2. Training on a Limited Budget Presenters Maria Carlomagno-Brice David Garcia

3. Agenda ■Budget Big Picture ✷ Money is Tight but Training is so Right ✷ Ouch! I Need a Band-Aid ■Bridging the Gap - Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

4. Budget Big Picture - Purpose To provide an overview of the child support program budget process and its impact on training.

5. Budget Big Picture - What is a Budget? A statement of the financial position of an administration for a definite period of time based on estimates of expenditures during the period and proposals for financing them. - Merriam-Webster Dictionary Another definition…

6. Budget Big Picture “The beast hiding under the bed causing sleepless nights for many within California’s child support program.”

7. Budget Big Picture Child Support Program Budget Process FEDERAL STATE LOCAL

8. Budget Big Picture - Federal Level ■Funding ✷ Title IV-D Program ✷ Incentive Payments ✷ Match Payments ■Process ✷ Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) Budget & Appropriations Executive Branch Legislative Branch FEDERAL STATE LOCAL

9. Budget Big Picture - State Level ■Funding ✷ General Fund ✷ Revenue Stabilization ✷ Automation ■Process (in a perfect world) ✷ Governors Proposed BudgetJanuary 2011 ✷ Senate and Assembly Budget Bills January 2011 ✷ Legislative Review February / March 2011 ✷ Legislative HearingsApril / May 2011 ✷ Leadership MeetingsOngoing ✷ Governor’s Signatureby June 30, 2011 California’s actual budget process reality is quite different from a perfect world…Why? FEDERAL STATE LOCAL

10. ■Players ✷ Governors Office ✷ Legislature ✷ Legislative Analysts Office (LAO) ✷ Department of Finance (DOF) ✷ Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency ✷ DCSS ✷ Constituents FEDERAL STATE LOCAL ■Factors ✷ Simple majority vote ✷ Great recession Economic downturn Slow recovery Revenue loss ✷ Political Polarization ✷ Public Perception Budget Big Picture - State Level

11. ■Funding ✷ Option by Counties to match portion of federal funding from local General Fund ✷ IV-A recoupment County share (suspended SFY 2011/2012) ■Process ✷ LCSA program administration and electronic data processing budget estimated and final allocation No allocation or budget specific to training Dependent on passed State of CA Budget Act annually FEDERAL STATE LOCAL Budget Big Picture - Local Level

12. ■Process ✷ Budget Hearings ✷ County Budget Enactment ✷ LCSA Budget Salaries/Benefits Services/Supplies Local Budget Challenge : Ensuring appropriate staff, resources, and tools are available to deliver child support services to Customers and Communities. FEDERAL STATE LOCAL Budget Big Picture - Local Level

13. Budget Big Picture Within the budgetary levels, components, and challenges, every has to make en e!

14. Budget Big Picture - Why Training Matters Money is Tight but Training is so Right ■Individual performance ■Agency Performance ■(5) Federal Performance Measures ■Customer Service ■Quality Assurance ■Program Compliance ■Continuous Improvement “I was born to train, let me train!”

15. Budget Big Picture - The Real Deal ■How Budgetary Constraints Effect Training ✷ Trainers Heart ✷ Employee Development ✷ Organizational Development ✷ Equipment ✷ Materials ✷ Environment

16. Bridging the Gap - Purpose To discuss innovative and effective ways to train staff with little or no money. “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

17. Bridging the Gap - Tough Economic Times “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way” During tough economic times, tough choices have to be made. Many think training is expendable. Training should be viewed as an investment, instead of a cost that can easily be cut. Training helps to improve: ✷ Staff’s knowledge of the Child Support program and its processes ✷ Federal Performance Measures ✷ Customer Service

18. Bridging the Gap - Basic Items for Training on a Limited Budget ■ Commitment to Training ■ Staff willingness to present training material ■ Medias to display and explain the training topic ✷ Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, etc.) ✷ Hands-on Training Using “real cases” whenever possible WBTs ✷ Interactive Exercises Role-Play Breaking up into small discussion groups “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

19. Bridging the Gap - Shared Services Setting up a partnership with another LCSA will enable both counties to share the costs of training. Some examples are: ■ Butte/Shasta New Hire Training ✷ Shasta provides New Hire/WBT training ✷ Butte provides CSPO training ■ Butte/Shasta NCSEA Web-talk ✷ Cost of DVDs/CDs ■ Butte LCSA/Butte DESS ■ Butte/Yolo DMV Training ✷ Communication Across Barriers “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

20. Bridging the Gap - Technology Alternatives Effective use of technology can also help the departments get more from their limited training budgets. Some alternatives are: ✷ Virtual Networking Computing (VNC) - for one on one training over the phone ✷ DCSS Webcasts ✷ Use internet to identify webinars (some are free) ✷ NCSEA Web-talk ✷ SharePoint (Knowledge-based program) “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

21. Bridging the Gap - Achieving More with Less ■ Create an environment for experienced staff to deliver presentations in their area of expertise. ✷ Butte sent all lead workers to T4T training to become certified for training ✷ Butte uses subject matter experts (SMEs) in training sessions when appropriate ■ Recommend that staff who attend external training sessions be asked to report on or present the information they gained to management or line staff. ■ Verify in CA Central and/or OCSE if specific training materials already exist. ✷ If a county submits a training module, include the trainer notes. ■ Each month, Butte sends Human Resources training class information to staff. “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

22. Bridging the Gap - Power Hour Consider reducing the length of time that staff are away from their jobs by creating ‘bite-sized’ learning sessions. This will allow individuals to get the training they need, while limiting the impact on every day operations. Use the principal of “Little and Often”. “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

23. Bridging the Gap - REUSE, RECYCLE & RENEW Follow the 3 Rs ✷ Don’t “Date Stamp” Your Material ✷ Design training that is free of dates, specific names, or anything that might make it stale. ✷ Question the Need for New ✷ Has the training already been created? ✷ Teach Trainees How to Fish ✷ Don’t create new tools when staff just need to know how to use the existing tools better. “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

24. Bridging the Gap - Don’t Train? A training might not be the best way to “fix” something. Instead try using low cost communication tools such as: ✷ E-mail ✷ Posters ✷ Simple job aid ✷ Checklist All of these communication tools will increase awareness and keep staff on their toes. “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

25. Bridging the Gap - Informal Training Counties should consider embracing Informal Learning practices, especially mentoring and coaching which could happen every day. Mentors and Coaches may be expected to transfer knowledge regularly. *Source: Jay Cross, Informal Learning, Pfeiffer, 2006. “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

26. Bridging the Gap - Mentoring Program ■ Another low-cost option is pairing more experienced employees with staff who need to learn a new skill. ■ Staff will expand their knowledge and skills while, at the same time, mentors enhance their training and leadership talents. “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way” DCSS

27. Bridging the Gap - Brown Bag Sessions ■ You can take mentoring to a broader level by asking SMEs within the office to lead training programs during lunch breaks. ■ Brown bag sessions can also be an effective way to address more general topics such as providing better customer service. “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”

28. Training on a Limited Budget Training is vital in all aspects of Child Support. Use training materials already created saves time and money. Partner up with other LCSAs and county agencies to help share the cost of trainings when possible. Think outside the box. There are a number of options and techniques that may be used, at little or no cost, to provide the necessary information to your staff! Thank You!