Submittal to the Board of Supervisors County of Riverside, State of California Submittal Date: July 16, 2002 From:*

The DCSS Ombudsman Program is largely involved in dispute resolutions only after problems have occurred. The client must first contact a case worker when there are problems regarding support payments or custodian rights. If the dispute is not resolved, it is turned over to the case worker's supervisor. If resolution is still not achieved, the case goes to the Department's Ombudsman team. Respondent agrees with the finding.

Long delays have been encountered between the completion of a child support obligation by a parent, and the cessation of wage garnishment. This results in a hardship on one or both parents and ultimately the need for the county to reimburse the client for overpaid funds. Respondent disagrees partially with the findings. To ensure prompt follow-up, the Department upgraded its computer system last year to enhance its existing procedures for manual caseworker review and closeout of child support enforcement and collection activities when the child attains the age of majority and the child support obligation terminates. The automated system currently generates a letter to the custodial parent sixty days prior to a dependent turning eighteen years of age. If the custodial parent does not respond to the letter and provide documentation that the dependent is still currently eligible for child support, the child support obligation is ended at the close of the month the dependent becomes eighteen. At the time the current child support obligation is ended, a revised wage withholding order is automatically sent to the obligated parent's employer. Computer listings are also generated monthly for review by the caseworker for case closure. If a case is eligible to be closed, State regulations require that a sixty-day closure notice be given to the caretaker parent before the case can be closed. This gives the parent an opportunity to provide any information they may have that would extend the time-period of the child support obligation because the child is still considered a dependent eligible for child support under the law. The Grand Jury identified and reviewed one unusual case in making its findings. In that case there was a dispute between the parents as to whether the child support obligation had ended at age eighteen or continued to age nineteen because the child was attending high school. The Riverside Department of Child Support Services took immediate steps to verify the facts in the matter to determine if the child was no longer a full time high school student and if so, the date of last full time school attendance. Inquiries by the Department on this issue Response to Grand Jury Report were directed to the last school of attendance as well as the school district in question. The obligated parent contended his support obligation terminated shortly after the child became eighteen and because, he claimed, the child was working full time and could not also be a full time high school student. The custodial parent however, indicated the child had been a full time enrolled student at some period after becoming eighteen and was in the process of being enrolled in a different full time school program and was therefore eligible for support under the law until nineteen years of age. The Department continued to investigate the matter in order to obtain information that would either corroborate or refute the contentions of the custodial and non- custodial parents. This is because the burden under the law of seeking to terminate the support obligation is on the non-custodial paying parent to obtain such a court order if the paying parent contends the over age eighteen child is no longer a full time high school student. The contention alone that the child is not enrolled as full time high school student, without further independent, verifying information, is not sufficient to terminate the support obligation. To do otherwise could cause irreparable harm to a child who is entitled to support, even though in this case the child's custodial parent was not cooperative in providing the Department with the necessary information. The Department filed a request with the courts, not advocating the position of either parent, for a judicial determination based on all the known facts of the date child support terminated. The Department also requested that the court decide whether the custodial parent was overpaid if the child was not a full time student or, if the non-custodial parent continued to be obligated for support after age eighteen, the amount of support still due. The case was concluded when the court made a ruling based on all the facts gathered and presented that support terminated at age eighteen and each parent had no further claims against the other for past due or previously paid support. Such a disputed case and the extended time required to legally resolve it is The previously described automatic review notices and extremely rare. procedures the Department has currently in place ensure that enforcement and collection of child support withholding orders cease timely when the support obligation ends.

Clients that read the DCSS handout material or visit the Departments web site receive all the information needed to make knowledgeable choices. However, many clients do not possess sufficient reading, language, or computer skills to make informed decisions. Respondent agrees with the finding. Response to Grand Jury Report