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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09201988 - I.O.2 TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS I .O. 2 FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE VI�,I,tra September 12, 1988 CxJW��IGI DATE: Cry�Jl.l Family Support Division l �l�/ SUBJECT: District Attorney' s Office SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Request the County Administrator to analyze the recommendations of the District Attorney for additional staff and for funds for automation of the Family Support Division' s records and advise our Committee of his recommendations on November 14, 1988 . 2 . Agree to the formation of a work group on federal reimbursement for the costs of automation of the Family Support Division' s records to consist of the following: Congressman George Miller, III , or his designee Assemblyman Tom Bates, or his designee An appropriate representative from the State Department of Social Services The District Attorney and the Director of the Family Support Division The County Administrator, or his designee The Director of the Data Processing Division of the County Administrator' s Office, or her designee The members of the Internal Operations Committee of the Board of Supervisors The purpose of this work group is to attempt to clarify why it appears to be impossible for Contra Costa County to obtain State and Federal approval of their plans for automation of the Family Support Division' s records, and to devise a strategy for cutting through the seemingly unnecessary red tape in order to be able to automate the Family Support Division' s records at the earliest opportunity with the appropriate federal sharing ratio. This work group will, if approved by the Board of Supervisors, attempt to convene all involved parties at the earliest opportunity and CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT. _° - YES SIGNATURE: _ RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR X RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE _ APPROV OYHER �7 SIGNATURE(S, I: Sonne W. McPeak (]pp88 Tom Torlakson ACTION OF BOARD ON _September 20, 19 A.-PROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS f HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS-A TRUE }{_ UNAN 1 MOUS (ABSEN ' _ ) A.ND CORRIE CT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: _ NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT _. _ ABSrAIN: OF SUPERVISORS CNV THE DATE SHOWN, CC: County Administrator ATTESTED District Attorney — — - azo, -19ge— Director, Family Support Div. PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF Board Members SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR M382/7-83 BY ,DEPUTY Page 2 report. back to, our Committee- on November 14, 1988 and to the Board as soon as possible thereafter. 3 . --. Endorse the implementation in Contra " Costa, County of the credit reporting,-,6f delinquent child support obligations, as would be provided for in Civil Code Section' 4752, proposed to be added by AB 2025 of the 1987-88 Session of the California Legislature, and request the District Attorney to report to our Committee on November 14, 1988 regarding his plans for such implementation. 4 . Request the District Attorney to consult with the family. law judges and the private bar in Contra Costa County regarding . the willingness of the Superior Court and the private bar to support the routine imposition by the Superior Court of automatic wage collection provisions in all dissolution of marriage orders where there are minor children and a child support order is also being made. Also request the District Attorney to consult with the family law judges and the private bar in Contra Costa County regarding the willingness of the Superior Court and the private bar to -support having the Superior Court routinely order that all child support payments be made through the District Attorney' s Family Support Division and the Auditor-Controller' s Office, providing that the custodial parent does not object to such an order. Request that the District Attorney report the conclusion of his conversations to our Committee on November 14, 1988. 5 . Request the County. Administrator, in cooperation with the District Attorney, to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of having the District Attorney record with the County Recorder all child support orders which are issued, thereby providing some assurance that the non-custodial parent will . be unable to refinance or sell any real property . in this or surrounding counties without paying off any -delinquent child support obligation and report his recommendations to our Committee on November 14, 1988 . 6 . Request the County Administrator to schedule three public education workshops, one each in East County, West County, and Central-South County on the subject of child support and spousal support. The purpose of these workshops is to provide the District Attorney and his staff an opportunity , to educate the public regarding what, the Family Support Division does, who is eligible to their .services, and how an individual in need of those services can contact the Family Support Division. The workshops should be scheduled, if at all possible, so that all three occur before- November 14, 1988 . Each workshop should be scheduled in cooperation with the members of the Board of Supervisors who represent each area of the County as ' well as with the members of the Internal Operations `Committee. Each workshop should be scheduled in the evening to facilitate' as many working custodial parents as possible attending the workshops. BACKGROUND: On ., June 7, 1988 , the Board of Supervisors referred to our Committee, on the recommendation of Supervisor McPeak, the entire matter of the enforcement of court-ordered child support. The District Attorney was asked to prepare. a report to our Committee. Mr.. . Yancey, and his Senior Deputy District Attorney in charge of the Family Support Division, Doug Pipes, prepared and filed with our Committee an extensive and well documented . report on caseload, finances, and the operation of the Family Support Division. A copy of this report has been made available to each member of the Board of Supervisors. Page 3 On September 12 , 1988 , Mr. Yancey and Mr. Pipes met with our Committee to review their report. We were impressed with the fact that the District Attorney' s Family Support Division is doing an excellent job under , very trying circumstances. Caseloads, collections, and prouctivity are . all among the highest of the larger counties in California. ' And, yet, Mr. Yancey believes that productivity could be increased . substantially at little or .no cost to the County by automating the . Family Support Division' s records, thereby allowing questions to .be answered; more quickly : and routine searches . and monitoring of payments to be done automatically. Mr. -.Yancey makes a compelling argument that automating his records will allow the Division to collect enough additional revenue to offset the cost of the automation without any County cost. The major problem in .this regard is. that there is currently a struggle going on between the federal and state governments over the type of automation which should be in place in California and the degree of uniformity which should be required among -•counties. As a result of this struggle, the federal government has refused to approve any further automation systems for California counties, thereby - denying any reimbursement to counties that . choose to go ahead with 'automation without federal approval. In order to . get, around . this, problem, and in response to , the ever-increasing caseloads with which .his staff are dealing, Mr. Yancey has requested 31 additional staff. Mr. Yancey believes . there is a reasonable possibility that this additional staff can be added without any increase in net county cost because of the additional child support payments they will be able to 'generate. We are recommending that the County Administrator review Mr. Yancey' s figures and provide us with his recommendations regarding' the possibility of adding staff gradually and.. closely monitoring the additional collections to insure that there is no net increase in County cost. In order to address the automation issue, we believe that we must convene the. elected representatives from this County at the state and federal level in an effort to break the logjam which appears to be interfering with this County's ability to automate its Family' Support operation. We have also recommended the scheduling of three workshops in various areas of the County ,as a public education and outreach effort. We believe that it is essential for custodial parents throughout the County to understand what the DistrictAttorney can and. cannot do for them. We want to. do this in close cooperation with the other members of the Board so that we are all involved in this effort since many of ' us receive a number of constituent calls complaining about various aspects of the Family .Support Division. We believe that these recommendations, taken together as a package, can go a long way toward educating the public, improving the operation of the Family Support Division, and assisting many custodial parents to live a more secure and' self-supporting life. - We encourage the full Board to cooperate fully with us in making these objectives a reality.