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Events
| E-IWO Training for Child Support Professionals
January 31, 2012
Webinar
2012 NCSEA Policy Forum
February 9-12, 2012
Washington, D.C.
February 15, 2012 CSDA, Sacramento
February 16, 2012
DCSS, Rancho Cordova
February 20-24, 2012 Los Angeles, CA
March 7-8, 2012 Rancho Cordova/CSAC
April 23 -26, 2012 Hyatt Regency, Monterey
May 7-11, 2012
Hyatt Vineyard Creek, Santa Rosa
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Career Opportunities
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Supervising Child Support Attorney
San Bernardino County DCSS
Deadline to Apply: Feb. 17, 2012
For updates on the latest job opportunities in child support, please visit the CSDA Career Opportunities page.
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Hellos/Goodbyes
CSDA says goodbye to Robert Bash, Director of Fresno County Department of Child Support Services. CSDA also says goodbye to Laura Corral-Flores, Deputy Director of San Bernardino County DCSS.
CSDA says hello to Kari Gilbert, former Assistant Director and now Interim Director of Fresno County DCSS. Welcome!
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FFY 2011 Child Support Accomplishments
and Awards
At the January CSDA Membership Meeting, State DCSS presented the following LCSAs with
performance awards for FFY 2011.
CSDA extends its congratulations to all the counties for their hard work!
Outstanding Performance in All Federal Performance Measures.
- Very Small: Marin
- Small: San Luis Obispo
- Medium: Sonoma
- Large: Ventura
- Extra Large: San Diego
Most Improved LCSA in Overall Performance
- Very Small: Marin
- Small: Sierra Nevada Regional
- Medium: Butte
- Large: Ventura
- Extra Large: San Diego
Most Improved in Distributed Collections
- Mariposa County (+6.6%)
- Madera County (+5.89%)
- Placer County (+5.04%)
- San Bernardino (+4.9%)
- Kern County (+3.96%)
Top 10 Performance Award
- San Luis Obispo County
- Marin County
- (tie) Plumas County and
- Humboldt County
- Sierra Nevada Regional
- Ventura County
- El Dorado County
- Mariposa County
- Sonoma County
- Central Sierra Child Support Agency
Director Excellence Award
(given to counties that exceed all six Federal Performance Goals)
San Bernardino County DCSS
Kern County DCSS
Napa County DCSS
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2150 River Plaza Dr, Suite 420
Sacramento, CA 95833
916-446-6700 phone
916-446-1199 fax
www.csdaca.org
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A Coalition of Experts Collecting Billions
for California's Children
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State Budget Released - Child Support Funding Update
By Dave Oppenheim, Executive Director, CSDA
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The start of a new year can mean only one thing in Sacramento: the release of a new state budget. True to form, the Brown Administration released in early January the proposed 2012-13 State Budget. Similar to past budgets, this budget must also address and close a state deficit projected at $9.2 billion.
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CSDA January Board Meeting Update By Dr. Steven J. Golightly, CSDA President and Director, Los Angeles County CSSD | |
Your Board of Directors met on Wednesday, January 19, 2012 - our first meeting of the New Year. We received an update from our SDU transition expert, Board Vice President Kathy Sokolik. She assured us that the transition was scheduled to occur on February 4th and that, from her perspective, everything was in order for a smooth and transparent transition. State DCSS is soliciting volunteers to help during the first two weeks of the change over and funding is now available to reimburse county staff for travel. The expectation is that suspense levels will rise immediately following transition and local staff would be able to help both state and SDU staff resolve issues quickly. Call or write Kathy if you would like more details about this.
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Elections Held for CSDA Board of Directors Vacancies By Natalie Metzger-Smit, Policy/Communications Analyst, CSDA
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Elections were held during the January CSDA Membership Meeting to fill three seats on the CSDA Board. The seats were held by: San Bernardino County DCSS Director Connie Brunn, Sacramento County DCSS Director Terrie Hardy-Porter, and Santa Cruz/San Benito Regional DCSS Director Kathy Sokolik.
Read More
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Department of Social Services Budget Update By Natalie Metzger-Smit, Policy/Communications Analyst, CSDA | |
As child support program staff, we can't help but be reminded of the drastic budget cuts facing our colleagues in the Department of Social Services. Significant program reductions are on the horizon as the Governor attempts to close the budget deficit with the following solutions: $4.2 billion in program cuts; $4.7 billion in increased revenues and $1.4 billion in "other solutions (such as one time borrowing from special funds). As expected, Social Service programs will be significantly impacted should the proposed budget pass.
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Legislative Changes Affecting Paternity Now in Effect
By John Cardoza, Managing Attorney, Ventura County DCSS
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Recent legislation will add some new wrinkles on how LCSAs approach and analyze issues involving Voluntary Declarations of Paternity. AB 1349 was brought to Assembly Member Jerry Hill by Equality California and the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers as a response to Kevin Q. v. Lauren W. (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 1119, 1142, which held that the Voluntary Declaration of Paternity signed by the biological father completely cut off any rights of the presumed father.
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SDU Cutover is on the Horizon By Kathy Sokolik, Director, Santa Cruz/San Benito Regional DCSS | |
Busy times! But everyone is on track for a February 6th "go live" with ACS as our new SDU Service Provider (SP).
ACS and DCSS are continuing outreach efforts to our
"e-customers":
- CPs who have Bank of America VISA EPC cards must activate their new ACS MasterCard EPC. Until they activate their new card, post-February 6th disbursements will be sent by check. ACS began mailing EPC cards on January 17th. As of January 24th only 7 had been returned as undeliverable.
- Reminder: CPs who receive their disbursements via direct deposit do not need to take any action related to the transition to ACS.
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Yurok Tribal Child Support Services Co-located within Humboldt County's Child Support Department By Jim Kucharek, Director, Humboldt County DCSS
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Late last year the Yurok Tribe received funding from the federal government to create its own child support agency. The Yurok Tribe is the largest Tribe in the State of California with over 5,500 enrolled members. The Yurok reservation spans a 50-mile stretch of the Klamath River in Northern California covering parts of Del Norte and Humboldt Counties. The Yurok Tribe already has a Tribal Court in place. Ms. Denise Bareilles has been hired as the Tribe's interim child support director.
Read More
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E-IWO - The Way to Go! Featured at L.A. County Employer Workshop By Al Reyes, Division Chief, Outreach Services, Los Angeles County CSSD
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Bill Stuart, OCSE E-IWO Coordinator |
The Los Angeles County Child Support Service Department's quarterly Employer Workshop in March will feature a special presentation on E-IWO, the cutting-edge program which improves child support collections by enabling employers to handle wage assignments electronically and paperless.
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CSDA Membership Discusses SLMS Release for Recently Incarcerated Obligors
By Pam Posehn, Director, Solano County DCSS
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At the November CSDA Annual Directors Meeting, members discussed the idea of developing a statewide best practice regarding SLMS releases for obligors recently released from incarceration. To gather information for a follow up discussion at the January Membership meeting, a survey was distributed to CSDA Members.
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MIFAs Unite! By Carrie Topliffe, Director, Santa Barbara County DCSS
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Audits are such an inescapable part of business life, it's a wonder they still have the power to twist our guts into knots. But they do! At the very least, they create a pile of extra work for our busy staff, and at the worst, they cost us a lot of money and embarrassment. With this in mind, the CSDA Finance Committee has created an Audit Subcommittee to provide education, information and resources for Members in Fear of Audits (MIFAs).
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Changes on the Horizon for CSDA Legal Trainings By Melinda Self, Chair, CSDA Attorney Faculty Committee and Supervising Attorney, Contra Costa County DCSS
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A number of very exciting things are happening with the CSDA Attorney Faculty Committee and for legal training for California's child support community. In response to direction from the CSDA Board and Membership, the committee presented a recommended Strategic Training Plan to the CSDA Board in January, 2012. The vision as articulated in the Strategic Plan expands legal training to include web-based training.
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Registration is Now Open for the CSDA Fiscal Officers Forum By Natalie Metzger-Smit, Policy/Communications Analyst, CSDA
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CSDA and DCSS are proud to announce that the next Fiscal Officers Forum is scheduled for February 16, 2012 at State DCSS in Rancho Cordova. Registration is free and is now open on CSDA Events at: http://www.csdaevents.com. The deadline to register is February 9, 2012. Webcast and conference call capability are available for this event. For details, please contact Policy/Communications Analyst Natalie Metzger-Smit at [email protected].
Read More
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Updated Face of Child Support Now Available for Purchase By Iliana Rodriguez, Director, San Mateo County DCSS
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The day has finally come: after months of data and vignette gathering I am excited to announce the release of the newest version of The Face of Child Support in California. When we set out to develop this version, we wanted to capture the variety of ways local child support agencies go about our mission of helping children by ensuring that both parents contribute to their support. Our goal was simple - incorporate the "bubble chart" into this version. What took us by surprise was the wealth of partnerships and resources developed within the counties.
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2012 CSDA Leadership Institute Scheduled for May
By Natalie Dillon, Deputy Director, CSDA
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The Child Support Directors Association is excited to offer a 2012 Child Support Leadership Institute. The format of the event will be a little different from previous years. Historically the event was held over three months in two day increments during the summer. This year, CSDA has condensed the event over a one week period to reduce the travel costs associated with participating in the Institute.
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Submit Your Pre-Orders Now for the 2012 Child Support Interjurisdictional Sourcebook By Natalie Metzger-Smit, Policy/Communications Analyst, CSDA
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CSDA is now taking pre-orders for the 2012 Child Support Interjurisdictional Sourcebook. This year's edition, headed by Executive Editor Mary Dahlberg, is substantially re-organized to make finding cases easier. Based on your requests, the cases are not separated under UIFSA, FFCCSOA, and URESA any longer. Instead, cases are grouped together by issue, and the summary describes the law applied. We are excited with the new organization, and hope you will be too!
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CSDA Employer Outreach Subcommittee Provides Training to Employers By Linda Dippel, Director, Contra Costa County DCSS
| The CSDA Education Committee has created a new subcommittee to focus on employer outreach. The members are pulling together information to share with all local child support agencies and State DCSS to ensure staff are familiar with employer's needs and counties' best practices.
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New and Revised Fact Sheets to be Published
By Natalie Metzger-Smit, Policy/Communications Analyst, CSDA
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The CSDA Fact Sheet Workgroup is excited about the eminent publication of the following fact sheets: - Family Reunification Compromise of Arrears Program
Audience: Customer - Modifying Your Child Support Order (Spanish)
Audience: Customer - The Benefits of Opening Up a Child Support Case (Spanish)
Audience: Customer - Genetic Testing for Paternity Establishment (Spanish)
Audience: Customer
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CSDA Education Committee Happenings and Its Interest in Your Ideas! By Patricia Gore, Assistant Director, Sierra Nevada Regional DCSS
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The Education Committee's various workgroups and subcommittees are hard at work! Look for other articles in this newsletter and/or future newsletters relating to the Face of Child Support publication, the CSDA Fact Sheet Workgroup, the CSDA Video Production Subcommittee, the Incarcerated Obligor Workgroup, and the recently formed Employer and Military Sub-Committees. The Employer Subcommittee coordinated the January 31st Federal Electronic Income Withholding Order (e-IWO) internet portal training/webinar. As we all learn more about available resources, we are in a better position to educate and refer others.
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New CSDA Military Subcommittee Created to Improve Communications with Military By Brizza Sandoval, Program Specialist II, San Bernardino County DCSS
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The CSDA Education Committee has formed a new subcommittee to focus on identifying ways to improve communication between local child support agencies and military partners in an effort to help military customers learn more about the resources that are available to them. Orange and San Bernardino Counties recently partnered to visit Fort Irwin in Barstow, which has 8,000 permanently stationed members, to educate the military legal staff on the child support program. This was an opportunity to present information about the child support program and our services, answer questions, and establish a contact with the Judge Advocate General (JAG) staff at the post.
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Politics and Legislation Force Delay in Development of Women's Incarceration Video By Laura Roth, Director, El Dorado County DCSS and Natalie Dillon, Deputy Director, CSDA
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In previous CSDA newsletter articles we have reported on the progress of the Video Production Committee in developing a child support video for incarcerated women. We have developed an excellent draft script that speaks to many of the issues these women are faced with. However, with the implementation of AB 109, the transfer of many women from state prisons to local county jails, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has decided to close one of its three female prisons.
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