San Diego DCSS Recognized by the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA)

Norma Ramirez, Community Relations Coordinator, San Diego DCSS

On August 8th, San Diego County DCSS received the Program Awareness Award for Community Collaboration and Education from the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA). The award was presented at their annual leadership conference, held August 6th-9th in Scottsdale, AZ.

San Diego DCSS took the honor with a unanimous vote from the selection committee for their innovative approach to educating their parents about the child support process. Earlier in the year, their creative and effective outreach program was also honored at the Child Support Directors’ Association annual conference in the same category, and now it is recognized as the year’s best nationwide.

The goal was to reach parents in outlying areas that were difficult to serve from their local child support offices. By using various media platforms and partnering with local DMVs, San Diego County DCSS aired a brief commercial highlighting the available programs to assist parents within the community. The video plays four times an hour in three local DMVs throughout the county, with an animated format that captures audience attention and helps present a softer side of the child support process.

This worked well to help spread the department’s message, but county staff knew transportation was still a barrier for some of their customers, so they took child support services to them. Partnering with local libraries, San Diego County DCSS launched a social media campaign to advertise the availability of caseworkers within their communities outside of standard business hours. This collaboration, titled “In Your Neighborhood,” makes it possible for parents to meet with their case manager at a location and time that is convenient for them with no appointment needed. It is truly a one-stop shop, handling issues from case opening to order modification. This partnership started with two local libraries which were fairly distant from any county child support office, and has now grown to 14 sites including one in southern Riverside County.

San Diego County DCSS is proud to have their efforts recognized, and hope that other states and county offices are inspired to get creative in the way they serve families.