Process Management Yields a Payoff for Children
One key to improving Florida child support collections is DOR's emphasis on managing work by business process. By pinpointing process problems and carefully analyzing underlying causes, we can reengineer work to improve results.
Much more than numbers - Consider a Knowledge-Based Leadership team (see p. 18) led by Leesburg Service Center Manager Kathy Hilton. The Leesburg Service Center was collecting about 57 percent of what children in its service area were owed in any given month, below DOR's performance target of 65 percent. Increasing collections on current support means more families can depend on child support as a stable, reliable source of income.
Penalties, but only after failure to pay - Traditionally, child support programs have focused on imposing penalties if parents fail to pay. But imposing penalties only has an effect after a parent has failed to pay. For best results, parents should pay what they owe their children on time and in full, before sanctions are enforced. This not only provides families with reliable income, it also improves the cost-effectiveness of child support enforcement.
Training, timing pay off - While DOR staffers frequently contact parents in an attempt to collect child support, collections calls haven't always been seen as effective. Child support cases often are fraught with tension. Calls can lead to confrontations, and confrontations can get in the way of payment.
The Leesburg team found that training in negotiating skills helped staffers reduce tension and make collections. By timing calls before sanctions occur, DOR collectors could help parents avoid sanctions by making full or partial payment. Team members identified needed process changes, and tested their approach in a pilot project.
Process changes, positive results - The results were significant. Cases included in the pilot project showed an increase of $1,655,464.90 in collections, exceeding projections. Forty-three percent of targeted cases resumed making periodic payments, while 37 percent paid the full obligation owed to children.
Currently, CSE is working to use similar collection techniques statewide, and is studying using outbound calls as a tool in other processes. The Leesburg team's work laid a foundation for process change that will improve results for thousands of families statewide.
