Debt Management Programs: Best Practices

Debt Management Programs: Best Practices

Speakers Roberta Coons Office of Child Support Enforcement Carolyn Heinrich University of Texas at Austin David Stillman Washington State Dept of Social and Health Services

Kansas Amnesty Day Fair Roberta Coons, Program Specialist Region VII Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Child Support Enforcement 3

Kansas Wyandotte, Johnson & Leavenworth Counties Amnesty Day Fair Amnesty Day Resource Fair Noncustodial parents (NCPs) meet with child support staff to obtain case information, make payments, or schedule new court dates to get bench warrants lifted. They are offered on-site employment and education resources including job training, GED programs, a local community college, and the Kansas Works workforce partnership for employment. All resources are also available to custodial parents and/or spouses. NCPs who are convicted felons learn of resources available to assist them with securing employment.

Kansas Wyandotte, Johnson & Leavenworth Counties Amnesty Day Fair Media coverage is a key component Press release and media contacts to newspapers, radio, and television to advertise event Coverage the day of the event by television news Followed up by reporting on the success http://wyandottecounty.fox4kc.com/news/news/61806-amnesty-day-saves-parents-going-jail

2011 Amnesty Day Fair

Press Release 2011 Amnesty Day Press Release If you are ordered to pay or receive child support in Wyandotte, Johnson or Leavenworth County, this is the event for you. The annual 2011 Amnesty Day and Resource Fair is going to be held Friday, August 26 from noon to 5:00 p.m. Each year the event is held at Holiday inn express at The Legends, off of I-435 and Parallel parkway, Kansas City Kansas. If you believe you have a bench warrant, this is your opportunity to come in with a payment, get your new court date and a new start with the court. It is also an opportunity to connect with job opportunities and see and speak to representatives from local training programs and community colleges. Participating agencies are Kansas Department of SRS Child support Enforcement, District Court Trustee for Wyandotte County, Johnson County Child Support Offices, Leavenworth County Attorney s Office and Workforce Partnership Mobile One.

Kansas Wyandotte, Johnson & Leavenworth Counties Amnesty Day Fair Newspaper Coverage Child Support Amnesty Day The Examiner Wyandotte County Offers Child Support Amnesty Event Kansas City Star Amnesty Day Nets $13,000 in Back Support The Wichita Eagle Program Offers Change to Catch Up on Child Support The Examiner 2011 Child Support Amnesty Fair The Examiner

Kansas Wyandotte, Johnson & Leavenworth Counties Amnesty Day Fair Fox Four in Kansas City Interview shown at 5 & 10 http://www.fox4kc.com/videobeta/?watchid=13762d5b-3c78-4751-b225-9e6d7503f1a9

Amnesty Day Fair Results Wyandotte/Johnson/Leavenworth County Amnesty Day Statistics 2009 Amnesty Day Fair I 2010 Amnesty Day Fair II 2011 Amnesty Day Fair III 200 noncustodial parents 75 noncustodial parents 77 noncustodial parents $22,405 collected $1,829 collected $17,936.00 collected 18 bench warrants released 12 bench warrants released 1 fishing license reinstated 40 bench warrants released

Media Follow-up KS - Child support amnesty fair helps parents get back on track (9/20/2011) A collaboration among the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services and county court systems in Wyandotte, Johnson and Leavenworth County resulted in the collection of $17,936 in back child support last month. The 2011 Amnesty Day and Resource Fair in Kansas City, Kansas offered Kansas parents who were the subject of bench warrants for nonpayment of child support the chance to get a new start with the courts, make back payments and set up new child support payment schedules. One of our main focuses is to get regular child support payments in for the benefit of the children, said Trisha Thomas, director of Child Support Enforcement for SRS. $17,000 doesn t sound like a lot of money, but especially in these times, every dollar counts. This was the third child support amnesty fair in Kansas City. It began under the leadership of Wyandotte County Court Trustee Sheryl Bussell, who heard about court systems in other states organizing similar amnesty days. Bussell designed the event to help parents make a new start. In addition to discussing their cases with SRS and the court systems, parents could apply for jobs, inquire about GED and community college opportunities and receive resume assistance at the Workforce Partnership booth. Everyone got to talk about a lot of things relating to employment and bettering themselves, Bussell said. The event was set up in the Holiday Inn Express at the Legends, purposefully away from courthouses or law enforcement centers to entice parents with bench warrants to attend without fear of arrest. The strategy worked so well that parents with bench warrants outside of the three participating counties showed up hoping to work out payment arrangements. One man from Reno County attended and was able to get on the phone with the court system in that county and work out a payment plan with the help of the amnesty fair organizers. Overall, approximately 77 people attended the amnesty fair. Wyandotte collected a total of $2,825.00, Leavenworth collected $400.00 and Johnson collected a total of $14,711.00. The fair was held on Aug. 26. SRS hopes to help organize more amnesty fairs around other Kansas locations in the future. A similar event is held annually in Wichita. Anyone with questions regarding child support may call 1-888-369-4777, or contact their local court trustee. http://www.srs.ks.gov/news/pages/childsupportamnestyfairhelpsparentsgetbackontrack.aspx

Sedgwick County, Kansas (Wichita) 1 st Annual Community Resources Fair Engagement of Fathers from Birth Economic Stability Child Support Prevention CSE Core Mission: Locate Parents Establish Paternity Establish Orders Collect Support Family Violence Collaboration Health Care Coverage Healthy Family Relationships

Growing Child Support Debt and Programs to Address this Problem Carolyn J. Heinrich, PhD Sid Richardson Professor of Public Affairs, affiliated Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Health and Social Policy University of Texas at Austin 18

Child support debt Over $107 billion in child support arrears due in FY 2009; growing over time Arrears reduce resources available to custodial families and increase enforcement actions for noncustodial parents Arrears limit Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agencies ability to meet performance standards and drain enforcement resources We spend more on CSE administrative expenditures than we do on federal government appropriations for Workforce Investment Act Title I programs 19

Consequences of debt for poor families For families living below the poverty level, financial support from noncustodial fathers is a vital resource Child support contributes to about 1/3 of income among families receiving current support payments and more among poor families Substantial declines in disadvantaged NCPs labor force participation and earnings have direct consequences for poor families Working fathers reduce work effort (and child support payments) in face of high debts Debt is a cause, not only a consequence, of nonpayment 20

Little knowledge of debt reduction program impacts Many policy interventions tried nationwide to reduce debt levels, few rigorously evaluated OIG report describes child support debt reduction programs in at least 20 states, but little evidence on outcomes Program challenges: low enrollment, implementation delays; difficulty distinguishing impact of other components from arrears component; successes correlated with prior earnings and/or child support payments 21

Wisconsin Pilot Program Unique features designed to link debt reduction to payments on current support and arrears: State and/or CP may agree to debt reduction, depending on type of debt owed by NCP Gradual reduction of debt ($1 extra credit for each $1 paid, or 50 extra credit for each $1 paid) First interest, then principal, are reduced Interest charges on debt stop accumulating during participation 22

Pilot Program Implementation Implemented in Racine County, WI Enrollment 5/17/05 to 11/01/07, participation limited to 2 years (through November 2009) Pilot program eligibility criteria: Approximately 5,000 IV-D cases in Racine County (no foster care/kinship or interstate cases) Minimum arrears threshold (total CP and/or state-owed debt): at least $2,000 Irregular or no recent payment history 23

Multi-method Evaluation Random assignment experiment: 7 of 10 eligible IV- D cases assigned to experimental group (E); others to control group 528 NCPs (with 1,976 IV-D cases) attempted to enroll Problems in program implementation contributed to low take-up; Only 120 (32%) of 376 eligible experimental NCPs enrolled in Families Forward Nonexperimental: econometric matching and multilevel longitudinal methods used to adjust for selective differences between participants and nonparticipants Qualitative analysis: (focus groups, interviews and follow-up surveys of participants and eligible nonparticipants) 24

NCPs enrolled in Families Forward owed significantly more debt to State and CP Families Forward Evaluation Sample 30000 Debt balances ($) March 2005 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 Household debt balances State debt balances 0 Experimental, intended to FF participants Eligible control enroll N=376 N=120 N=152 Experimental, participant and control groups Average earnings of participants in 2004 = $4630 25

Measures of Program Impacts Changes from month or year prior to NCP enrollment to final month of participation (or time during participation) compared to nonparticipants in: Household child support debt balances State child support debt balances Average amount of monthly payments made by NCP toward current support or debt accounts % of months that NCP made any payment toward current support or debt accounts % of months that NCP made any payment toward household arrears % of months that NCP made any payment toward state arrears 26

Most Conservative Results Families Forward participants pay significantly more child support: $105 more per month than nonparticipants (while participating) Are more likely to pay in a given month: 9% more likely for any payment (including current support), 8% more likely on household arrears and 23% more likely toward state arrears during participation (compared to nonparticipants) Participants had significantly larger reductions in state debt balances (by $2,743) and household debt (by $2564) than nonparticipants; largest total debt reduction>$40,000 27

Findings on implementation Communication/outreach to NCPs is challenging, esp. for NCPs who have not been cooperating with the child support system Future programs should strive for increased outreach and an expanded scale to involve greater numbers of highly indebted NCPs Low response rate belied high levels of interest among those who became aware of the program over 82 percent of surveyed NCPs were immediately willing to sign up upon hearing about 28 program

What next in policy implementation? Wisconsin BCS established workgroup to design and implement statewide program Program modifications informed by evaluation (e.g., simplified eligibility criteria, program participation for 3 years with option to renew) Texas pilot program discussions underway One of multiple projects in new research agreement between LBJ School and OAG Design will be influenced by Texas legal/structural/policy context 29

Washington State Division of Child Support Debt Management Programs David Stillman, Assistant Secretary Economic Services Administration Department of Social and Health Services 30

Order Establishment Overview Court and administrative process Incomplete income information Default orders Full Party Status Hearing rights administrative orders Within one year of service Late requests (good cause stipulation) Outcomes Uncollectable debt Less financial support to families

Change in Focus Realistic Approach Research Findings Reflect actual circumstances Part time, unemployed, incarceration, other children Ability to pay increases payments Modifications Change in circumstances Proactive approach Courts Prosecuting Attorneys Court facilitators assist pro se clients

Arrears Compromise Conference Board (administrative remedy) Write off debt owed to the State Conditional write offs Accept lump sum settlements Increased volume of requests Delegate authority Attorneys in field offices (2000) Field staff (2009) Statutory Authority RCW 74.20A.220 WAC 388-14A-6400 thru 6415 3394 3500 3000 2500 2360 2000 1500 1377 1000 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009

Arrears Compromise in Action DCS Staff Modification process Late Hearing Payment negotiations Courts Paternity Judicial Enforcement Contempt Modification

Publications/Outreach Brochures Child Support Conference Boards Changing a Child Support Order Do I Still Have to Pay Child Support if I am in Prison? Do I Still Have to Pay Child Support if I am on Public Assistance)? I Do Not Have a Job? What Happens to my Child Support? Working with Child Support when Family Violence is a Problem Dept of Corrections Employment Security Work Source Outstationed DCS Staff Opportunity Center North Seattle Comm College Community Service Offices/Mobile CSO

Outreach Activities Resource Fairs Stand Down/Dept of Veterans Affairs Community Partners Project Get Connected Community Partnership for Transition Services Basic Food Education and Training Seattle Field Office Pilot Reynolds Work Release Coordination with King County Prosecutor s

Tribal Arena 1996 Regional Program Memorandum 96-02 1997 DCS Policy Good Cause to Vacate Default Orders in Tribal Cases 1998 Tribal Relations Team Strategic Plan Equitable Order Project Arrs reduced by $3.5M 1999 DCS Policy Review all Admin Orders Administrative Policy 7.01 meetings Proactive approach Cooperative agreements with tribes and State