A record number of child support professionals attended the 2019 National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA) Policy Forum, “Lifting Families Out of Poverty,” which was held in February in Washington, D.C. The annual Policy Forum is a great way for child support professionals to connect and learn what other programs are doing across the country and around the world, as well as gain perspective on federal priorities, initiatives, and hot topics. Michigan was fortunate to have a diverse team of leaders attending the conference from the Office of Child Support (OCS), the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO), and the Friend of the Court Association (FOCA).
 |
| Federal Office of Child Support Commissioner Scott Lekan and Division Director Barbara Lacina start the conference with their "View from the Top" plenary session. |
The “Lifting Families out of Poverty” conference theme is timely considering the poverty of so many families receiving services from child support programs across the country and the safety net that child support can provide for children living at or below the poverty line. Also, California’s Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force report was issued in November 2018, in response to the fact that California has the highest number of children and highest percentage of children living in poverty of any state in the nation.
Commissioner Scott Lekan of the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement provided a “View from the Top” in the opening plenary session, sharing the program’s current priorities as well as his vision for the future of the IV-D program. Throughout the session, Commissioner Lekan mentioned hot topics, including: increasing the use of Medicaid referrals to the child support program; the influence of parenting time on the receipt of child support payments; how the receipt of child support impacts a person’s receipt of other services; and whether the current incentives scheme makes sense as the program’s focus evolves from recoupment to anti-poverty. These and other topics were discussed in more detail throughout the conference.
A panel discussion focused on federal performance measures and whether the current measures are incentivizing the child support program appropriately, especially in light of the focus on alleviating poverty. The consensus was that the arrears case percentage incentive factor is not very useful as-is. Both customer service and medical support were mentioned as possible new incentive factors, with varying levels of support from the panelists and the audience. While the panel seemed largely comfortable with the status quo, half of the participants voting in a real-time poll during the session said they were in favor of wholesale changes to the way child support incentive payments are calculated. This may be something to watch carefully over the next few years.
Many speakers throughout the conference stressed the importance of employment as a means for parents to achieve self-sufficiency and to better provide for their own families. These conversations were almost completely limited to employment for payers of support rather than for both payers and recipients of support. However, a speaker from Colorado noted that his state’s program uses a two-generation approach, which means focusing on serving children and their caregivers together to harness the family’s full potential, and therefore provides employment assistance for both parents.
In addition to these high-level discussions, child support professionals had the opportunity to learn about innovative program initiatives by other states’ child support programs and partners. Highlights included:
- IV-D directors discuss their state programs and initiatives. One major theme was collaboration with community partners. For example, in New York City, the program has developed a training script that it delivers to all its cohorts – homeless services, welfare, probation officers, and others. That way, if they encounter a family that might benefit from child support services, they can identify that opportunity and help the family get to those services. Another major theme was debt reduction. The panel seemed to agree that child support debt is a major stressor that breeds conflict in families and is a barrier to employment. All states on the panel had state debt reduction strategies and some reported significant, intentional declines in default orders.
- Non-custodial parent (NCP) employment. This session featured an in-depth look at South Carolina’s successful Man 2 Man Fatherhood Initiative, which focuses on apprenticeship-style job education. The session also featured Demetra Smith Nightingale of the Urban Institute, who echoed the importance of involving employers along with technical or community colleges. The panel also pointed to continuous training and criminal record expungement as some of the necessary tools for a successful NCP employment program. However, there was discussion around how to induce payment of support from those working “under the table” or in the gig economy, the quality of work that is available to parents, and inevitable fluctuations.
- A lunch-and-learn gathering focused on fatherhood initiatives. This informal gathering organized by the Fatherhood Research & Practice Network brought together administrators from many states to share their experiences in developing programs that promote healthy relationships between fathers and children. They freely shared strategies for obtaining funding, finding stakeholders to help share the load and provide services, and return on investment for those initiatives.
- Findings from several recent federal grant opportunities. Featured grants included: the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED); Behavioral Interventions in Child Support (BICS); and Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC). Participants had the opportunity to hear about some of the more successful projects undertaken by grantees and were encouraged to apply for an upcoming grant to help states improve intergovernmental services.
One major takeaway from the conference was the willingness of attendees to share their best practices: what works, what does not, and what they might like to try. A speaker noted this willingness to share and collaborate, and that it was remarkable due to programs competing over the same pool of money. Our child support professionals are to be commended for putting the program first as they work towards our common goals of establishing paternity for children, obtaining support for families, and contributing to the overall well-being of our communities.
Keegan Malone is the Prosecuting Attorney Liaison for the Michigan Office of Child Support. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Michigan State University College of Law. He is committed to helping solve tricky problems and making sure people feel welcomed and respected in the child support program.
Julie Vandenboom has worked for the Office of Child Support (OCS) for ten years. She started with the Enforcement Policy team and then worked with Planning, Evaluation, and Analysis before landing in her current role as the OCS Program Re-engineering Specialist. Most recently, she has been splitting her time between the Behavioral Interventions Workgroup and helping to get the Contract Performance Standards up and running.
Carol Montavon Bealor, J.D., received her bachelor’s degree in Government and International Studies from the University of Notre Dame and her Juris Doctor degree from Valparaiso University School of Law. She currently serves as 43rd Circuit Court Administrator and Friend of the Court Director.
