Washington State International Child Support Capabilities Strengthened

The Washington State Division of Child Support (DCS) has over 320,000 child support cases, of which 16 percent are intergovernmental cases. An even smaller percentage are international cases. International cases posed a unique challenge for DCS due to the complexity of laws governing international support and the limited frequency with which staff encounter such cases. Prior to the project, DCS had no staff specialization and no specialized training on international case processing for the central registry or field office staff. Support enforcement officers often had to reach out to the Policy Unit regarding how to process a particular incoming or outgoing international application. Some staff worked for years without ever receiving an international case and did not feel comfortable processing an international application when they did receive one.

DCS was especially interested in improving their services in child support cases with Canada and Mexico. Washington shares a border with British Columbia, and over half of its international caseload is with Canada. Cases with Mexico are problematic because Washington lacks a state-level reciprocal arrangement with Mexico. As a result, there are no outgoing support cases to Mexico. Between January 1 and June 30, 2019, DCS closed 188 child support cases because the noncustodial parent lived in Mexico and there was no way for DCS to proceed. Without expert guidance and training, managing these international cases was inefficient and sometimes ineffective.

“I was quickly reassured when we selected Public Knowledge® as our partner in this work. The team of highly skilled professionals in the respective areas of policy, technical assistance, and intergovernmental case processing was one of the project’s greatest assets. Their experts worked extremely hard to make sure we were able to meet all of our goals as closely as possible to the original plan. At every turn their team anticipated the needs of our staff as they guided staff through process revision. The curricula and desk aids they developed increased staff knowledge and confidence in processing cases with Mexico and Canada. The project manager for Public Knowledge® easily melded her knowledge of international law with her command of project management.  

Without the team at Public Knowledge®, Washington state would have likely faced many additional hurdles and barriers. I look forward to an opportunity where we are able to partner again in order to improve the lives of Washington state residents.”

CHRISTINA BLESI-HAYS
DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT
ECONOMIC SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
STATE OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

In 2019 DCS received an Intergovernmental Case Processing Innovation Demonstration grant from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. DCS’s goals for the two-year project were to:

1. Build better relationships with Mexico and Canada
2. Address bottlenecks within international case management
3. Enhance the services provided to families with parents who live in these countries.

After a competitive bid process, DCS contracted with Public Knowledge® (PK) for assistance with the grant. Public Knowledge® assembled a team with strong operational, legal, and policy expertise in international case processing. The team reviewed DCS international case processing policies and procedures, strategized with project staff on activities to improve case processing with Mexico and Canada, developed and delivered training, and created technical assistance desk aids and tools to assist central registry and international liaisons. The team also evaluated the effectiveness of project activities in meeting the project goals.

Background

The Washington State Division of Child Support (DCS) is a state agency within the Department of Social and Health Services, Economic Services Administration. DCS strives to improve lives by delivering excellent child support services. There are approximately 1,050 employees located in its Olympia Headquarters and nine field offices located across the state of Washington. DCS has over 320,000 open child support cases, of which less than one percent are international cases. Recognizing that international cases are a small percentage of their caseload but require a disproportional amount of staff time, DCS applied for and received a federal intergovernmental case processing innovation demonstration grant. The two-year project focused on international case processing with Canada and Mexico.

DCS contracted with Public Knowledge® to assist with the project because our consulting team brought strong policy expertise in international child support laws as well as deep “in the trenches” experience. The project team included individuals with successful records in operating a state central registry for incoming intergovernmental cases; working with child support programs in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; providing policy guidance during the development of the Uniform Interstate Support Act (UIFSA) and the 2007 Hague Child Support Convention; and implementing the 2007 Hague Child Support Convention and UIFSA within states.

The Problem

DCS strives to improve lives by delivering excellent child support services. Because of the complexity of laws governing international child support cases and the infrequency staff encounter such cases, DCS recognized that its staff was not confident in working international cases. There was no specialization of staff handling foreign support cases or specialized training on laws governing international support cases. DCS was particularly interested in improving its processing of cases with Canada and Mexico. Canada is Washington’s largest international support partner, yet DCS had not established ongoing cooperative working relationships with any Canadian province or territory. DCS was closing cases where the father lived in Mexico because there is no federal bilateral agreement with the country, and Washington lacked any state reciprocal arrangement.

In 2019 DCS applied for a two-year federal intergovernmental case processing innovation demonstration grant from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement in order to redesign its delivery of services in cases with Canada and Mexico. It selected Public Knowledge® as its consultant partner to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions to build better working relationships with Canada and Mexico, improve DCS efficiency in working cases with Canada and Mexico, and improve outcomes for families with parents in these two countries.

The Solution

Prior to the project, DCS had no staff specialization for international cases and no ongoing international training for central registry or field office staff. Support enforcement officers often had to reach out to the Policy Unit regarding how to process a particular incoming or outgoing international application. Some staff worked for years without ever receiving an international case and weren’t comfortable processing an international application when they did receive one. Although the DCS Policy Handbook for field staff included information on intergovernmental child support, the information had been added to and updated over time. As a result, the revisions were not well integrated with other sections of the manual. There were gaps and some of the information was inconsistent. DCS was especially interested in improving the delivery of services in child support cases with Canada and Mexico. Washington shares a border with British Columbia, and over half of its international caseload is with Canada. Cases with Mexico were particularly problematic because Washington lacks a state-level reciprocal arrangement with Mexico. As a result, DCS closed child support cases where the noncustodial parent lived in Mexico. There were no outgoing applications to Mexico because there was no way for DCS to proceed. Once DCS received funding from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement for its “Child Support Intergovernmental Case Processing Innovation Demonstration” (Project), it contracted with Public Knowledge® for help in achieving the grant goals.

The project included three phases.

PHASE 1: ENGAGEMENT, PROCESS ANALYSIS, TRAINING, AND ENVISIONING

In the analysis period of Phase 1, the PK team compiled and analyzed qualitative and quantitative information to understand the DCS program, international child support policies and processes, and current performance; and to identify potential opportunities for improvement. The PK team also conducted interviews with the DCS central registry staff and support enforcement officers.

During the initial three-month phase, PK provided training on intergovernmental laws and case processing with Canada and Mexico, as well as training on procedural justice and behavioral interventions

The “envision” part of Phase 1 was a facilitated session of DCS project team members and managers. PK used a Solution Design Model to share (and validate) the results of its program analysis and help the working group envision what the desired outcomes of the reengineered system would be. The envisioning discussions examined areas of staffing, system improvements, practices and processes, and interventions targeted to Canada and Mexico. The result was agreement upon eight key project interventions:

• Improving international case management by designating staff in the Central Registry to review incoming cases from Mexico and Canada and by designating a group of “international liaisons” in local offices
• Increasing case processing expertise of Central Services staff and international liaisons through training, project activities, and the development of tools and desk aids
• Improving case processing with Canada by:
  • Developing contact lists for Washington and Canada
  • Establishing bilateral relationships with Canadian provinces with which Washington shares the most cases
  • Holding periodic meetings between Washington and those Canadian provinces, which include training on case processing in the jurisdictions
• Improving case processing with Mexico by:
  • Establishing bilateral relationships with selected Mexican states
  • Developing contact lists for those states
  • Holding periodic meetings between Washington and those Mexican states, which include training on case processing in the jurisdictions
• Improving communication
• Analyzing policy related to international case processing
• Exploring system enhancements

PHASE 2: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

The two most significant challenges during the project were time constraints and COVID-19.

Two years is a short time period to identify and implement improvements that will redesign a child support program’s international case processing. The well-managed collaborative process between the highly experienced child support professionals in PK’s consulting team and the dedicated, visionary partners in DCS was critical to the project’s success in moving forward on all of the project’s initiatives.

The other challenge was COVID-19. No one anticipated that the project would need to plan for a pandemic. PK and DCS successfully navigated staff interviews during the project’s initial assessment as well as the evaluation phase using the TEAMS platform. The project also used electronic platforms for training, and for the collaborative calls between DCS and Canadian provinces. It was difficult to measure the impact of COVID-19 on project performance metrics. Because Washington State establishes and enforces the majority of child support orders through an administrative process, DCS project managers stated that the court closures due to COVID-19 did not have a major impact on Washington’s ability to process incoming cases from Canada and Mexico. It is not known to what extent the pandemic may have impacted Canada’s ability to process cases from Washington. However, COVID-19 had a major impact on Washington’s ability to establish a reciprocal cooperative arrangement with Mexican states. Such arrangements are usually predicated on relationships developed over time through in-person meetings. Although the PK team worked with DCS to draft reciprocal cooperation arrangements (Convenios) in English and Spanish for review by the directors of the child support agencies in selected Mexican states and the project leadership had several calls with the Mexican Central Authority and agency directors, the pandemic negatively impacted the ability of the Project Team to travel to the selected Mexican states and meet with governmental representatives. Additionally, during the grant period, there were political elections in three of the four targeted Mexican states that affected agency leadership. As a result, the formalization of a cooperative arrangement with selected Mexican states did not occur during the life of the project.

“As the Grant Manager on a federal Intergovernmental Case Processing grant for Washington state, I was concerned about how COVID was going to impact our project. I knew our timelines for project activities were tight. Identifying points of contact and making connections with other countries’ support programs in the midst of the global pandemic seemed especially challenging. I was quickly reassured when we selected Public Knowledge as our partner in this work. Their experts worked extremely hard to make sure we were able to meet all of our goals as closely as possible to the original plan. At every turn their team anticipated the needs of our staff as they guided staff through process revision.”

CHRISTINA BLESI-HAYS

The most successful activities included:

Desk Aids for Processing International Cases Overview*

• Flowcharts of DCS Processes
  
  PK developed flowcharts to depict steps the DCS central registry should take when reviewing an incoming application from a Hague Convention country, a federal or state foreign reciprocating country, and a country like Mexico that is neither a Convention country nor a foreign reciprocating country. PK also developed flowcharts to depict steps the local field offices should take when processing an incoming application from other countries depending on whether it was an application for establishment, recognition, enforcement, or modification of an order.

• Flowchart of British Columbia Processes
  
  In order to help the international liaisons understand what happens to a Washington outgoing application once it is received by the central authority in British Columbia, PK developed a flowchart that depicts each entity involved in processing the application and their respective responsibilities.

• Matrix of Required Forms and Supplemental Documents for Outgoing Applications to Canada
  
  To assist the international liaisons in completing outgoing applications that meet Canadian requirements, PK prepared a matrix of required forms and supplemental documents for outgoing applications to Canada.

• Directions for Outgoing Applications to Canada
  
  To guide the international liaisons in preparing outgoing applications to Canada, PK  developed directions that identify where to send the applications, note supporting documents needed for special requests such as medical support, and summarize how Canada processes locate-only requests, as well as applications for the establishment, enforcement, and modification.

• ISO Request for Support Order Form D with Instructions
  
  During joint training with British Columbia, the project team learned that Canadian courts require that an application in a proceeding under the Interjurisdictional Support Order (ISO) Act include a Canadian Form D-Request for Support Order (If Respondent Does Not Provide Financial Information). Courts must have this completed form to establish a default child support order. PK provided Washington DCS with a PDF fillable version of the form along with instructions on how to complete the form.
  

• Enforcement of Interest under Orders from Washington and British Columbia
  
  During joint training with British Columbia, it became clear there was confusion on both sides regarding the enforcement of interest on child support arrears under Washington orders and British Columbia orders. As a result, PK—in consultation with the Washington DCS Grant Project Director,  DCS Policy and Litigation Manager, and representatives of the British Columbia Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP)—prepared a document summarizing each jurisdiction’s policies regarding enforcement of interest.
  

• Summary of Canadian Maintenance Enforcement Program’s Age of Majority Legislation and Enforcement Policies
  
  To help the international liaisons better understand Canadian child support laws, PK prepared a summary of Canadian legislation governing the age of majority and maintenance enforcement program enforcement policies.
  

• Matrix of Required Forms for Outgoing Applications to Mexico
  
  To assist the international liaisons in completing outgoing applications to Mexico, PK identified bilingual intergovernmental child support forms acceptable to Mexico for the establishment, enforcement, and modification of support.  

• Development of New Bilingual Forms
  
  Based on prior child support work with Mexico, a member of the PK Team developed two new forms: a bilingual Certificate of Enforceability (of the order to be enforced or modified) and a bilingual Affidavit of Direct Payments and Possession (to preempt the potential defenses addressed by this form).

• Development of Service of Process Training
  
  PK developed training on service of process in Mexico under two international conventions and submitted sample forms under those Conventions with instructions on how to complete them. Service under international conventions allows a state to use long-arm jurisdiction to establish child support orders in appropriate cases, even in the absence of reciprocal arrangements with the foreign country.

PHASE 3:  EVALUATION

The project was very successful, however, in meeting the qualitative goals. These goals included improvement in the management of international cases with Canada and Mexico, increased staff confidence in handling cases with Canada and Mexico, improved relationships with Canadian provinces, better communication, and more comprehensive written policies and procedures governing international child support casework. To measure the success of the project in meeting these goals, the PK team employed surveys and interviews.

Conclusion

Because international cases are a small percentage of most agencies’ child support caseload, staff may lack the knowledge to appropriately process them. Designating staff to handle international cases or to be agency subject matter experts, and providing these individuals with training and supportive resources, leads to greater confidence in case processing. Washington DCS contracted with Public Knowledge® to help redesign its international case processing because of the PK team’s strong operational, legal, and policy expertise in international case processing.

It is important to use a variety of formats to meet individuals’ varying learning styles when developing desk aids. Some people learn best from numbered instructions and checklists, others like to read narrative information, and others are more visual and retain information best if it is presented in flowcharts. PK used behavioral economics and principles of adult education to develop training material and desk aids in varying formats.

Improving communication is key to effective case management, particularly when working international cases, due to challenges such as different time zones, language barriers, and differences in legal systems. Establishing child support cooperation arrangements takes time and requires the development of personal relationships. Because of their professional relationships with colleagues in Canada, the PK team was able to help DCS establish a strong cooperative relationship with selected provinces. The relationship included improved communication methods such as a contact directory, access by DCS workers to the family maintenance enforcement program’s portal, and transmission of messages from Canadian caseworkers through Washington’s encrypted email system.

International child support has changed significantly in the last 10 years. For most states, a comprehensive review of the international case processing section of their policies and procedures handbook is long overdue. PK consultants participated in drafting the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) and negotiating the 2007 Hague Child Support Convention. We have developed extensive training materials and technical assistance resources focused on international case processing.