Child Support Services Onboarding Mission Statement
The purpose of the Onboarding process
is to work closely with new Child Support professionals
to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills
to become effective, successful public servants.
CSS, Center for Professional Development (CPD), supports new staff by providing information to employees during their first year. CPD is available to answer Questions and offer assistance at any time.
Onboarding Orientation
The first contact in the Onboarding process is through your immediate supervisor. The Center for Professional Development also supports you and your supervisor in developing a plan of action to assist you during your first year by sending you a series of emails over the course of your first year of employment:
- The first email includes a welcome from the Director, and a copy of the CSS Onboarding Handbook, which explains what to expect during the first year of employment.
- The second email introduces you to checklists and helpful OSIS screens.
- The third email provides more information on the training requirements and Individual Learning Plan (ILP).
Orientation Follow-up
The second 6 months of employment presents the opportunity to review your training progression, update your ILP, discuss professional development opportunities, and train you in the PS2 / IV-A screens.
Other Contacts
To aid in the seamless web of support, new employees are also provided monthly emails throughout their first year containing timely updates and reminders of support provided by CSS state office personnel.
The Year One Onboarding Timeline
- Week One
- The first email includes a welcome from the Director, and a copy of the CSS Onboarding Handbook, which explains what to expect during the first year of employment.
- Week Two
- The second email introduces you to checklists and helpful OSIS screens.
- Week Three
- The third email provides more information on the training requirements and Individual Learning Plan (ILP).
- Months 1-6
- Motivational Messages.
- Six Months
- Mid-Year Interviews.
- Months 7-12
- Motivational Messages.
- One Year
- Congratulations and opportunities for growth within CSS.
What is Child Support Services?
Many people consider Child Support Services (CSS) to be the most complicated program DHS administers. America’s child support programs touch more than one-fourth of the nation’s children from all socio-economics backgrounds, reaching more than any other federally funded program with the exception of Medicaid.
Many children today are born into families that do not follow the established pattern of a male / female married couple. Therefore, the core mission of child support involves four separate responsibilities which are Locate Absent Parents, to Determine Parentage, to Establish Support Orders, and to Enforce Obligations. These responsibilities are described in more detail below:
- Locate Absent Parents.
- Child support often begins with efforts to locate missing parents. There are many tools including nationwide databases, new hire and employment reporting, and tax records.
- Determine Parentage.
- More than 41 percent of all Oklahoma children are born out of wedlock. Child support works with hospitals throughout the state to help parents acknowledge paternity of newborn children. Parentage can also be determined through court proceedings in all child support offices. About 19,000 determinations are established through acknowledgment and court proceedings each year.
- Establish Support Orders.
- Child support workers, attorneys and judges use guidelines approved by the legislature to standardize the share of support each party is to provide. In setting an order for the support of children the incomes of both parties are considered as well as other factors such as number of overnights and previous children. These orders are modified as circumstances change.
- Enforce Obligations.
- Child Support works with many different entities to ensure parents’ obligations to their children come first. About seventy percent of the money collected for the support of children in Oklahoma comes from both federal and state mandated income withholding orders. Employers withhold court ordered amounts from the employee’s paycheck and send it directly to the CSS Centralized Support Registry.
Oklahoma Child Support orders also determine who is to provide health care coverage and daycare, and how those costs will be divided.
When child support is not paid, arrearages accumulate. CSS has many remedies available under federal and state law to help assure payment compliance. Additionally, Oklahoma law allows interest in the amount of 2 percent per year on delinquent payments 43 O.S. §114 (2016).
- Child Support Impacts Our Communities.
- From the start, child support programs have been the primary way taxpayers recover funds paid for welfare programs. Families who receive Medicaid are required to pay something toward the cost of health coverage when private insurance is too expensive or not available.
- Receipt of Child Support Reduces Dependence on Benefit Programs.
- As families receive financial support in the form of child support, they are less likely to need or qualify for assistance from benefit programs.
- Child Support Lifts Families Out of Poverty.
- For low income families receipt of child support can be a significant portion of their income. When received, child support puts money into the hands of families who in return spend the money in local communities.
- Child Support Lessens Economic and Personal Stress for Families and Children.
- Research shows collecting child support for families in crisis helps alleviate the kinds of stress that often lead to domestic violence and child abuse.
Our Customers and Caseloads
Below are pie charts as of December 31, 2018 showing information about:
- Percentages of income amounts for Custodial Persons ($1000/month or more, 49%; under $1000/month, 51%) and Noncustodial Parents (no reported income, 29%; $1000/month or more, 53%; under $1000/month, 18%).
- Arrears percentages of $2.1 billion Oklahoma arrears as of December 2018 (no arrears, 30%; $1000 or less, 13%; $1000 to $5000, 15%; $5000 to $10000, 11%; greater than $10,000, 31%).
- Percentages of intergovernmental cases (incoming, 56%; outgoing, 44%) and assistance cases (current assistance, 8%; former assistance, 27%; never received assistance, 64%).
- Percentage of type of cases opened in 2018 (intergovernmental, 6%; TANF referrals, 13%; foster care referrals, 16%; private applications, 25%; OHCA referrals, 40%).
Access CSQuest article Onboarding Handbook Overview.