Collections, Outreach, and Beyond

1
Division of Child Support Services
Collections, Outreach, and Beyond
Presenters Tanguler Gray, DCSS Director
Stephen Harris, Associate General
Counsel
Presentation to DHS Board Member Date June
17, 2015
Georgia Department of Human Services
2
Vision, Mission and Core Values

• Vision
• Stronger Families for a Stronger Georgia.
• Mission
• Strengthen Georgia by providing Individuals and
  Families access to services that promote
  self-sufficiency, independence, and protect
  Georgia's vulnerable children and adults.
• Core Values
• Provide access to resources that offer support
  and empower Georgians and their families.
• Deliver services professionally and treat all
  clients with dignity and respect. Manage business
  operations effectively and efficiently by
  aligning resources across the agency.
• Promote accountability, transparency and quality
  in all services we deliver and programs we
  administer.
• Develop our employees at all levels of the
  agency.

2
3
Division of Child Support Services Services and
Demographics FFY14

• Child Support Services include
• Locating Non Custodial Parents
• Establishing Paternity
• Establishing, enforcing and modifying financial
  and medical child support orders
• Collecting and distributing support payments

• Caseload Size includes
• 396,640 cases representing over 1.2 Million
  Georgia citizens
• 533,252 children
• 94 of Custodial Parents have never received
  public assistance or formerly received public
  assistance
• Serve 1 out of every 6 children under the age of
  18
• Collections -704 Million

Current Initiatives Amended Value Statement Put
Children First Children Need Both
Parents Government should be a resource to
families, not a substitute Parent
Accountability Investment in our citizens and the
community Self-sufficiency Outreach Programs
Fatherhood Program Governors Initiative
Alternative to Incarceration Problem Solving
Court
3
4
Division of Child Support Services Process Flow

• Intake
• Applications
• Walk-ins
• Mail
• CSP/On-line
• IV-A Referrals
• Foster Care Referrals

Locate Automated Interfaces and Manual Searches
are performed to locate Non-Custodial Parents
Paternity Establishment DNA Paternity
Test HB 568-Mandated Paternity DHS Rule
290-7-1.03 290-7-1.04
Enforcement Administrative and Judicial Actions
are taken to collect delinquent payments (drivers
license suspension, passport denial, tax
intercept, lottery winning intercept, tag lien,
etc.) DHS Rule 290-7-1.10
Court Order Establishment Financial
Support Medical Support Process service
(Sherriff or private process server)
Financial Centralized Payment Processing by the
Family Support Registry (FSR) HB 568-Mandated
Paternity DHS Rule 290-7-1.05
Review Modification Administrative and/or
Judicial Review of court orders that are 36
months old or older for possible modification of
support amount. DHS Rule 290-7-1.06
4
5
Division of Child Support Services DHS Rules
Recommendations
House Bill 568 Mandatory Genetic Testing With
the passing of this bill, DCSS will be required
to conduct genetic testing in all cases where the
issue of paternity is unresolved.  Biological
fathers who are identified by DCSS through
genetic testing may have a higher likelihood of
supporting their children and being a part of
their lives thereby reducing the number of
families on TANF and increasing the likelihood of
children developing relationships with both
parents.  Mandatory genetic testing should also
increase DCSS ability to continue to meet its
paternity establishment goal each year.

• Executive Summary
• The proposed amendments to 290-7-1 will include
  the following features
• Increases the gross monthly income threshold
  related to fee waivers in cases where a review or
  modification has been requested.
• Requires a completed application prior to the
  commencement of a review or modification.
• Allows electronic transmission of the Federal
  Income Withholding (FIW) notice.
• Sets out the procedures for genetic testing prior
  to the establishment of a child support case,
  including the requirement for a sworn statement
  and provisions related to recouping costs of the
  testing.

• Recommendations for Changes
• DHS Rules
• 290-7-1.03 - Paternity Establishment
• 290-7-1.04 - Paternity Establishment
• 290-7-1.05 - Financial
• 290-7-1.10 - Enforcement
• 290-7-1-06 - Review Modification

5