The project was initiated with a Technical Advisory Group workshop attended by child support experts and stakeholders from all over the nation. The final report for this project will provide an analysis of all obligors ability to pay child support and will be used to inform California s collection performance standards development and the legislative report required by April 2001. Project was initiated by the Director to make recommendations on implementing the mandated performance measures. Eleven workgroups will be delivering recommendations to the Director for consideration. Customer Service Initiative Based on the overall thrust of legislation and strong stakeholder input, customer service was added to the list of performance measures for which the P3 Project is developing.
Customer service is also a focus of the proposed DCSS organizational design.
The DCSS executive team recognizes that structured processes and procedures, complimented by uniform training and practices, will be necessary to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction in the child support program. Toward that end, DCSS is directing county administrative funds toward customer service activities. Funding will be available to hire at least one ombudsperson in each county, based on caseload and additional factors. In addition, DCSS is conducting a Customer Service Summit to bring together experts from other states, counties, advocates, stakeholders and customer services experts from the private sector to develop the program s long-term customer service direction. The objective of the summit is to assist DCSS in defining the most effective customer service tools and techniques based on the prior knowledge and experience of others, both inside and outside the child support community.