California Department of Child Support Services Director Inspires Superheroes in Opening Charge to Child Support Staff

The theme for this year’s Child Support Director’s Association conference was “superheroes,” and California Department of Child Support Services (CA DCSS) Director Alisha Griffin lead the conference off with a charge that DCSS staff can be superheroes to the parents we serve and we can all motivate those parents to be superheroes to their children.

Director Griffin emphasized that we do incredible amounts of work and it is all for the betterment of children and families. We have the strength to fight for better results and outcomes for our parents, but we must first focus on providing the best possible empowerment and encouragement to the staff who work with those parents even in their worst moments.

How do we effectively empower staff, and each other, to be superheroes every day? Director Griffin asked the packed, standing-room only conference of approximately 900 child support colleagues.

When we recognize employees it creates affirmation and confidence, it allows them to take risks that could lead to making a difference for a family or finding new innovations in the way we do business. She encouraged managers and executives to invest the time and resources to train and empower staff to become the next leaders.

“Child support has an influence on more families for a longer-term than even the educational system,” Director Griffin said. “The work we do matters now and makes a difference, good or bad, to future generations.”

Director Griffin encouraged all of those in child support to seek out ways in which we can be a more human-centric service, one that focus more on the person rather than just the numbers. There is an overall shift away from automation to a more user-centric model occurring within child support, and with a 1.2 percent increase in stipulated orders resulting in a 6.6 percent increase in orders where 90 percent or more of the obligation was paid every month, the evidence is clear. When you bring people to the table and take the time to build consensus, everyone wins, but especially the children.

California has several exciting pilot projects occurring that have allowed the child support system to improve the way it interacts with parents. For instance, Contra Costa and Riverside Counties are piloting a software process that allows for tailored and bulk text messaging of appointment reminders and notifications. Riverside County is piloting DocuSign, which will significantly decrease the amount of time between correspondence and processing. The initial feedback has been incredible with many responding in the first survey that this is now their preferred method of doing business.

The State is also seeing record amounts of payments made through MoneyGram and PayNearMe at thousands of convenience stores across the state as well as brand new payment kiosks inside local child support agency offices.

It is always a challenge for government to be flexible and agile in adopting new technologies, but Director Griffin inspired the entire room to seek out new ways of doing business so that we can be seen as the superheroes we are to children and families across the world.