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Region 9 Home
Page
Arizona, California,
Hawaii, Nevada, Guam,
Trust Territory of Pacific Islands, and
American Samoa
Ronald Banks
Regional Health Administrator
Federal Office Building
50 United Nations Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94012
Phone: 415-556-5810
Fax: 415-437-8004
John Kersey
Associate Director
Administration for Children and Families
50 United Nations Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415-437-8415
Fax: 415-437-8436
JP Soden
Program Specialist
Administration for Children and Families
50 United Nations Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415-437-8421
Fax: 415-437-8437
Access and Visitation. Arizona provides pilot grants to a number of counties. Maricopa County, for example, provides a wide range of access and visitation services for cases in the courts following or during divorce or paternity establishment including mediation, negotiation of compliance with court-ordered access, and visitation enforcement through a parental conflict resolution class. Drug testing, supervised visitation, and related services are also provided. The program has also developed two videos for parents who are court-ordered to participate in the Parental Conflict Resolution class, a course designed specifically for parents in persistent high-conflict after separation or divorce or parents who are non-compliant with Court-ordered parenting time (visitation). The two videos are available for a nominal cost to cover expenses for reproduction, shipping and handling:
In addition, the program also developed a video specifically for judicial officers called Family Ties and Knots: Children of Divorce — A View for the Bench. The video will be used specifically to inform Family Court judges about mild, moderate and severe forms of parental alienation. For further information, please contact Kat Cooper at 602-506-5714 or visit the website at: http://www.familysupportcenter.maricopa.gov.
Fatherhood. The goal of the Arizona Division of Child Support Enforcement's (DCSE) Fatherhood Program is to assist low-income, non-custodial parents attain self-sufficiency and become financially and emotionally responsible parents.
DCSE began its partnership with the collaboration of agencies known as the Arizona Fatherhood Network (AFN) in July 1998. AFN is committed to providing a service delivery system that empowers men and strengthens families to ensure a transformational and sustainable quality of life. AFN's vision is accomplished through collaborations, mentorships, education, and employment.
The organizations that DCSE partners with are dedicated to improving the lives and futures of low-income, fragile families and their children. DCSE can be instrumental to each of the organizations by assisting non-custodial parents with paternity establishment, establishment of an order to pay child support and modification of existing child support orders.
Parenting Academy. In October 2002, DCSE was awarded funding by the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement to implement the proposed Arizona Fatherhood Parenting Academy (Academy).
Academy curriculum is designed to help fathers increase their employment opportunities and earning potential, and to improve their relationships with their children and the mother of their children. The six-month classroom instruction is facilitated by: AZ Division of Child Support Enforcement, First Institutional Baptist Church of Phoenix, Child & Family Resources, Inc., Maximus AZ Works, Valley Christian Center, and Women and Youth for Self-Reliance (WYSR) Academy.
The customized curriculum focuses on the benefits of paternity, life skills, relationship building and the benefits of marriage, financial literacy and computer literacy. Forty-two individual classes are offered each week, two hours per week, in six distinct sections: 1) Child Support Overview, 2) Life Skills Development, 3) Relationship Building and the Benefits of Marriage, 4) Workforce Development, 5) Financial Literacy, and 6) Computer Literacy. Case Management services are provided by Child & Family Resources, Inc.
The Academy opened its doors on July 10, 2003. Since its inception, 70 fathers have enrolled in Academy classes. Forty-four (44) fathers successfully completed the Academy's first 3 semesters, and received Certificates of Completion. Contact is Tommy Epps at 602-274-1482, ext 4977.
Adelante Responsible Parent Program. The Adelante Program is a division of Catholic Community Services operating in Pima and Santa Cruz Counties. It works to help low-income fathers with child support obligations gain meaningful employment, providing services such as teaching job search, resume and application writing, and interviewing techniques. In addition, each participant is assigned a case manager who works with the client on a one-on-one basis to develop employment and training opportunities. Needs assessments are done for each client and supportive services are provided as needed.
The program collaborates with Superior Court judges, Adult Probation, Pima and Santa Cruz County One-Stop agencies, the State Attorney General's Office, and the Child Support Enforcement Agency. Together, they comprise the Responsible Parent Program. Participants are referred by Superior Court judges in an effort to gain meaningful employment and to increase child support payments. The goal is to help fathers who are willing but unable to make support payments gain the tools necessary for increased earning potential.
The Program also assists clients with child support and visitation issues, completing child support modification packets, visitation enforcement requests, and other related documents to be filed at the courts. In the future, the Program also hopes to assist clients with arrears reductions and/ or forgiveness. Contact Liz Thomey at 520-388-9153, ext. 122.
Merced County Fatherhood Project: Merced County developed a "Watch Dogs" program where Dads volunteer to be a "Safety Net" by volunteering one day at their children's school. The result is that Fathers are seen by the students and community as being present and actively engaged as role models in their children's lives.
In addition, there is a Boot Camp for Dads every Saturday morning at the local hospital. The program focuses on assisting Dads who are expecting their first child. The effort is coordinated with the Merced County Community Action Partnership. The contact is Bill Ruth at 209-383-4859.
Fathers Inside: Several years ago, the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) implemented a pilot project at San Quentin State Prison, California. The pilot project (Incarcerated Parent Project) provided inmates with forms, an information package about available child support services and contact information. The goal of the project was to reduce child support arrears, by stopping child support debt from accruing during periods when a parent had no ability to earn, and to increase the likelihood that incarcerated parents would be able to meet their child support obligations upon release from prison.
Based on the experience with the pilot project, it was found that in order to improve program effectiveness, there was a need to establish child support program credibility through regular visits and face-to-face interviews with inmates. Further, the inability of many inmates to read and understand the letters and documents provided created a tremendous barrier to program participation.
Subsequently, Fathers Inside was established to conduct outreach directly to the inmate population. The project has been a collaborative effort between the Solano County Department of Child Support Services (DCSS), Marin County DCSS, Marin County Family Law Facilitator, a non-profit, faith-based organization located at the prison, and several other Local Child Support Agencies (LCSAs). The California Department of Corrections supports the project by accommodating the program inside San Quentin.
The collaboration has included monthly workshops with groups of inmates permanently housed at the prison. The workshops include an overview of child support services and information about specific legal processes. Inmates are informed their rights to request a modification of their current child support due to their change in circumstances, and given the opportunity to complete forms that are forwarded to the appropriate LCSA.
The Solano County DCSS is pursuing opportunities to enhance these services to include inmates being processed through the Reception Center at San Quentin. This group of inmates is an important target as it would allow for the earliest opportunity to educate and inform inmates of their right to seek a modification of their child support order. Efforts in this area would also focus on tracking the progression of their requests, measuring the outcome of this intervention, and produce a Best Practices Procedures Manual for use in Reception Centers throughout the California prison system.
Contact is Cheryl Stewart, California Department of Child Support Services Regional Administrator, at (916) 464-5223.
Compromise of Arrears Program (COAP). In December 2003, California implemented an Interim Compromise of Arrears Program (I-COAP). The program allows the acceptance of a non-custodial parent's (NCP) offer to compromise a portion of their permanently assigned arrears in exchange for partial payment of a delinquent child support debt. The program has been implemented statewide and is successfully resolving arrears debt for NCPs. In order to qualify for participation in I-COAP, the NCP must have an arrears only case and be able to make a lump sum repayment. Only arrears owed to the government are available for compromise through I-CAOP; any areas owed to the custodial parties are addressed through negotiations with those parties. Cases involving current support are excluded from I-CAOP.
California is also piloting a more comprehensive Compromise of Arrears program (COAP) in six local child support agencies (LCSAs), including Amador, Orange, San Diego, Santa Cruz/San Benito, Solano and Sonoma. COAP will be available for cases with current child support orders and repayment will be allowed. Also, the COAP program will be a fully automated program at both the State and local levels. It is expected that COAP will be implemented statewide in July 2005.
The contact is Laura Choate, California Department of Child Support Services, COAP Manager, at 916-464-4885.
Access and Visitation. California provides a regional approach featuring parental education during the time of family disruption in an effort to increase parenting skills as a means for minimizing conflict and encouraging the development of parenting plans. Group counseling is provided to both parents and children on how to solve parenting problems. Other services, such as supervised visitation and neutral drop-off and child exchange services are provided to families during the litigation of a divorce or custody dispute. Contact Shelly Glapion at (415) 865-7565.
Memorandum of Understanding: The Guam Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with its sister Agency for Human Resources Development (HRD). The purpose of the MOU is to have the CSE Agency refer low-income non-custodial parents to the HRD for evaluation for assistance under the Workforce Investment Act for enhanced educational and vocational skills.
Access and Visitation: The current provider is Inafa Maolek Conciliation. Inafa Maolek is a mediation center that provides families with conflict resolutions involving visitation and custody. Inafa Maolek provides these resolutions through mediated agreements with divorced or separated parents. The children benefit from this mediated visitation through continued relationship with their Fathers and increased child support collections. Inafa Maolek monitors each case and makes monthly and quarterly reports for Office of the Attorney General, Child Support Enforcement Division. Contact is Frank Honorario at 671-475-3360, ext 201.
Fatherhood: The Hawai`i Coalition for Dads (HCD), launched in 1998 under the umbrella of Parents And Children Together (PACT), is a group of individuals and organizations (including ALU LIKE, Good Beginnings Alliance, Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies, Kamehameha Schools' Extension Education Division, PARENTS, and Pearl Harbor Fleet and Family Support Center) that shares information about services to fathers and promotes involved, nurturing, responsible fatherhood.
Grants from the Hawai`i Children's Trust Fund for 2003, 2004, and 2005 have enabled HCD to employ a Fatherhood Network Coordinator to help implement a pilot Nurturing Fathers/Play and Learn project for father-inmates (three, 13-week series have been carried out at the Waiawa Correctional Facility by The Institute For Family Enrichment with Play+Learn groups by the Good Beginnings Alliance), a media and special events campaign, collaborations with Aloha United Way's 211 and The Parent Line referral lines, consultations with agencies to implement more father-inclusive policies and programs, and the expansion of the Hawai`i Coalition for Dads throughout Hawai`i.
In the past 7 years, Hawai`i Coalition for Dads activities have included: sponsoring community education events like Dads' Day at the Capitol (April) and CELEBRATE FATHERS Day at Windward Mall and Pearlridge Center (June); having the Governor and Mayor proclaim June as Fathers' Month; participating in the New Baby Expo (May) and Children and Youth Day (October); and sponsoring the Champions for Children and Youth Inspirational Clinic at the University of Hawai`i's Stan Sheriff Center and Appreciating Fathers Conference at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus.
Hawai`i Coalition for Dads successful public policy initiatives include establishing a State Commission on Fatherhood in the Lt. Governor's office (Act 156-2003), requiring State employers to provide at least four hours per year paid leave for employees for parent-teacher conferences (Act 108-2003), establishing a Hawai`i Legislature awards program to recognize businesses with parent-friendly policies (SCR 130-2003), and State legislation that prohibits the preference of one parent above another in the State's programs, services, and contracts (Act 301-2001 and Act 162-2002). These laws are designed to insure that fathers are included, not forgotten, in public and private services that government provides to children and families.
For more Hawai`i Coalition for Dads information, contact Greg Farstrup, Coordinator, at 841-2245 and at HawaiiDads @ pacthawaii.org
Employment and Training (E & T). The E & T programs are operating in both Clark County (Las Vegas) and Washoe County (Reno). Low income non-custodial parents (NCPs) are referred by the Courts to work enhancement programs to assist the NCPs in improving their employment skills, with the goal of enhancing/increasing their ability to pay child support. Contact is Leslee Arnold at 775-684-0690.
Access and Visitation
The $100,000 Access and Visitation Grant, funded by the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, is divided by two vendors. The Second Judicial District Court, Family Mediation Program serves the Reno area and the Eighth Judicial District Court, Family Mediation Center serves the Las Vegas area. Most referrals are made from child support hearing masters during court hearings for child support and paternity issues. Typically both parents voluntarily agree to explore family mediation services. The program appears to be successful to those parents who choose to participate. Survey results suggest that parent communication is enhanced through the mediation process. Additionally, most parents believe that the parenting plans and agreements developed have been adhered to over time by the other parent. A majority of the custodial parents indicate that child support payments were paid regularly after mediation. Contact is Rose Ramos at (775) 684-0695.
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Last updated June 29, 2005
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