a customizable flyer that tribes can use with outreach to parents. The flyer highlights the tribal program’s core services and some flexibilities they offer, with space for their logo and contact information. Tribes choose from two versions — one that includes non-cash support and one that doesn’t — and use the Microsoft Word version to customize and share with parents in their community.
- Employer Responsibilities When Working With Tribal Child Support Programs (PDF): This flyer highlights requirements employers must follow when they receive an IWO from a tribe. Tribes can mail this along with an IWO or as a standalone resource to remind employers of their responsibilities.
In the new year, this workgroup plans to create an evergreen social media toolkit for tribes.
If you have any questions about these resources, email OCSScommunications@acf.hhs.gov.
Resource Alert: Get free at-home COVID-19 tests
Every home in the U.S. is now eligible to order an additional 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. If you didn't order tests earlier this fall, you may place two orders for a total of 8 tests. Your order is completely free and you don't have to pay for shipping. Place your order .
Policy Recap
OCSS issued recent guidance to help states and tribes develop and operate their child support programs according to federal laws and regulations:
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 |