Voluntary Paternity Programs- Innovative Community Outreach and Education

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1 Voluntary Paternity Programs- Innovative Community Outreach and Education Bryanna Fornerod POP Coordinator County of San Diego Rafael Lopez POP Trainer DCSS Statewide Training

2 Agenda California Paternity Opportunity Program (POP) History Paternity Establishment Percentage Measurement Strategies Used to Achieve Goals POP Outreach Innovations; What is New in POP? San Diego s Experience and Efforts

3 What is POP? Paternity Opportunity Program POP provides an unmarried mother and the biological father the opportunity to voluntarily establish legal paternity for their child by signing a Declaration of Paternity (CS 909) form rather than having paternity established in court

4 POP History POP pilot in three counties under California Department of Social Services (DSS) (Senate Bill 1959) 1995 POP became permanent (Assembly Bill (AB) 1277), birthing hospitals and authorized agencies were required to provide unmarried parents the opportunity to voluntarily acknowledge paternity (AB 2208 and AB 3804), and paternity must be established prior to the father s name being provided on the birth certificate (AB 1832) 1999 California Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) was created and thereafter assumed responsibility for POP (AB 196)

5 California POP Structure Department of Child Support Services POP Unit Local Child Support Agencies (51) Witnessing Agencies

6 Authorized Witnesses Local Child Support Agencies (LCSA) Hospitals Office of Vital Records County Registrar Offices Courts/Family Law Facilitators Social Services Agencies Notary Public Publicly funded or Licensed Health Clinics Pediatric Offices Midwives Head Start Programs Child Care Centers Prisons Schools

7 POP Facts Approximately 195,000 babies were born to unmarried mothers in California in Calendar Year 2013 More than 162,000 POP Declarations Establishing Paternity were filed in Calendar Year 2013 Over 2.7 Million POP Declarations have been filed since the beginning of the program in 1995 Less than 6% are linked to a child support case

8 Statewide Paternity Establishment Percentage (PEP) The statewide PEP measures the total number of children born out-ofwedlock for whom paternity was acknowledged or established in the federal fiscal year (FFY) compared to the total number of children in the state born out-of-wedlock during the preceding year The State s Strategic Plan, developed in collaboration with the LCSAs, encompasses the objective of ensuring statewide PEP measurement of at least 100%

9 Strategies Used To Achieve Goals Build and maintain positive relationships with our partners (LCSAs, hospitals, IV-D Tribal Agencies, etc.) Provide training and technical assistance to internal and external stakeholders in order to improve statewide PEP Monitor county PEP monthly to determine where additional outreach and training is needed

10 POP Services Provided at the The POP Unit is responsible for: State Level Making POP forms, materials and training resources available to stakeholders and the public Conducting outreach and provide training to stakeholders and witnessing agencies Responding to public inquiries Providing certified copies of filed POP Declarations to parents or other entities upon request Processing Rescission request forms and Set-aside orders Contracting with a third party vendor for document imaging services

11 Third Party Vendor Responsibilities Review, scan and store every POP Declaration filed Review, scan and store Rescission forms and Set-aside orders Complete validation of POP Declarations for accuracy and eliminate the potential for duplicates Upload new POP Declarations Maintain a web access application allowing authorized agencies to verify if a POP Declaration has been filed

12 Authorized Access Over 2,000 authorized users with access to POP information that include LCSAs, County Welfare Department, County Counsel, State Department of Health Services and the Courts Access is provided on a need to know basis and users must have job duties that require them to determine paternity establishment Three access levels: Level 1 (state) DCSS (Declaration image and data details) Level 2 (county) LCSAs (data details) Level 3 All others (limited data detail) Request for access is signed under penalty of perjury

13 LCSA ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES Publicize availability of POP and ensure written material is accessible to witnessing agencies and public upon request Provide training and outreach to witnessing agency staff so they can explain to parents their rights, respond to questions, provide guidance in completing the declaration form, and witness parents signatures Make POP services available to qualified parents free of charge Maintain a written agreement with birthing hospitals, and entities that provide prenatal services, to provide POP services for a reimbursement of $10 for each POP Declaration filed Verify paternity in the POP database and link a POP Declaration to a child support case in the Child Support Enforcement System

14 POP Outreach In FFY the POP Unit is developing a training plan to ensure that all LCSAs are provided the resources necessary to identify potential witnessing agencies and provide training. This effort will emphasize the engagement of the following agencies: Publicly funded or Licensed Health Clinics Pediatric Offices Midwives Head Start Programs Child Care Centers Prisons Schools

15 E-POP What is new in POP? An electronic POP Declaration completed by parents and witnessed by hospital staff via a mobile device Proof of Concept by Contra Costa County through one hospital for the day shift In testing phase from July to October 2014 As of September a total of 49 E-POP Declarations have been completed

16 What is new in POP? Upload for POP Access Prior to 2014 POP Declarations uploaded once a month January 2014 POP Declarations uploaded every two weeks Future plans moving toward daily uploads

17 What is new in POP? User Access Tracking Developing a report to identify: Who is accessing the data What data is being accessed How often is data accessed

18 Contact Information for POP Phone:

19 San Diego s Efforts

20 Agenda Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 6 What is San Diego DCSS working with? History of POP outreach in San Diego POP outreach now in San Diego What s next? Best Practices What is everyone else up to?

21 San Diego County Facts Approximately 14,000 births to unmarried mothers in San Diego County each year. More than 10,000 POP declarations signed in the hospitals. 17 hospitals and birth centers spread out over 4,500 square miles 3 hospitals are within 10 miles of the US/Mexico border 2 military hospitals serving 4 large military installments

22 History of POP Outreach in San Diego Established POP Coordinator as the local point of contact for area hospitals Training for hospital staff Increased availability of printed materials POP Topics newsletter Presentations at teen parent programs/schools POP Posters

23 Building on what was already in place 1: Established myself as point of contact for birth clerk staff Introductory meetings with birth clerks and their management at every hospital 2: Listened Asked about roadblocks they experience when offering POP process to new parents Heard about the specific needs of each hospital 3: Asked- WHA T M OR E CA N I DO FOR YOU?

24 #1 Recommendation from all Update Existing AND Develop New Materials How does establishing paternity benefit child? Does POP automatically establish child support/custody? Is immigration status relevant? Who can/can t sign and why?

25 We reviewed the existing publications and went from these

26 To these

27 Not all publications needed changes If it s not broke don t fix it.

28 What else have we been up to? Collaborative meetings Networking opportunities! Addressing issue with military parents Did you know DEERS does not accept completed declarations unless they are notarized? Hospital Reward Program Establish new partnerships WIC, Nurse-Family Partnership, Crisis pregnancy centers Continued presentations to teen moms Speaking at local schools offering programs to pregnant and/or parenting teens Teen life skills conferences

29 What s next? WIC as an authorized witnessing agency Outreach to nurse-midwives and home-birth agencies New information for military parents Reaching out to any agency and networking with those who serve the same target population that could benefit from learning about the Paternity Opportunity Program

30 San Diego s Best Practices Review and build upon existing outreach practices Hospital meetings Flyers Newsletters Networking to find new opportunities Collaborative meetings Work closely with schools WIC Nurse-Family Partnership Look for new ways to keep POP relevant and spread awareness about process Develop relationships with new organizations Keep in close contact to maintain relationships Keep hospitals and organizations engaged by seeking input and rewarding progress

31 What is everyone else up to? Any questions?

32 Questions? Need More Information? Feel free to contact us! Bryanna Fornerod (619) Rafael Lopez DCSS POP Unit