Child Support Report - December 1995

On October 31, 1995 CSR spoke with Ms. Ann Garcelon, Director of Communications for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. Ms. Garcelon has been an innovator in the development and use of technology in human service communications and in the use of public service announcements to promote child support enforcement.

CSR Let's talk first about the job of a director of communications for a state human services agency. What do you do?

AG I think the most important thing we do is to put human faces on programs and demystify the workings of bureaucracies for our constituents. We're a source of plain-speak about the agency's services. We heighten the public's awareness of what the agency is working to achieve by presenting a clear and consistent version of our agency's core message. We're also visionaries, looking ahead 2, 5, even 10 years, for new and innovative ways to serve our customers. How will we be communicating in the year 2000 and what should we be doing to be ready? We're giving that question a lot of thought right nowand have been for some time. Less positive, perhaps, though no less important, is the role we have to play in what's popularly known as damage controldoing our best to explain when things go wrong or are misunderstood.

CSR You mention presenting an agency's core message to the public. Why can't the work we do in child support enforcement on behalf of children speak for itself? Why do we need a message at all?

AG One thing I learned right away in communicating with the public is that messages are constantly being sent out, whether intended or not. And these unsent messages are not always the ones we would choose to be heard. Child support enforcement messages, as picked up in the marketplace, focus a lot on money: how much money we've collected; how much money that's out there that hasn't been collected but needs to be. It's a message that suggests to many listeners a further unsent message: the collection of money is an end in itself. I don't know many child support professionals who believe that, but I can tell you that it's a message that's been received in communities.

CSR Are you saying that we need to become news managers and spin doctors...

AG These are terms that have, not altogether fairly, become stigmatized as dishonest. You manage the news or put a spin on news, in this view, because there is something to hide. Child support enforcement certainly has nothing to hide or cover up. We have a message of help and caring for children and families that needs to get outmust get out. We believe in that message. It's real! It says that kids need and deserve the emotional and financial support of both parents. It says that Moms and Dads, whether or not they're together, are important to their kids. Why not make certain that our message gets a fair hearing? Why not make certain that the message we want to be heard is the one that actually is heard? Remember: if we don't put our message out, a message about us gets out anyway. Think about it. Child support enforcement messages compete with othersmessages on immunization, drugs, teen pregnancy, pre-natal caremany of them targeting the same audience that we're targeting. It's not easy to get people's attention. Once we do, we want to be sure they hear what we have to say.

CSR How would you evaluate the national child support enforcement message?

AG Child support enforcement is a great program, and I think a lot of people are aware of that. But the message that has gone out nationally over the years, until very recently, has been largely negative, has tended toward the punitivepay up or elseand reduced fathers, in a manner of speaking, to the status of dollar signs and pay machines. I'm just not comfortable with language about deadbeat dads. I think this kind of image leads to a variation of the old game of Hide and Seek. Dads hide while Moms and the agencies try to find them. In terms of what's best for the family as a whole, it's not very productive. The recent Children First campaign is a move away from thata much more positive development.

CSR If you were director of communications for a child support enforcement agency, what would you do?

AG I'd suggest a wholistic approach, one that says What we're doing is good for families and kids. The message we put out should say that in a way that people can understand and appreciate. I'd want to sit down with the agency director and the top staff to look at how we could sweeten the child support enforcement message. How we could move away from negative imagery and stigmatizing language because these approaches have the potential to embarrass the children of these noncustodial fathers.We have to keep in mind that Dads are important to their kids even if they aren't living with them and even if they aren't current in their support. Labeling them deadbeats doesn't really contribute anything positive. I would focus the message on childrentheir needs, how to help them become healthy, happy, successful adults. One state uses a poster"You can't have an ex child." The excellent point made by the poster's message is that no matter what's going on between parents, the children continue to need their help. I'm not saying that the economic message is wrong. The amount of money collected is important. The fact that there's even more money to be collected is important, too. I'm only saying that money may have been emphasized more than is necessary. Balance is neededbeef up the emotional side to soften the overall impact. Again, the Children First approach is moving in the right direction.

CSR Thank you.

This year, as I finish my second year as OCSE's Deputy Director, I am reminded once again of the special quality of our work. We are stewards of two of our nation's most precious and important resources: children and families. Being mindful of this high responsibility gives added meaning to this season of celebration and joy.

We work to improve the lives of children. The charts we draw, the figures we add, the reports and letters we write, the hearings we attend, the teleconferences we participate inall this we do to better the lives of our children.

We also work to support families. Child Support Enforcement is part of the Administration for Children and Families. This organizational tie symbolizes the need children have to be surrounded by a supportive communitya place where they are known, cared for, and loved.

As part of the Child Support Enforcement Program's 20th anniversary observance this past summer, which many of you helped us celebrate, we adopted the slogan, OCSEGiving Hope and Support to America's Children Since 1975. Hope, a word too often in short supply among those we serve, means many things. But as I think of our jobsall 50,000 of us in child supportto me it means that all of us do so much more than show up for work each day. Our faithfulness on behalf of children and families means hope for those who, in many instances, have no other hope.

We can give no greater gift.

Record amounts of child support were collected in each of the past two years, according to Donna Shalala, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

From 1992 to 1995, collections have grown by nearly 40 percent and paternity establishments have risen by more than 40 percent. However, the improvements still fall far short of potential collections, Shalala said. Promising as these collections are to millions of children, still millions more are deprived of the help they need, she added.

Secretary Shalala also released preliminary data for fiscal year 1995 showing that $11 billion in child support was collected and 735,000 paternities were established. The paternity establishment numbers include, for the first time, paternities voluntarily established in the hospital at the time of birth.

To the theme of Working in Harmony to Support Our Children, Washington State's 3rd annual Tribal/State Child Support Conference, held September 17-19, 1995 attracted 99 participants from around the country. The conference is a joint effort of representatives from Washington State Indian tribes, the State's Division of Child Support, and the Federal Regional child support office in Seattle.

Indian tribes are sovereign governments not bound by IV-D laws. The child support program works with many of Washington State's 26 tribes with the goal of either negotiating an intergovernmental agreement or identifying a process with each tribe to provide child support services on reservations.

Key tribal, state, and federal participants in open forums shared diverse perspectives on how best to combine their efforts to further the goal of improving child support tribal/state relations. Washington's Governor, Mike Lowry, stressed the State's commitment to work with the tribes. Joe DeLaCruz, past president of the Quinault Indian Nation, reviewed the history of state/tribal relations over the past several decades and also emphasized the commitment each person needs to make for this relationship to work.

A conference highlight was a moving and spirited dance presentation by the Diversity Dance Workshop of Bellevue, Washington. The group is comprised of young dancers from different cultures whose music and dancing embody a message of cross-cultural cooperation and commitment to positive goals and ideals.

A comprehensive agenda enabled participants to:

• explore methods to promote effective tribal/state relations;
• focus on cooperation and coordination of child support services; and
• develop a better understanding of the different governing systems.

The history of the conference and success of the commitment made by Washington State and its Indian tribes to foster a government-to-government relationship with almost all of the Washington tribes was demonstrated by the ongoing consistent involvement. While the conference program was extremely interesting, there were also many individual presentations and discussions that took place during breaks and meals.

One of the most memorable presentations, given by Larry Lockwood, from the Muckleshoot tribal school, set the tone for the entire conference and served as a reminder of all the Native American children who do not receive child support services. He told a story from a tribal story-teller about how children and the tribal elders seem to know and understand more issues than those who have the leadership roles. This was the case in the story, Who Speaks for the Wolf? and can be considered analogous to Who Speaks for the Indian Children?

States must use guidelines to determine the initial amount of child support and to decide whether an existing award amount should be changed. The amount of child support derived from applying the guidelines is presumed to be correct . A presumption may be rebutted if it is determined that applying the guidelines would be inappropriate in a particular case. Further, guidelines must take into consideration all earnings and income of the obligor parent.

Decisionmakers may have difficulty deriving the child support award when there is not enough information about the obligor parent's earnings and income. Similar problems can arise when an obligor is deliberately underemployed or unemployed. This article looks at how three statesKansas, Michigan, and Montana have incorporated provisions within their guidelines for addressing such situations.

Kansas

When a parent is deliberately unemployed, but capable of working full time, employment potential and probable earnings may be based on recent work history, occupational skills, and prevailing community job opportunities. When there is evidence of deliberate underemployment for the purpose of avoiding child support, Kansas guidelines give the court discretion to evaluate the circumstances to determine whether actual or potential earnings should be used.

If a parent receives significant in-kind payments as a result of employment--such as a company car, free housing, or reimbursed meals--the value of such reimbursement is added to gross income.

Michigan

The recommendation also takes into account the possible inclusion of a child care recommendation where imputation would make that issue relevant. The recommendation must specify the reason imputation was considered and the basis of the amount imputed. The court ultimately decides which recommendation to use. In considering a party's unexercised ability to earn, the FOC must consider among other equitable factors the following criteria:

• prior employment experience;
• educational level;
• physical and mental disabilities;
• availability of employment in the area;
• the prevailing wage rates in the area;
• special skills and training;
• any evidence that the party in question is able to earn the imputed income;
• the presence of children of the marriage in the party's home and its impact on earnings.

When income is imputed, guidelines designate that the amount imputed should be sufficient to bring total income up to the level it would have been had there been no reduction in income, provided that the computation is not based on any hours beyond 40 per week, nor any overtime or shift premiums.

Montana

Montana guidelines set forth two methods for imputing income. One approach is to determine employment potential and probable net earnings level based on the parent's recent work history, occupational qualifications, and prevailing job opportunities and earnings level in the community. However, if there is no recent work history, and no higher education or vocational training, income may be imputed at the minimum wage level.

When a parent is married, remarried, or living with a person who is contributing labor or money to a common householdand the parent elects to stay home as homemakerthe value for homemaker services may be imputed to the parent at the minimum wage level for a 40 hour week.

This amount can be altered if the court or administrative hearing officer decides another amount is more appropriate. Income imputed to an unemployed parent who is providing in-home care for the child for whom support is being calculated should be reduced by the reasonable value of the parent's child care service. However, this is true only if that parent would be required to incur child care expenses if employed at the imputed level.

Income should not be imputed if:

• the reasonable costs of day care for the parties' dependent children will offset, in whole or in substantial part, the amount of income the custodial parent can earn;
• a parent is physically or mentally disabled to the extent that he or she cannot earn income at the federal minimum wage level for a 40 hour week;
• the parent is engaged in a plan of economic self-improvement, including but not limited to education and retraining, which will result, within a reasonable time, in an economic benefit to the children for whom the support obligation is being determined;
• unusual emotional and/or physical needs of the child require the custodial parent's presence in the home;
• the parent, to no avail, has made diligent efforts to find and accept suitable work or to return to customary self-employment; or the court or hearing officer finds that other circumstances make the imputation of income inequitable. However, the amount of imputed income will be decreased only to the extent required to remove such inequity.

Montana guidelines also indicate that, although income is not imputed under the above conditions, actual income--including grants, scholarships, third party contributions, or other money intended to subsidize the parent's living expenses and which is not required to be repaid at a later date--should be included in gross income.

Through the development of a Child Support Charter, the Australian Child Support Agency is about to travel down a brand new road with their customers to better, fairer service.

The Charter will explain the level of service every customer can expect to receive. From telephone and correspondence standards to complaint procedures, the Charter will clearly define customer's rights when dealing with the Agency. More than a one-way street, it will also discuss customer's responsibilitiesfrom courteous treatment of staff to full disclosure of relevant information.

Using the Charter, the Agency hopes to:

• improve relationships with the community;
• become more customer focused;
• provide consistent delivery of service; and
• increase support for the level of service.

Agency staff were also involved in the development of the Charter, through formal submission of ideas and in forums to discuss their expectations. To make sure the Charter captured the essentials of customer service, the draft was circulated for comment to each customer, client group, and staff member who requested it, as well as to those who sent in suggestions in response to newspaper ads, and to each Agency branch office. A telephone hotline was also set up to take comments from callers and to convey information about the Charter. The challenging task of implementing the Charter will commence early next year, when the final version is to be released.

If you would like additional information about the Charter or other aspects of Australia's child support enforcement program, please feel free to give me a call at (202)401-4639; or E-mail: Adutton

On October 23, 1995 Donna Shalala, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), released Fathering: the Man and the Family. The Department's final report in response to President Clinton's June 16 memorandum on supporting the role of fathers in families, it identifies four goals for continuing the Department's work in strengthening the roles of fathers in families. The goals mandate:

• coordinating a comprehensive program strategy to strengthen services for fathers and children;
• assuring that research efforts appropriately investigate the roles of fathers in families and the effects of fathering on child well-being and help to inform broader government research collaborations on the importance of including research on fathers and fathering;
• using positive, supportive messages and language regarding fathers and fatherhood in all publications and announcements; and
• ensuring that the workplace is supportive and responsive to the needs of all employees raising children.

• All fathers can be important contributors to the well-being of their children;
• Parents are partners in raising their children, even when they do not live in the same household;
• The roles fathers play in families are diverse and related to cultural and community norms;
• Men should receive the education and support necessary to prepare them for the responsibility of parenthood; and
• Government can encourage and promote father involvement through its programs and through its own workforce policies.

In order to provide assistance to states in (1) processing garnishment orders for child support and (2) for serving of legal process to establish and enforce child support orders on federal employers of employees who are obligated to pay child support, OCSE has developed two lists of Designated Federal Agents.

The first is an updated list of those agents designated to accept legal process.

The second is a list of designated agency contacts responsible for facilitating the service of legal process on members of the uniformed services and on other federal employees in the Executive Branch.

These lists will make it easier for child support staff to locate and, when necessary, garnish the wages of those federal employees who are obligated to pay support to their children. Jointly, these lists contain approximately 1,500 addresses of designated agents for all agencies, branches, and commissions of the Federal Government and the United States Postal Service, both within and outside the United States.

On request, OCSE will provide this information on diskette in WP 5.1. Contact Hope Butler at (202) 401-9391.

President Clinton declared the week of October 15 through October 21 National Character Counts Week. <> In his proclamation, the President said, We must reaffirm America's deepest beliefs and instill in our youth the principles of opportunity, responsibility, and community that have always united our citizens.

Families have always held the primary obligation for teaching values and the basic precepts of good citizenship to their childrenfairness and honesty, respect for oneself and for others, and personal accountability.

Let us remember our responsibilities to children and do everything in our power to inspire in them the moral and ethical standards that will, in turn, help them to become productive, integral members of our society.