INTERGOVERNMENTAL PROMISING PRACTICES ■ GETTING THE MOST FROM INTERGOVERNMENTAL ■ And how not to cringe in the process!

■Presenters Tina Thomas, Staff Services Mgr, Ventura Co. Carol Beckett, Supervisor, San Francisco Co. Melissa Fox, Staff Attorney, Los Angeles Co.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■To gain knowledge and to bring back to your own LCSA tips and tricks that other counties have used to improve their processes and increase performance in the world of Intergovernmental cases!

VENTURA’S INTERGOVERNMENTAL PROMISING PRACTICES ■Cases distributed by alpha breakdown (not by state). ■Files – All files, Initiating and Responding, put on a central shelf. ■Mail – All Intergovernmental mail is delivered to a central mail bin. ■Tasks – All CSENet tasks go directly to the CSP.

VENTURA’S INTERGOVERNMENTAL PROMISING PRACTICES CONT’D ■Staff – Well-trained, experienced, faster caseworkers assigned to the Intergovernmental Team. ■Pick up the phone (use ) as often as possible for quick answers. ■Usage of OCSE website for State information. ■More focus on closures

NICR ■Ventura County completed the NICR Report in 2010 for the first time. We were able to complete it due to our improved processes. Since our casework was current we were able to spend more time on other projects such as the NICR and collection projects.

COLLECTIONS PROJECTS ■In addition to completing the NICR Report we were able to do monthly projects to increase collections: ■- Focus on ongoing or arrears in any given month. ■- Projects worked on Wednesdays for 2-4 hours. ■- Catchy titles to get staff involved – such as “increased arrears bring holiday cheers.” ■- Prizes awarded to the top performers such as – the team with the most collections or the CSP with the most collections.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES ■How is Ventura increasing Performance Measures? ■Collections Projects ■Case Management Tool ■Dedicated Collection Team ■Dedicated Enforcement Team ( OEX, Contempts) ■Focus on COAP ■Focus on Community Outreach ■Early Intervention Team

VENTURA COUNTY’S CONTACTS ■Tina Thomas ■Staff Services Manager ■ ■INTERSTATE CONTACTS: ■Tim Yuss ■Supervising Child Support Services Specialist ■ ■Brenda Tomaszewski ■Child Support Services Specialist IV ■

San Francisco County’s Intergovernmental Promising Practices ■Created an Intergovernmental Team ■Staffed with experienced supervisor level case managers ■Each case manager has their own case load ■Responsible for telephone calls, tasks and mail

San Francisco County’s Intergovernmental Promising Practices ■Use CMT to capture cases where the NCP on a one state case has an out of California address ■Cases identified by Special Projects Team ■Task to Intergovernmental Team for petition to Other Jurisdiction

San Francisco County’s Intergovernmental Promising Practices ■Intergovernmental “Boot Camps” ■NICR Training/NICR Report ■Bank Levies on Initiating Intergovernmental cases

CSENet ■Interstate Perspective ✷ 2 Step Process – Initial CSENet Request Transaction and Transmittal #1 ✷ Active and Open ✷ Essential for Outbound and Inbound CSENet Communication ✷ Suspends All Automated Immediate Enforcement Activities in CSE ✷ Suspends Some Non-Discretionary and Data Match Enforcement Activities in CSE

CSENet ■Interstate Transaction Search Page ✷ Inbound and Outbound Transactions ✷ CSENet Errors – Internal and External ✷ Reject Transactions – (inbound only) ✷ Intergovernmental Case Worker Information – may or may not be added by CSENet

Desk Aids and Other Resources ■CSENet Desk Aid ■Intergovernmental Desk Aid ■Intergovernmental Section of Statewide Policy Manual ■DCSS Intergovernmental Policy ■OCSE IRG (Intergovernmental Referral Guide) located at ■Interstate Source Book (provided by Orange County)

National Child Support Communication Forum (NCSCF) NCSCF is a national membership of interstate child support professionals representing 34 states and 2 countries. The forum provides a news board for members to share questions and answers as well as a database of interstate child support professionals that includes direct contact information. Contact Darlene Sandberg at for more information or if you are interested in joining the forum.

San Francisco County Contacts  Carol Beckett, Supervisor (415) Intergovernmental Contacts:  Mark Torres, Supervisor (415)  Judith Merrill, Supervisor/NICR Contact (415)  Luretha Jones, Supervisor (415)

County of Los Angeles – Interstate Division ■The County of Los Angeles (“COLA”) has a full- service Interstate Division, which handles all cases in which one parent resides out of state. ■In late 2009, COLA’s Interstate Division transitioned from specialized enforcement to a “modified case ownership” approach. ■Presently, COLA’s Interstate Division is managing approximately 44,000 open cases. 91% have orders. We receive about 250 new cases each month from the Central Registry.

County of Los Angeles – Interstate Division ■Of the 250 new cases received each month, approximately half are establishment and half are registrations of foreign orders (“RFO’s). ■Currently, cases are managed by five case ownership teams and are assigned by IV-D number. Each team has a specific Child Support Officer (“CSO”) assigned to process Uniform Support Petitions (“USP’s”) for Establishment and a specific CSO to process USP’s for Enforcement.

County of Los Angeles – Interstate Division ■The other CSO’s on each team manage their individual caseloads from cradle to grave. They field calls, mail and scheduled appointments. ■COLA continues to utilize specialized enforcement teams for unscheduled interviews, ICT/COV/transfer to local divisions, COAP, audit and case closing.

County of Los Angeles – Promising Practices ■Identify all new establishment cases on a monthly basis and create a “General Testimony Mailout.” ■Letter to Custodial Parents to obtain General Testimony, which is required for establishment. ■ Cases involved are placed on our shared drive in order to track them. If no response, these cases are closed.

County of Los Angeles – Promising Practices ■For all establishment cases received from the Central Registry, we are doing a “merge match” with the Postal Verification letter. This allows us to more quickly obtain the postal verification required for the USP and General Testimony. ■Establishment cases – COLA obtains uncontested judgments vs. default judgments. ■Consolidation project – to assist with USP’s for enforcement to other states.

County of Los Angeles – Promising Practices ■Early Intervention/Stern Letter: All non paying new cases with orders are targeted on a quarterly basis (through CMT) – update addresses, Income Withholding Order’s (“IWO’s”), financial information to process modifications, legal and case information, repayment plans, release driver’s licenses and facilitate payment arrangements. ■Saturday Outreach – using merge match and CMT to target nonpaying TMSO cases.

County of Los Angeles – Promising Practices ■Importance of interstate communications: - CSENET - Transmittals - Tasks - Excel list of out-of-state contacts

County of Los Angeles – Interstate Contacts ■Melissa A. Fox, Staff Attorney ■ ■Patricia Erb – Division Chief ■ – ■Nancy Ruffolo – Assistant Division Chief ■ – ■Irene Korn – Assistant Division Chief ■ –

Questions?