Implement Organization and Program Efficiencies

TACTICS

Reduce Case Closure reasons from 55 to approximately 16 and align system processes to automate system functionality where able

Business Problem/Opportunity: To reduce Case Closure reasons and automate closure in the Child Support Enforcement system.

Current Status: 50% completed 

Business Outcomes: 

  • Streamline Child Support Enforcement closure reasons and criteria

Critical Success Factors: Compliance with mandatory Federal Final Rule regulation, and increase efficiency of Child Support Enforcement closure reasons

  • Progress: Case Closure Updates and Enhancements 50% 50%

Review and determine replacement of outdated computer related business applications

Business Problem/Opportunity: Bring technology of applications up to date to support newer browsers, data validations, and add new features to support new policies and procedures. An efficient database design will increase efficiency for local child support agencies and Program Monitoring and Compliance Unit.

Current Status: 68% completed

Business Outcomes:

  • Integrate Complaint Resolution Tracking System and the State Hearing Office System into one application, which eliminate duplicate entry at the local child support agency level, and will streamline compliance monitoring at the state level

Critical Success Factors: New application will be compatible with current browser technology and ensure a compliant tracking system, allows communication between applications, decreases workload for staff at the state and local levels, and increases accuracy and efficiency

  • Progress: Address Outdated Business Applications 68% 68%

Improve overall information sharing between California Child Support Services and local child support agencies

Business Problem/Opportunity: The opportunity exists to move, archive, delete, and/or migrate the data stored and presented on the Child Support Central intranet site, decide on the appropriate use of this data and modernize the platform.

Current Status: 34% completed

Business Outcomes:

  • Improve overall information sharing and collaboration between California Child Support Services and local child support agencies
  • Removal of obsolete information
  • Governance model for maintaining information sharing sites
  • Modernize security access to platform via single sign-on

Critical Success Factors: Increase site activity, reduce content storage, and improve customer satisfaction

  • Progress: California Child Support Central Modernization 34% 34%

Create efficiencies and system enhancements in Child Support Enforcement for local child support agencies

Business Problem/Opportunity: Target Child Support Enforcement system changes and enhancements that create efficiencies for local child support agencies that are sought after due to COVID-19 budget constraints and create relief for intensive manual processes.

Current Status: 59% completed

Business Outcomes:

  • Addition of Spanish forms to Child Support Enforcement
  • Addition of barcoding to additional Child Support Enforcement documents
  • Implementation of e-Income Withholding Order processing for Social Security Administration benefits
  • Enhanced interface for address updating
  • Closed case task clean-up

Critical Success Factors: Volume of change requests implemented in system

  • Progress: Local Child Support Agency Efficiency Enhancements 59% 59%

Working collaboratively, California Child Support Services and local child support agencies will develop, communicate, and implement strategies and tactics to successfully switch our Paternity Establishment Percentage measure from Statewide Paternity Establishment Percentage to IV-D Paternity Establishment Percentage

Business Problem/Opportunity: As the Statewide Paternity Establishment Percentage continues to fall, California Child Support Services is at risk for financial penalty. Additionally, Statewide Paternity Establishment Percentage mostly measures paternity establishment for children not in our caseload; IV-D Paternity Establishment Percentage is a better measure of the effectiveness of the child support program and significantly more manageable by California Child Support Services and the local child support agencies. California has an opportunity to switch from Statewide Paternity Establishment Percentage to IV-D Paternity Establishment Percentage as a strategy to improve our Paternity Establishment Percentage score, better measure the work that California Child Support Services and the local child support agencies perform, and mitigate the risk of decreasing Paternity Establishment Percentage scores and the likelihood of federal financial penalties.

Current Status: 47% completed

Business Outcomes:

  • California Child Support Services and local child support agencies to collaboratively develop a workable plan to successfully transition from SW Paternity Establishment Percentage to IV-D Paternity Establishment Percentage
  • Communicate the Plan
  • Implement the Plan
  • Successfully pass the full Data Reliability Audit

Critical Success Factors: Develop and implement a plan to transition to IV-D Paternity Establishment Percentage. Complete IV-D data element review and clean-up activities. Successfully pass the full Data Reliability Audit. Maintain a IV-D Paternity Establishment Percentage score greater than 95%. More accurate data in Child Support Enforcement, and a more manageable Federal Performance Measure

  • Progress: Explore and Develop a IV-D Paternity Establishment Percentage Transition Plan 47% 47%

Expand Equity Groundwork

Business Problem/Opportunity: An Equity Impact Assessment (EIA) systematically examines how different marginalized groups will likely be affected by a proposed action or decision. EIAs minimize unanticipated adverse consequences in various contexts, including the analysis of proposed policies, practices, programs, plans, and budgetary decisions

Current Status: Blue open circle 0% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • Equity Impact Assessments will be a vital tool to monitor and better prevent disparate or disproportionate impacts and identify new options to remedy long-standing program inequities

Critical Success Factors: After implementation, Equity Impact Assessments will be conducted during the decision-making process of new projects and initiatives

  • Progress: Expand Equity Groundwork 0% 0%

Implement Divisional Equity Planning

Business Problem/Opportunity: Develop Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion actions plan with intentional thought about ways to embed an equity lens into decisions, projects, and overall functions and areas of service. These plans will feed the development of department-wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals

Current Status: Blue open circle 0% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • These plans will support the department embracing diversity
  • Divisions will be more inclusive of employee and customer voice and center equity in practice indicators and outcomes that matter

Critical Success Factors: After implementation, track action items and plans that are active, in development and yet to be started across

  • Progress: Implement Divisional Equity Planning 0% 0%

2020 - Develop Electronic Submission for Litigants - MOVED

*This project has been rolled into the 2021 Simplify Application project under Goal 2, Objective 1

Develop electronic submission of child support order information for litigants who are not in the child support system directly to statewide Child Support Case Registry

Business Problem/Opportunity: Develop electronic submission for litigants.

Current Status: Yellow triangle with a white exclamation mark inside Moved

Business Outcomes: 

  • Local child support agency submission consists of developing an electronic submission of FL-191 case registry information from litigants directly to California Child Support Services
  • Pending change Request for required system changes

2020 - Single Sign-On - COMPLETED

*Effort continues as regular maintenance and operation

Develop single sign-on for business applications

Business Problem/Opportunity: Develop a single sign-on to manage multiple accounts and passwords to access California Child Support Services applications.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • By consolidating access through a single account and using multi-factor authentication, higher levels of efficiency and security can be achieved for California Child Support Services and local child support agency users

Critical Success Factors: Implement single sign-on for California Child Support Services and local child support agency users

2020 - Explore Amending Court Order Rules - COMPLETED

Explore amending the rules surrounding the calculation of child support and establishing a court order

Business Problem/Opportunity: Guideline and Establishment of the calculation of child support and establishment of a court order.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • Explore amending statutes and regulations related to California’s guideline formula and IV-Directors establishment processes to ensure orders are set accordingly to legislation

Critical Success Factors: Ensure orders are set according to a parent’s ability to pay and provide clarity regarding the use of imputed income

2022 - Improve Statewide Parentage Establishment - COMPLETED

To explore ways to improve performance in statewide parentage establishment percentage

Business Problem/Opportunity: Move Child Support Enforcement system to the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud. New platform and infrastructure will help California Child Support Services meet business needs.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes:

  • Development of efficient tools for monitoring statewide parentage establishment percentage
  • Improvement of statewide parentage establishment percentage performance

Critical Success Factors: Statewide parentage establishment percentage performance of 90% or 2% increase from 2020 federal fiscal year baseline

2023 - Implement Second Phase of Parentage Opportunity Program - COMPLETED

Implement corresponding program changes related to the implementation of legislation to allow the establishment of parentage

Business Problem/Opportunity: Carry out corresponding program changes related to establishing parentage, specifically for same-sex parents and parents using assisted reproduction.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • Implement corresponding legislative changes

Critical Success Factors: Compliance with the intent of the legislature to allow parentage to be established by the child support program

2020 - Explore Title Agency Registry Access - WITHDRAWN

Explore Title Agency Registry Access

Business Problem/Opportunity: Explore Title Agency Registry Access.

Current Status: Gray circle crossed out Failed 

Business Outcomes: 

  • The efforts to explore a statewide child support lien registry did not receive full buy in

2020 - Develop Process for Measuring Project Benefits - COMPLETED

Develop a process to track project success using data and statistics

Business Problem/Opportunity: Implement an enterprise-wide, standard process that includes objective measures to determine the effectiveness of new changes, tools, strategies, and processes.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • Support a consistent, enterprise-wide process that follows a specific plan to ensure the components are in place to determine if a change is effective

Critical Success Factors: Meets objective measurement in capturing the effectiveness of a change, and achieves sustainability where the process can be used for any change in the organization

2020 - Provide Assistance to Users with Technology Systems - COMPLETED

Develop a password management system to provide easy access to various systems while maintaining a required level of security

Business Problem/Opportunity: Implement Password Manager to allow local child support agencies access to child support systems that requires unique usernames and passwords.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • Password Manager will be deployed to all Option 1 local child support agencies

Critical Success Factors: Training of Password Manager to Option 1 local child support agencies who will be able to use it across different work computers, shared computers, sites and counties. California Child Support Services Help desk will provide post-deployment support. Communication will be assisted by the Organizational Change Management team

2023 - Develop Legal Reference Guide - COMPLETED

Develop a legal reference guide for child support attorneys to assist in statewide consistency and best practices

Business Problem/Opportunity: Establish legal reference guide to achieve statewide consistency.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • Ongoing drafting, review, approval, and publication of the legal reference guide

Critical Success Factors: Assist child support attorneys in statewide consistency and best practices through updated legal reference guide

2020 - Implement Vendor Service to Distribute Money - COMPLETED

Implement a vendor service agreement to receive and distribute child support money to parents/parties receiving child support

Business Problem/Opportunity: Complete State Disbursement Unit transition.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • Completed State Disbursement Unit transition

Critical Success Factors: Vendor service to handle the receipt and disbursement of child support payments, allowing payments to be made and received faster, easier, and more securely

2020 - Business Continuity Plan Mobile Application (Change Request) - COMPLETED

*Effort continues as regular maintenance and operation

Implement Business Continuity Plan Mobile Application

Business Problem/Opportunity: Develop a Business Continuity Plan mobile application to provide support teams with the necessary communication and information distribution channel to effectively collaborate with staff and partners during incidents.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • The application can be downloaded to personal devices and department-owned devices, and will operate in an online and offline mode and provide access to communications and information that will support incident-related activities

Critical Success Factors: The Business Continuity Mobile application, including messaging and communication services, can operate successfully and is available for download in Google Play and Apple Store. Updates are published to mobile application in real-time or near real-time. Information housed in Business Continuity Mobile application can be accessed independent of California Child Support Services technology

2022 -Transition the Child Support Enforcement System into a Cloud-based Environment - COMPLETED

Transition the current case management system into a cloud-based environment to improve overall structure and security

Business Problem/Opportunity: Move Child Support Enforcement system to the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud. New platform and infrastructure will help California Child Support Services meet business needs.

Current Status:  100% completed

Business Outcomes: 

  • Microsoft Cloud provides faster response and more flexibility to business changes, increases application delivery frequency, and improves security, business continuity, and disaster recovery protection for system recovery
  • Project will also provide a holistic approach to cloud governance including budget controls to support scalability

Critical Success Factors: The Child Support Enforcement system can operate successfully in the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud environment, with response times and security capabilities that meet or exceed business requirements. California Child Support Services technical staff to able to support Child Support Enforcement system in the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud