Department of Child Support Services earns high honors, rises into the Top 10 in the State
Despite barriers, DCSS has reinvented itself over the past 8 years and become a model of success for a large County child support department
A full crowd at the Hyatt Regency Orange County for the Child Support Directors Association banquet and awards ceremony on May 3, 2023, where the County of Santa Clara Department of Child Support Services was recognized with the Outstanding Program award.
THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The County’s Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) was recognized for its tremendous efforts to overcome formidable barriers and reinvent itself, winning the 2023 Outstanding Program of the Year award from the Child Support Directors Association at its annual conference this week.
The award, which “recognizes a local child support agency that has consistently exemplified providing quality child support services to its constituency and its community,” is the first such win for the County but not the only new milestone. For the month of April, DCSS was ranked the 10th highest child support program in the state based on Federal performance measures – its best ranking ever. Over a decade ago, the department was ranked in the bottom 10 and under state scrutiny for possible remedial actions.
“Eight years ago, when I started here, I knew we had the potential, but didn’t know if we could get to the top 10 given all the barriers we faced,” said Ignacio J. Guerrero, Director of DCSS. “It’s all because of the great work of our 150 employees that really made this happen – from the support staff, to child support caseworkers, to legal staff, to our IT team, and everyone else within the organization who made this possible.”
The DCSS team with their award (L to R): Regina Martin, recently retired Deputy Director, Director Ignacio J. Guerrero, Legal Division Manager Stacy Thurber, Deputy Director Don Semon, and Management Analyst Leila Ochoa.
How did it happen? Guerrero said it came from “innovation, a focus on performance using data analytics, working smarter, and changing the culture into one focused on measuring results and outcomes.”
It also involved a sea change in the way the department carries out its function of facilitating child support payments – the goal has not changed but the tools and approach are different.
“It used to primarily involve a heavy hammer – going to court, issuing a bench warrant, detaining individuals, that was one of our primary enforcement methods and defined our culture,” said Guerrero. “But that’s not effective; when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. People run away and it becomes a cat and mouse game.”
Instead, following a nationwide movement that has California at the forefront, the emphasis is away from the stick and now on the carrot.
“We find out what’s going on, why are people not paying child support,” Guerrero said. “We offer them resources, assistance, and look to address the barriers to non-compliance they may be facing and suddenly people are more willing to come to the table.”
They’ve also improved their customer service delivery, using a regional call center to eliminate interminable hold times, and setting up a Virtual Lobby through Zoom, where customers can meet with case workers without having to take time off work to come in person.
The steady climb up the leaderboard has been a tough trail, with staffing levels dropping to half of what they were when Guerrero started, no increases in state funding in over 20 years as costs continued to rise, and a $5 million cut during COVID. It’s particularly trying to alter the direction of a large County, said Guerrero, comparing it to changing the course of a cruise ship. Now, the County of Santa Clara is the highest-ranking large County in the state, one of only two Counties with a population of over a million in the top 20; the other is Contra Costa County at 17.
“We are very excited about this recognition,” Guerrero said. “We really have done such a great job of overcoming so many barriers. Looking back historically, and at the improvements that have been made, it really is amazing what everyone in this department has accomplished.”