Pathways To Self Sufficiency (PASS) Tamara Thomas, Director Stanislaus County Department of Child Support Services October 2013 Child Support Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED) Program Model

Today we will cover… Ultimate goal of CSPED Target Population Recruitment Key Program elements First Year Timeline First Year Performance Goals 2

An Exciting Opportunity for Stanislaus A National Evidence Based Demonstration Project A chance to shape national policy A chance to remove barriers from our non-paying caseloads, build partnerships and seek opportunities for sustained paying child support

Ultimate Goal of CSPED The ultimate goal of CSPED is to increase reliable child support payments among unemployed or underemployed noncustodial parents, thereby improving child wellbeing and avoiding public costs. 4

Target Population Grant services must be targeted to noncustodial parents who: – Have paternity established, – Are in the IVD program, and – Are not regularly paying child support, or Are expected to have trouble making regular child support payments because they are not regularly employed. OCSE asked all sites to use these eligibility guidelines. Narrower eligibility criteria make it harder to reach enrollment targets. 5

Recruitment Sites may use whatever recruitment methods they find effective Primary concern to reach enrollment target Reaching enrollment target is critical for the evaluation and a key performance indicator During the first year, OCSE and the evaluation team asked sites to provide data to show that they can meet their enrollment target 6

Key Program Elements The demonstration is child support led. What does that mean? – The child support program sets the expectations and manages the program so that participants receive the services they need, – It does not mean that child support programs are expected to provide employment and fatherhood services. – Child support should do what it does best and hire employment and fatherhood programs to do what they do best. 7

Case Management Case managers are critical. They provide the key to program services and assure program and participant accountability. Child support workers will serve as PASS case managers Case managers will enroll participants, connect them to employment services, and fatherhood/peer support services Case managers work exclusively with PASS participants 8

Enhanced Child Support Expedited order review and modification Orders based on actual wages, not imputed wages Withholding of enforcement actions Reinstatement of licenses Suspension of monthly state-owed arrears payment obligations 9

Parenting Services Provided by the center for Human Services On My Shoulders curriculum Groups will be exclusively for PASS participants Gift card incentives for meeting participation goals 10

Enrollment Process Identify and recruit applicants Get informed consent Conduct baseline survey Conduct random assignment 750 treatment participants 750 control participants Conduct domestic violence screening Provide CSPED services to treatment group only

Employment Services Employment services must include job placement and retention services. OCSE views these services as essential. What do these terms mean? Job placement services mean that a job developer, finds jobs for participants using his/her contacts in the community Participants do not find their own jobs Retention services mean that the job developer follows up with the participant and employer after job placement If participants lose their first job, job developers must try again. We don’t expect “job” retention; we are looking for “employment” retention. 12

Employment Services (cont.) Other employment services that must be provided: – Job search assistance; and – Job readiness training. Other employment services that may be provided include: – Short-term job skills training; – On-the-job training; – Education directly related to employment; and – Education for noncustodial parents who have not received a high school diploma or a certificate of high school equivalency; 13

Fatherhood Curriculum with Peer Support This means that a fatherhood curriculum is taught using a “peer support” format. Empirical evidence from Texas shows that this approach works. OCSE prefers that these services are integrated with the employment services as much as possible. Stanislaus County has Chosen the “On My Shoulders” curriculum provided by Center for Human Services 15 lessons, 1.5 hours each 14

Child Support Services All sites must: – Expedite review of child support orders and, if appropriate, adjust orders; – Temporarily suspend discretionary enforcement tools; – Expedite wage withholding to obtain steady, reliable child support payments. Sites are encouraged, but not required, to reduce or suspend state-owed debt in return for successful program outcomes. 15

Domestic Violence Safeguards Grantees must work with a domestic violence expert(s) throughout the life of the grant and submit to OCSE a domestic violence plan that: – Ensures there are ongoing partnerships and referral relationships with domestic violence service providers – perpetrators of violence as well as victims of violence can be referred for treatment throughout the life of the grant – Provides domestic violence training to program staff and partners working with participants; and – Stanislaus County has selected Haven Women’s Center of Stanislaus as the domestic violence provider 16

Five Year Budget Grant funding was not allocated across the five years to reflect work effort. The funds are front loaded, but the work will be concentrated in the third and fourth years, when the number of active participants will be the highest. Here is an example of what Stanislaus can expect over the five years. 17

18 Five Year Budget Prototype Year Total Budget Anticipated Costs Budget Minus Cost Amount of Carryover 1$588,235$180,250$407,985 2$588,235$496,700$91,535$499,521 3$441,176$677,450-$236,274$263,247 4$367,647$630,894-$263,247$0 5$294,118 $0

Three Main Evaluation Components Impact Analysis – Measure the effect of the CSPED services – Examine impacts in key domains Child support Payments NCP employment and earnings NCP parenting attitudes and behavior Implementation Analysis – Document service delivery – Identify lessons learned Benefit-Cost Analysis – Compare program benefits to program costs – Examine costs and benefits from different perspectives: Taxpayers Noncustodial parents Custodial parents

Key Performance Completed During the First Year Submitted fatherhood curriculum and domestic violence plan on time; Provided evidence that showed Stanislaus can meet our enrollment goal; Completed written agreements and contracts that are in place with employment service providers and identified fatherhood programs to deliver program services; and Complete the Federal site visit Random Assignment Enrollment: October

What’s Next? Years 2-4: In Full Swing Sample intake and random assignment Participants provided services Case managers hand hold all child support activities Compromise of participant arrears with compliance of job assignment and retention Baseline and follow-up surveys of participants Site visits and staff surveys Year 5: Wrapping Up Complete data collection Analysis and reporting

Contact Information: Tamara Thomas, Director Stanislaus County, DCSS Lisa Garcia, Manager Stanislaus County, DCSS