The San Francisco Department of Child Support Services Employment Support for Noncustodial Parents

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1 The San Francisco Department of Child Support Services Employment Support for Noncustodial Parents Presented by: George Jeffery Smith III Community Outreach/Customer Service Coordinator 1

2 Customer Employment Support Programs ETJD - Enhanced Transactional Jobs Demonstration Project C-NET Custodial and Noncustodial Parent Employment and Training Program EPCOT - Enhancements for Performing Community Outreach and Tracking

3 Customer Employment Support Philosophy Our philosophy is that, by assisting our customers in overcoming their barriers to achieve gainful financial selfsufficiency, these noncustodial parents will voluntarily and actively be involved in the support of their children, both financially and emotionally. To fulfill our mission, using this philosophy, we ensure that our customers are heard, helped and their needs met either through our programs or through our referral process.

4 Employment Support Programs Common Challenges and Barriers Incarceration History Unemployment/Underemployment Lack of Education Housing Barriers Substance Abuse Misconceptions Regarding Child Support Visitation Issues Domestic Violence/ Restraining Orders Large Arrears Balances

5 C-NET CUSTODIAL AND NON CUSTODIAL EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PROGRAM

6 C-Net Program Goal Address the challenges and barriers preventing noncustodial parents from meeting their child support obligations, including: Poor Work Experience Lack of Employment Criminal Record Deficient Education Large Arrears Balance

7 C-NET OBJECTIVE C-NET will assist clients who have barriers finding employment due to incarceration history and lack of education. Under the C-NET Program, the participant receives protection from certain enforcement actions on his or her child support case, and an immediate driver s license release while employed, seeking employment or enrolled in a verified training program.

8 C-NET and the NCP While in C-NET Program, the NCP and LCSA will work on overcoming barriers with the goal of establishing a child support obligation that the noncustodial parent can meet. Job Training/Work Experience Programs Assistance in Finding Employment Clean Slate Program Education Programs Fatherhood Development classes Family Law Facilitator Arrears Adjudication

9 C-NET Community Partners and Services Provided One Stop Centers- Assistance in Finding Employment 5 Keys Charter School-GED FACES-SF Visitacion Valley One Stop FACES-SF Fatherhood Group Family Law Facilitator-Access/Legal Assistance State DCSS COAP Program-Reduction of Arrears Public Defenders Office-Clean Slate Program Family Law Superior Court-Custody and Child Support Orders

10 C-NET Program Benefits Administrative process Less court involvement Higher success rate Larger number of customers served Increased customer satisfaction Less adversarial

11 C-NET Successful Completion Reduced arrears balances Regular full-time employment Compliance with their support obligation Release on any license suspensions Court-ordered visitation

12 C-NET Numbers 11/1/11 to 1/30/13 Enrolled Participants 223 Total current support order at program entry: $32,610 Total current support order at program exit: $7, Average amount of arrears owed at program entry: $15,574 Average amount of arrears owed at program exit: $8,637

13 ETJD Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration

14 ETJD Overview The Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration Grant was awarded to San Francisco in The program is a partnership between the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Department of Child Support Service, Goodwill Industries, and Human Services Agency. The goal of the grant is to provide enhanced case management and transitional employment services to an identified group of low income noncustodial parents who have a child support obligation and who live in San Francisco.

15 ETJD Qualifications Customers must be a noncustodial parent who is at least 121 days delinquent in their child support payments Reside in San Francisco County, be under the age of 60 Have and established or recently opened case Able to work legally in the United States Registered with the Selective Service Have a verified social security number

16 ETJD Results From November 2011 to February 2013 DCSS has conducted 13 monthly program orientations resulting in 550 non-custodial parents being randomly assigned to programs (264 in Program and 274 in C-NET).

17 EPCOT Enhancements for Performing Community Outreach

18 EPCOT Overview EPCOT is a community outreach program that relies on community based programs and community partners to increase access for customers. EPCOT is also an outreach program for our internal customer to support the goal of increased program access for external customers Program goal is to increase the number of customers paying on their cases and reduce arrears/current support obligations where appropriate. Increase the ratio of money collected against outstanding debt and obtain a better image of SF DCSS in the community. The heart of the plan is the community workshops. Local service providers are a trusted resource in communities. These agencies provide support and case management service to customers. Workshops engage customers with the assistance of the service provider as part of their service plan.

19 EPCOT Specifics Monthly Workshops: In the workshops, customers are provided an overview of the history, evolution and myths of the child support program. Each participant that is referred to the workshop also receives information on various programs and remedies that may assist them with opening a case, modifying an order, debt reduction, driver license release, or job training opportunities. General questions are answered and afterwards each participant will be asked to complete a Confidential Customer Information Request form. Each customer will be offered an opportunity to either come into the office for a follow-up interview or arrangements will be made with the agency to follow up with customers in the community.

20 EPCOT Specifics Local Media: The San Francisco Department of Child Support Services has developed a series of Public Service Announcements that appear regularly in local print, radio, and television media outlets. The goal is to keep a on-going stream of child support information for public consumption to increase program access for our customers and the general public.

21 EPCOT Specifics Outreach to our internal customers: Our Community Outreach Team has developed many outreach tools to maintain an effective communication to internal customers. These include: Internal newsletters Program updates and training Community Outreach results Resource updates and manuals Community partner workshops Staff performance awards

22 EPCOT Results Since its conception in March of 2009, the EPCOT program has generated over 2000 referrals, approximately 280 new case openings, and improved access for the San Francisco community.

23 Contact Information San Francisco Department of Child Support Services 617 Mission Street San Francisco, CA Karen M. Roye, Director , George Jeffery Smith III, Community Outreach Coordinator , Web: Facebook:

24 QUESTIONS?

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