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Nebraska
Child Support Collection and Disbursement System Implementation
Project
In
June, 1999, the Public Policy Center was asked by the Executive
Board of the Nebraska Legislature to undertake a study of child
support issues to recommend how Nebraska can preserve existing strengths
and reduce or eliminate weakness in its child support customer service
system as the state complied with a federal mandate to centralize
the State Disbursement Unit (SDU) for the receipting and disbursement
of child support payments.
The PPC consulted with Nebraska stakeholders (custodial
and non-custodial parents; employers; child support enforcement
workers, staff and officials; district court clerks; attorneys;
policymakers and legislative and gubernatorial staff; judicial personnel;
and other interested persons), state and federal child support enforcement
staff and other officials from around the nation, leaders and staff
from private companies working in child support around the country,
and other national experts in order to learn about the strengths
and weaknesses of the present customer service system in Nebraska,
as well as learn what other states are doing to service child support
customers.
The PPC worked closely with an intergovernmental Work
Group, consisting of representatives from the Unicameral, the
Nebraska Child Support Enforcement/IV-D agency, the Governor's Office,
the State Court Administrator's Office, and the District Court Clerk's
Association.
The PPC submitted the "Nebraska
Child Support Collection and Disbursement System Implementation
Project Final Report" to the Executive Board on October 15,
1999.
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Report Recommendations
- Establish an ongoing, intergovernmental and key stakeholder
team(s) to monitor and participate in the selection, implementation,
and ongoing evaluation of the customer service system in
Nebraska.
- Make extensive use of a toll-free, Voice Response Unit
(VRU)/automated telephone system with customer service representatives
as the primary means of obtaining customer service.
- If possible, provide access to a person with whom customers
can speak face-to-face for service.
- Provide customer services specifically for employers.
- Include all child support cases in the new SDU and customer
service systems.
- Ensure adequate staffing and a sufficient infrastructure
to allow customer service providers to succeed, and also
slowly implement changes to the current child support system.
- Specify performance indicators and conduct customer satisfaction
studies.
- Make use of new technologies to expand access to information
and to allow innovative means for interactions between customers
and customer service providers.
- Use the upcoming change as an opportunity to develop and
expand innovative social programs designed to further the
goals of the child support system.
- Be patient as the new systems are implemented and be proactive
in informing stakeholders of upcoming changes.
Along with these 10 recommendations (and an elaboration of
the rationales for the recommendations), seven policy decision
points are identified and discussed in the Final Report. Five
challenges to successful implementation of the SDU-linked
customer service system are also presented. See chapters VIII
and IX for these recommendations and challenges.
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