Support Colorado Kids: Recent Episodes
Support Colorado Kids
In this episode we hear from Larry Desbien, the Director for the Division of Child Support Services, about the Automated Child Support Enforcement System (ACSES) Enhancement Survey.
A change to Colorado law and regulation now allows for a percentage of federal incentives to be retained by the state to fund ACSES enhancements, if agreed upon by the state and counties. On February 29th, a survey containing a list of compiled suggestions was sent out to county Child Support professionals to be voted on.
This survey for county workers will help DCSS to identify the top ACSES enhancement ideas, so a level of effort and estimated cost can be determined. This will then be shared with the IV-D Task Force who will vote on which enhancements to recommend to SubPAC and PAC for approval.
Please vote for the top 5 development ideas you would like this money to be used for! The survey link will remain open through close of business on March 29th.
In this episode we interview Tom Valand, he is the Program Coordinator for the Fatherhood Program of Routt County, an organization that helps area dads meet the evolving expectations of their family, employer, and community by providing education, support, and community so that they, and their families, can thrive. He currently serves as a board member for Routt County United Way and the Colorado Fatherhood Network. Through his roles with these organizations, he has increased connectivity with organizational partners through collaborative event planning and technical assistance.
Tom is also a tenured speaker who has presented on a variety of topics to audiences of local, regional, and national conferences including The Families and Fathers National Conference, The Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference, Parent Possible Conferences, and Routt County’s Parent Connection Summit. Prior to his tenure with the Fatherhood Program, Tom spent four years with Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment where he conducted population-based work in the realms of violence and injury prevention as well as marijuana education. His education includes an MBA from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver and he is in the process of obtaining his Masters in Social Work through Colorado State University.
Fatherhood Program of Routt County
Website – www.facebook.com/DadsWZ
Family Resource Center Association - Colorado Fatherhood Network / CO Fatherhood Initiative
Website - https://www.cofamilycenters.org/fatherhood-initiative/
In this month's episode, we sit down with Jessica Goodman, the State Enforcement Unit's, Team Lead. Jessie shares some insight on the new Case Management Calendars as this project ushers us into the future of case management and will help us all work smarter not harder. Listen now to learn more!
We continue our conversation with Jeff Ball. Jeff Ball was the Regional Vice President for YoungWilliams for Colorado and Wyoming. He was the IV-D Administrator for the El Paso and Teller County Child Support Services offices. He served as Chair of the Colorado Child Support Commission and as County Co-chair of the Colorado IV-D Task Force for the past four years. Jeff retired on July 9, 2021.
He and Mary Ann Wellbank co-wrote and published a book about child support for parents and practitioners: Insiders’ Guide to Child Support: How the System Works. It is the only book specifically written for the general public that focuses on Title IV-D child support.
Jeff has worked in the child support field for 34 years and as an attorney for 40 years. Previously, Jeff consulted for the states of Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, North Dakota, Nevada, and Louisiana on a variety of topics, from performance improvement to early intervention techniques. He served as President of the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association and was the recipient of its Felix Infausto Award.
Earlier Jeff was Senior Advisor to the OCSE Commissioner, Technical Assistance Branch Chief, and Welfare Reform Liaison. He was legal counsel to the U.S. Commission on Interstate Child Support and helped write the Commission’s report to Congress: A Blueprint for Reform. He was an official observer to the 1992 and 1996 UIFSA drafting committees of the Uniform Laws Commission.
Before Jeff focused solely on child support, he was a legal aid attorney in South Dakota and Maryland.
Jeff has just published a novel, available on Amazon, entitled Happily Riven: Solving Divisiveness by Dividing.
Jeff has a B.A. in history from Miami University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Jeff Ball was the Regional Vice President for YoungWilliams for Colorado and Wyoming. He was the IV-D Administrator for the El Paso and Teller County Child Support Services offices. He served as Chair of the Colorado Child Support Commission and as County Co-chair of the Colorado IV-D Task Force for the past four years. Jeff retired on July 9, 2021.
He and Mary Ann Wellbank co-wrote and publisheda book about child support for parents and practitioners: Insiders’ Guide to Child Support: How the System Works. It is the only book specifically written for the general public that focuses on Title IV-D child support.
Jeff has worked in the child support field for 34 years and as an attorney for 40 years. Previously, Jeff consulted for the states of Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, North Dakota, Nevada, and Louisiana on a variety of topics, from performance improvement to early intervention techniques. He served as President of the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association and was the recipient of its Felix Infausto Award.
Earlier Jeff was Senior Advisor to the OCSE Commissioner, Technical Assistance Branch Chief, and Welfare Reform Liaison. He was legal counsel to the U.S. Commission on Interstate Child Support and helped write the Commission’s report to Congress: A Blueprint for Reform. He was an official observer to the 1992 and 1996 UIFSA drafting committees of the Uniform Laws Commission.
Before Jeff focused solely on child support, he was a legal aid attorney in South Dakota and Maryland.
Jeff has just published a novel, available on Amazon, entitled Happily Riven: Solving Divisiveness by Dividing.
Jeff has a B.A. in history from Miami University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
In this week's episode, we chat with Bryce, a father who speaks on his experience with the child support program and his participation in the CO-PEP program. Bryce is a Colorado native who -- along with his beautiful wife, two dogs, and an ornery parrot -- now calls the Pacific Northwest home.
The CO-PEP program mentioned in this episode is from a 2012 demonstration grant that the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) was awarded from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to provide comprehensive employment services to parents ordered to pay child support in the child support services program. The central goal of the National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED) was to determine whether having child support programs help parents overcome employment barriers leads to the consistent payment of child support. Arapahoe, Boulder, El Paso, Jefferson, and Prowers county child support offices partnered with local workforce programs and other community entities to provide a range of effective employment services as well as other services designed to strengthen relationships between co-parents and their children.
Since the grant started Colorado’s Division of Child Support Services has adopted a 2Gen framework for serving families within the program. This means that several counties have connections to supportive services within their communities and may be able to help parents and co-parents connect with those resources. Contact your local county child support office for more information.
The focus of the week 3 podcast is the importance of a Whole Family approach to providing child support services.
Reminder - our Live Q&A with Larry is on August 27th from 12:30 pm - 1 pm.
Use the Google Form to submit questions and topics here: https://bit.ly/3iE5ldb