Orange County Grand Jury • 2012-2013 • Agency Response
Response to: Registrar of Voters Earns High Marks for 2012 Election

Fixing the Law - Cutting Through the Tangle of Child Support and Custody*

Published: August 01, 2013 6 pages
View Original PDF

Findings and Recommendations 10 findings

F1
CSS is tasked to establish child support orders in accordance with state guidelines. Response: Agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
CSS should initiate a legislative amendment to FC § 17400 by adding language which would enable CSS to advocate child custody issues before the Child Support Court in order to obtain equitable child support orders (Findings F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10). Response: Disagrees with the finding. CSS is in support of specific language being placed in legislation to allow all local child support agencies, including CSS, to have the ability within its delivery of services to customers to establish access and visitation (Parenting Time) responsibilities in all initial child support orders except in the situation where domestic violence COUNTY OF ORANGE Responses to Findings and Recommendations 2012-2013 Orange County Grand Jury Report "Fixing the Law – Cutting Through the Tangle of Child Support and Custody" Department of Child Support Services is identified. There is proposed Parenting Time legislation from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in the proposed FY 2014 Federal Budget. OCSE's proposed budget language offers to make resources available in FY 2014 to states that choose to include parenting time responsibilities in initial child support orders, and to all states beginning FY 2019 as they will be required to include parenting time responsibilities in all new child support orders at that time. The State of California Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) is the single statewide agent for the federal child support program. DCSS is charged with the responsibility to manage the funding and policy mandates of the federal program. Given their statewide responsibility and control of the child support program, they are in a much better position to determine when and how such legislative changes would be proposed. Orange County would support any State DCSS efforts to explore such change. In addition, CSS is currently working with the Orange County Superior Court to improve the current process consistent with existing law.
F2
Child Support Court is tasked to make orders setting child support in accordance with state guidelines. Response: Agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
State guidelines for child support require determination of the percentage of child custody/visitation allotted each parent. Response: Agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Orange County's interpretation of both IV-D and California Family Code § 17000 et al does NOT permit CSS to make orders regarding parental custody. Disagrees partially with the finding. To clarify, CSS may present "an Response: agreement" by the parties to a custody time-share, and may present the facts of a time-share dispute to a court. CSS may not advocate for a parent's requested time-share and does not "make orders." Only the court may make an order. COUNTY OF ORANGE Responses to Findings and Recommendations 2012-2013 Orange County Grand Jury Report "Fixing the Law – Cutting Through the Tangle of Child Support and Custody" Department of Child Support Services Child Support Court is the judiciary organ created to adjudicate issues of child support
No recommendations for this finding
F5
brought by CSS. FC § 4252 does NOT deny CSS from suggesting orders regarding child custody. Response: Agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
Denial of either CSS or Child Support Court to make custody orders creates an intolerable hardship on the parents, their children and the California Superior Court system by requiring parents go to Family Law Court to get a custody order and then return to the Child Support Court for a support order. Response: Agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
An amendment to FC § 17400 specifically authorizing CSS to advocate custody order would greatly improve both CSS and Child Support Court's ability to efficiently make child support orders as they are mandated to do in IV-D. Response: Agrees with the finding. The County of Orange is in a position to seek legislation authorizing CSS to advocate for
No recommendations for this finding
F8
child custody orders. Response: Agrees with the finding. However, even though Orange County has the ability to sponsor such legislation if it chooses to do so, it may not be the best course of action based on pending actions by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). The Grand Jury Report references pending actions by OCSE in the proposed FY 2014 Federal Budget: "Federal resources are [to be] made available to states that choose to include parenting time responsibilities in initial child support orders beginning in FY 2014 and all states are required to include parenting time responsibilities in all new child support orders beginning in FY 2019." COUNTY OF ORANGE Responses to Findings and Recommendations 2012-2013 Orange County Grand Jury Report "Fixing the Law – Cutting Through the Tangle of Child Support and Custody" Department of Child Support Services
No recommendations for this finding
F9
Continued denial to CSS and Child Support Court to make child support orders is an absolute waste of human effort. Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. Having the ability to establish access and visitation responsibilities (Parenting Time) in initial child support orders is a service for CSS customers the department supports and wants to offer; however, the current efforts of CSS and the Courts to work with parents to establish and enforce child support orders is effective and of the highest level of quality customer service.
No recommendations for this finding
F10
The federal OFFICE OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT is proposing inclusion of custody/visitation orders in all CSS support orders by 2014 and mandating same by 2019. Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. The federal proposal includes making available establishment of access and visitation to states (not just CSS) that choose to include parenting time responsibilities in initial child support orders beginning in FY 2014 and all states are required to include parenting time responsibilities in all new child support orders beginning in FY 2019." Response to Recommendation R1:
No recommendations for this finding

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.