For many of us in the child support community, the past two months have been busy! In February, we gathered for the annual National Child Support Enforcement Association's Policy Forum, and in the federal office, we launched a new internal OCSE Strategic Plan full of task-oriented targets. In March, I attended the Region 2 directors conference, as well as a combined Region 9 and 10 tribal directors meeting. I had many notable moments, but I really enjoyed discussing the future of child support with my Administration for Children and Families peers in the opening plenary of the policy forum and hearing from the wide range of speakers over the three-day conference. For those of you who missed it, check out Policy Forum Highlights.
Policy Forum Highlights
In my role as commissioner, I get invited to a lot of events. Here are some takeaways from this year's NCSEA Policy Forum that I wanted to share with the community.
In a plenary on the Future of Child Support Case Management Under the 2016 OCSE Modernization Rule and the Performance Incentive System, we got interesting insight into how Congress is looking at human services programs. Staff Director Anne DeCesaro, of the Subcommittee on Human Resources, U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means; and Senior Human Service Advisor Ryan Martin, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, talked about what their committees are looking at to improve incentive measures, case closure, incarceration challenges, and more.
During the Digital Marketing Strategies for Child Support Agencies workshop, we heard about the innovative tactics some states are taking to publicize their services, especially to the younger, more tech-savvy population of parents.
We also heard from David Kilgore, director of the Riverside County Department of Child Support Services , who talked about Adverse Childhood Experiences and shared what his county is doing to maximize the positive effects of child support actions while minimizing the negative effects, creating resiliency-building organizations along the way. In a future issue, David will expand on this concept and explain what that means for child support professionals and how Riverside is trying to build a resilient community.
And after the forum, I joined the new child support directors for a financial management training. The Annual Report Data Technical Overview presentation showed how performing day-to-day operations affects state performance measures and incentives.
As I came away from the panel discussions and engaging conversations, I was reminded of how closely intertwined the ideas of collaboration and communication are. For the federal office, we're especially thinking about how these two ideas overlap since they are two of OCSE's four internal strategies, see the September 2017 Commissioner’s Voice. And already, we see what happens when we try to better understand each other so we can work together to improve outcomes across different social services.
Collaboration
One recent accomplishment I'd like to focus on is the work we did alongside the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) in producing twin Information Memoranda (IM) in February. They deal with the use of incentive and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for noncustodial parents (NCP). OCSE rolled out IM-18-02, Use of IV-D Incentive Funds for NCP Work Activities, and OFA published TANF-ACF-IM-2018-01, The use of TANF funds to promote employment programs for noncustodial parents. OCSE and TANF are really behind the idea of getting parents employed. These memoranda show our commitment to programs that get people to work.
The OCSE IM reaffirms that states may ask for exemptions to use federal dollars, via incentive payments, to help fund work activities for noncustodial parents. That could mean more employment programs for noncustodial parents at the state level. As a complement, the OFA IM reminds states that they can use federal TANF Program funds to the same end — employment services for noncustodial parents. Cross-promoting the availability of certain federal funds can help states gauge which options or tools are best for helping their populations. With greater flexibility, states can help parents reach better financial stability to provide more for their children. I would be remiss if I did not thank our Acting Assistant Secretary Steven Wagner for his support and the work he’s doing in forging relationships with our counterparts at the Department of Labor.
But intra-agency partnerships like this don't happen on their own. They happen only when we look for areas of overlap in the social services we provide and identify ways to improve our effectiveness for the parents we help. That starts when we get on the same page. During the policy forum, Rev. Dr. Michael Oleksa, a leader in the development of cross-cultural education in Alaska, explained that we need to learn to speak the same “language.” After we do that, we can reduce duplication of effort and drive efficiency. Making the most of our public resources takes understanding, cooperation, and creativity. We're doing just that here at the federal level, and I encourage our partners at the regional and state levels to think broadly about how you can do this, too.
We actually have three examples of successful partnerships in the March 2018 Child Support Report (PDF). The Alaska Child Support Services Division and the Tribal Child Support Unit of the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska began collaborating on a teen outreach program in 2014 to help teens learn healthy choices. The Fathers’ Support Center in St. Louis, Missouri, launched a new program called Parenting in Partnership to foster stronger collaboration between custodial and noncustodial parents. And in Omaha, Nebraska, the local Legal Aid office and Child Support Services project worked with the state Department of Health and Human Services to develop a handbook and video to help incarcerated parents submit a support modification request by themselves.
How can you collaborate with others to strengthen the impact you're making in children's and parents' lives?
Scott Lekan, CommissionerThis blog gives the commissioner a forum to communicate directly with child support professionals and other stakeholders about relevant topics. The Commissioner’s Voice is reprinted from the monthly Child Support Report newsletter.