Vol. 6, No.
3 - Summer 2003
Symposium Explores Child Welfare
Issues
The
National Center for State Courts is working to improve child support collection
and justice system processes that significantly impact children and parents who
are involved in the legal system. In May, the National Center, in collaboration
with the State Information Technology Consortium (SITC), conducted the Second
National Symposium on Children, Courts, and the Federal Child Support
Enforcement Program in Chicago, through a grant from the federal Office of Child
Support Enforcement.
Participants
included the chief justice and state court administrator (or their designees) of
each state, along with representatives from tribal courts and state child
support enforcement directors, system managers, and Medicaid program directors.
During
the three-day symposium, participants explored a variety of child support
enforcement issues and topics, which included:
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Improving
communications between federal child support enforcement
agencies, the courts, and Medicaid
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Finding
federal funding available to states for improving child support enforcement
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Exploring
effective state programs to help families, such as the Kansas Noncustodial
Parent Project and New Mexico’s Tribal State Judicial Consortium
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Expanding
federal and tribal law regarding jurisdiction and full faith and credit for
child support orders
The use of technology, such as remote access
hearings within and between states and Web-based customer service, also was
discussed.
On
opening day, the symposium featured two plenary sessions.
The first addressed the “History of the Child Support Enforcement
Program” and how it has changed since its creation in 1975.
The TV program Crossfire inspired the second session in which a panel of
judicial, court, child support, tribal, and Medicaid experts discussed
controversial subjects such as management of overdue child support payments,
medical support incentives, evidentiary rules, and interstate enforcement.
During
the closing plenary session, participants shared best practices and innovative
ideas. They outlined plans for implementing new programs or methods of improving
existing programs.
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For
more information on the National Symposium on Children, Courts, and the
Federal Child Support Enforcement Program, contact Wanda Romberger at wromberger@ncsc.dni.us.
Information and answers to frequently asked questions about custody
and support can be found online at www.ncsconline.org
in the Court Information Database in the “Juvenile and Family Justice”
folder.
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