Program helps parents help their families in San Mateo County

Established more than four years ago, the court team has been focused on expanding the meet and confer process, which Cagno said is one step the department has taken to spread the word among parents that having conversations early and often about child support will help them provide for their families. By working with each parent to home in on what expenses they and their children have, how much time a parent can realistically dedicate to visits with their child and changes with their tax returns, the time the department’s employees spend before parents go to court can help ease the frustration some parents experience in the process and can put them on the path toward making more consistent payments, said Cagno.

“We really are more focused on trying to get the parties to come in early when the case is open and to help them understand that having a conversation with us is going to help get them to a child support order that is reasonable for both of them,” she said.

When the county’s child support program got its start in the 1970s, it was more focused on enforcing child support orders for parents who were not contributing to the cost of raising their child, said Cagno. Once a child support case is opened by one parent, the department works to locate the other parent or establish paternity, if necessary. Factoring both parents’ ability to pay child support, a child’s needs and time the child spends with each parent, the department then seeks a support order, which is ultimately established by a court commissioner or judge and enforced by the department.

But in the decades since the county’s program was established, the department’s work has become more holistic and collaborative with other agencies in an effort to connect families with the resources they need today, noted Cagno.

Changing times

Whether it is working with the San Mateo County Probation Department or agencies providing foster care, job readiness services or child support services in other states, the department has adapted to changing circumstances of the parents they serve, said Cagno. Whereas parents the department served decades ago may have been initially married and later gotten a divorce, Cagno noted that, on average, parents have been waiting longer to have children and get married. In cases where parents don’t get married, the department has assisted clients with DNA tests to establish paternity in those cases, said Cagno. She added same-sex parents and arrangements in which parents have agreed on child support payments on their own are also among the trends the department has observed in recent years.

“Over the decades, it has definitely evolved into a program that is connected and that is collaborative, reaching across other agencies in support of parents and children,” she said. “The program has definitely evolved into a whole-family … service.”

Getting to collaboration

As the program manager overseeing the department’s court team, Patty Arteaga knows it can take a long time to work with parents one-on-one and also in the meet and confer sessions to identify areas where they disagree and see if they can come to agreement. But she has also seen the value in dedicating time to what can be a confusing and frustrating experience for parents, some of whom may appreciate the opportunity to work out their differences with department employees instead of receiving a determination in a courtroom.

“Ultimately, you’re trying to have consistent payments to families,” she said. “The more time that you spent up front, hopefully you get more collaboration overall.”

Arteaga said the department aims to staff employees who pay attention to detail, have good listening skills and are skilled in collaboration work on the department’s court team. Though they must be able to work with clients on details like changes in income or tax exemptions, they also look at the big picture — ensuring their work makes the lives of the families they serve better, said Arteaga.

Court team

As the lead attorney for the department, Robert Sanchez is one of three attorneys who facilitate the meet and confer process and represents the department when sets of parents who are not able to reach an agreement go to court, which Arteaga said happens on average twice a week. He acknowledged that every county in the state has a child support services department, but the meet and confer process is one San Mateo County has taken on locally in an effort to increase the likelihood child support orders are followed.

Sanchez said he started his work with the department some 11 years ago, and has seen steps to streamline the process by which child support orders are generated and distributed to help both parents receive payments more quickly and react more quickly to changes in their income or wage garnishments, noting it could have taken several days in the past to process a revised child support order.

He said the court team has become a specialized unit able to either resolve disagreements between parents or isolate the issues that go before a court commissioner, and said no matter what role they play in the process, the employees are focused on helping parents help their families.

“We’re here to make this work,” he said. “At the end of the day, you’re the parents. It’s a matter of what you need as a family.”

Challenging stereotypes

In keeping with national and state trends, Cagno said the county’s caseload has decreased over the years to some 9,200, which she said could be attributed to several factors such as parents waiting longer to get married to have children, women earning more than they once did and families moving out of San Mateo County to find homes in cities with a lower cost of living. But despite the department’s shrinking caseload, Cagno noted it has consistently collected and distributed some $32 million annually to families and an average of 72% of the county’s caseload is paying the full amount of child support each month.

Cagno said the department has been focused on spreading the word about its services in an effort to reduce the stigma that has sometimes been associated with child support and reach those who might be eligible for the services at other agencies that may be providing other services the families use. She added clients don’t have to be a documented citizen or have a Social Security number to access the services, and said the department has also been doing outreach on the mobile application available to parents so they can check their cases any time of the day.

Though she acknowledged the uphill climb to challenge some of the stereotypes that have taken shape about those seeking child support, Cagno was hopeful the department’s proactive and collaborative work will change that over time.

“Most parents love their children and want to support their children that we have encountered,” she said. “They … want to do the right thing.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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