The Department of Human Resources

Maryland Child Support Enforcement Program

Child Support Publicly Managed Demonstration Sites

With the introduction of the National Child Support Enforcement Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2005 to 2009, the demonstration pilot program has identified some of the strategies outlined in this plan as a focus for improving performance this past year. One of the highlights of the National Strategic Plan is that child support should be a reliable source of income for families and one of the strategies to accomplish this be through early intervention.

The demonstration pilot programs in Calvert, Howard, Montgomery and Washington counties, have designed and implemented early intervention enforcement programs to encourage regular and timely child support payments and to prevent the buildup of arrearage. The program is also designed for child support enforcement specialists to identify barriers that may exist to non-custodial parent's ability to meet their child support obligations, and to direct them to programs that may assist them in resolving those barriers.

In compliance with the legislative mandate that the demonstration pilot project be expanded, the current sites, through a selection process, have identified eight new jurisdictions that will join the demonstration pilot project effective July 1, 2005. These new sites are Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick and Prince George's counties. In bringing the total number of demonstration sites to 12, the administration has accelerated the schedule of designating new sites by meeting the legislative requirement that a total of 11 jurisdictions be demonstration sites by July 1, 2006, a year ahead of schedule.

Professional Employment Services

The goal of Child Support Enforcement Administration (CSEA) is to optimize local child support office performance and enhance customer service responsiveness. The Professional Employment Services will provide a stable long-term workforce to function as child support workers to supplement non-privatized child support operations. On July 27, 2006, a Professional Employment Services contract with Diversity Services, Inc. was secured. Diversity Services, Inc. has identified 38 child support workers for deployment in the Prince George's County Office of Child Support Enforcement. The CSEA has reviewed their qualifications and accepted their placement in the Prince George's County office. The training of these child support workers will be provided by the CSEA Training Academy and will commence on August 7, 2006. The training is expected to end on September 22, 2006.

Child Support Enforcement Administration Training Academy

The Child Support Enforcement Administration (CSEA) Training Academy was established to ensure that the Child Support Enforcement Administration (CSEA) maintains a professional child support workforce that is able to provide quality child support services to families. The start-up of the CSEA Training Academy will be August 2006. The Training Academy will provide training to CSEA staff in a dedicated classroom/computer lab connected to the training region of the Child Support Enforcement System (CSES). The CSEA Training Academy has conducted" dry run" training, using the new training guides, with experienced child support case managers. The feedback from these participants was used to improve the training curriculum. The first training class of 38 new Child Support Case Managers (hired through the Professional Employment Services Contract) will begin on August 7, 2006 in Prince George's County.

Healthy Marriage Initiative

The Community Services Administration and the Child Support Enforcement Administration (CSEA) have partnered with the Center for Fathers, Families, and Workforce Development (CFWD) to provide a program to low-income couples with children. The goal is to provide unmarried parents with the relationship sustaining skills and the supportive services they need to remain together and, consequently, to establish increased positive outcomes for their children. The CSEA has been awarded an 1115 grant offered by the federal government Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to fund this initiative. A number of matters involving budget items and invoice documentation requirements caused a delay in expending payments to CFWD. These matters have been resolved. Payments to CFWD are being processed. The ACF has approved the CSEA reapplication for continued funding for the project. The total grant project budget for August 1, 2006 to July 31,2007 is $353,175.

Parenting Plan Mediation

Parenting plan mediation gives parents who do not live together an opportunity to make decisions together about their children. Parenting plan mediation can assist parents with decisions such as: Communication with the children Communication between parents Living Arrangements Schedules Education Religion And many other topics parents wish to discuss Child support amounts cannot be negotiated in mediation. Parenting Plan mediation helps parents work through conflict and focus on what they think is in the best interest of their child. In community mediation centers, mediators do not give advice or make suggestions. They believe parents have the answers and it is the mediators' job to help the parents decide together what is right for their children. Mediation is voluntary, which means that no one will be forced or pressured to agree to anything. Mediators will work with parents until they find the solutions which are right for them. For more information, please go to www.marylandmediation.org/centers.htm

E-OSCAR

E-OSCAR is a computer-networking program designed to standardize the manner in which consumer disputes are processed. The E-OSCAR is designed to facilitate the resolution of consumer disputes arising from data reported to credit granting entities via the four major credit bureaus, (Trans Union, Equifax, Innovis, and Experian). The E-OSCAR will be used to resolve disputes involving child support arrearage balances maintained by the credit bureaus. E-OSCAR is fully operational in Allegany County, Garrett County, and Washington County as a pilot effective August 1, 2006. Projected statewide implementation of E-OSCAR is scheduled for September 1, 2006.

Customer Service Initiative

One of the main priorities for the Child Support Enforcement Administration (CSEA) is to make it easy for customers to do business with the organization. Recently, the CSEA put together a Customer Service Team from CSEA, the Office of the Planning, and Human Resources Training and Development to analyze business procedures in order to recommend improvements in the customer service process. Currently, the specific goals of the Customer Service Team are to identify staff core competencies, conduct training needs assessments, identify performance measurements, and remove barriers to good customer service. A series of surveys and interviews with CSEA staff and customers are planned for the months of August and September in designated field offices. Early October, CSEA is going to conduct an extended two-day Customer Service Summit. The Summit will allow participants from all over the state to give valuable input to this new initiative.

Child Support Payment Incentive Program

The program encourages non custodial parents (NCP) to make consistent child support payments by: Reducing arrears by half if the NCP makes full child support payments for one year. Eliminating the balance owed if the (NCP) makes full child support payments for two years. To apply and find out if you are eligible for the program, please read the attached brochure: