What does Child support services do?

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2 What does Child support services do? Child Support Services (CSS) acts as an economic advocate for children, ensuring that parents financially support their children. Our mission is to promote healthy families by establishing, monitoring and enforcing reliable support while encouraging self-sufficiency and strengthening relationships. Our offices establish paternity and child support orders, enforce and modify child support in public assistance, non-public assistance and interstate cases. We establish orders appearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings: Child Support (OAH) in administrative hearings held on-site in our offices and enforce and/or modify child support orders either in the district courts or through the administrative hearing process. We have 207,000 cases in 41 offices around the state and a state office located near the Capitol in Oklahoma City.

3 What Can interns do at Css? There are many facets of the law and everyday practice that you will be able to participate in, such as: Provide assistance to State s Attorneys in administrative (OAH) and district court Negotiate with customers regarding establishment of support, modification or review of balances Work with judges and the private bar Draft orders after pre-hearing conferences with customers Legal research Legal case reviews Assist in drafting desk manuals on child support legal issues Assist in drafting statewide legal education/outreach materials By assisting our State s Attorneys in their various duties, you will be able to get involved in the actual practice of law. For those interested in family law, this is a great way to learn and also to promote healthy families by establishing, monitoring and enforcing reliable child support while encouraging self-sufficiency and strengthening family relationships.

4 Why intern With Css? There are several benefits to working with Child Support Services. Since CSS provides the following services, an intern has opportunities to be involved in many aspects of the legal process: Find parents: Many types of searches are used to find an address, employer or assets. Paternity: CSS establishes paternity by agreement or court action. Child support: CSS files papers with the court to get an order. Child support is set by the court using the Oklahoma Child Support Guidelines. Child care: CSS calculates each parent s share of child care costs as part of the child support order. Medical support: CSS seeks and enforces medical support orders. Enforcement: CSS withholds child support from wages, workers compensation awards, personal injury awards, tax refunds and bank accounts. CSS may ask the court to enforce the order by contempt proceedings. The court may also take driver s, professional, hunting and fishing, or other licenses for failure to pay support. Modifying child support orders: CSS reviews support orders to make sure they follow the guidelines. If not, we ask the court to change the support amount.

5 What others are saying Surprisingly, I was permitted to do more than I expected. I was able to shadow both the State s Attorneys and caseworkers, which allowed me to follow cases from conception to dismissal. I appreciate having the ability to take a hands-on approach with the cases. I firmly believe that this learning experience will aid me as my career as an attorney continues to develop Summer Intern I came into this position with an open mind on what I would be allowed to do. Therefore, whatever I was allowed to do I was willing to do. In fact, I was able to do more than I had expected. I was given the opportunity to attend the Continuing Legal Education and the regional meeting, but I do not think the other legal interns [at different organizations] were given that opportunity Summer Intern Interning is the best way to actually learn HOW to be an attorney. Law school teaches a person how to think like an attorney but the only practical experience comes through interning. Interning at CSS provides experience in all areas of law, including trial experience. The best thing I did in law school was to intern. Katie Peters-Larson, State s Attorney, Tulsa East Child Support Services

6 how to apply If you d like to be part of our program, please your résumé and a cover letter stating the area of the state in which you would like to intern to: Amy Page Managing Attorney Office of Impact Advocacy and Legal Outreach DHS Child Support Services [email protected] additional resources Visit our website at See a list of district offices on our website: docs/districtoffices.htm Review child support information for attorneys and judges on our website docs/ajauthority.htm DHS Pub. No Issued 02/2014 This publication is authorized by Oklahoma Department of Human Services Director Ed Lake and printed by DHS in accordance with state and federal regulations at a cost of $24.98 for 200 copies. Copies have been deposited with the Publications Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. DHS offices may request copies on ADM-9 (23AM009E) electronic supply orders. Members of the public may obtain copies by calling (toll free), by faxing an order to (405) , or by downloading a copy at