Collaborations, 02/2013 v.1 no.4

              Collaborations Oklahoma Child Support Services collaborating with Oklahoma employers
for reliable, financial security for our children.
Oklahoma Child Support Services
A division of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Oklahoma Employer Services Center
Volume 1. Issue 3 A n e - p u b l i c a t i o n o f O C S S ’ s O k l a h o m a E m p l o y e r S e r v i c e s C e n t e r February 2013
OCSS honors collaboration with employers during OKESC open house
Oklahoma Child Support Services recently celebrated its
partnership with Oklahoma employers during an open house at the
OKESC on Jan. 23. The event marked the fifth anniversary of the
OKESC.
During the open house, Lorie Douglas of Cox Communications and Quita
Tucker of Corporate Resource Management joined OKESC
Project Chair Rusty Rasmussen, OUCPM Administrator Juna Stovall and
OCSS Director Gary Dart in addressing a group of supporters.
“Employers are an important partner in making sure children receive the
child support they need,” said Dart. “We opened the Oklahoma Employer
Services Center in 2008 to help employers with their questions about
child support.”
Since its inception, the OKESC has partnered with businesses as a
resource in child support processes including employment verifications,
income withholding, medical support and payment remittance.
Over the last five years, $1.5 billion in child support has been collected.
Approximately 67 percent of that amount was remitted by employers,
totaling more than $1 billion. During that time, the OKESC has
processed more than 1 million documents.
The centralized effort of the OKESC has led to innovations for OCSS.
These innovations include imaging of employer related documents,
standardization of all employer interactions, limiting duplicate
documents by employers, and providing much better employer training.
Since 2008, there has been a 121 percent increase in the number of
children receiving medical insurance by the court ordered parent. More
children with coverage supports the OCSS’ healthy families initiative.
The OKESC is a part of that solution in making the employer’s role much
easier.
Unique in its concept, the OKESC is one of the few of its kind in the
nation. It has served as a model in shaping employer outreach
initiatives in child support programs in other states as well.
(above) OCSS Director Gary Dart speaks
about the role of the OKESC.
(above) Lorie Douglas of Cox
Communications discusses how the
OKESC has benefitted her in working with
OCSS. Seated left to right: OUCPM
Program Administrator Juna Stovall and
OKESC Project Chair Rusty Rasmussen.
(above) Quita Tucker of CRM discussed her
positive experiences in dealing with OKESC.
District Attorney Mike Fields speaks to Enid
area employers at January OEAC meeting
District Attorney Mike Fields presented the topic “Understanding Criminal
Background Checks” to Enid area employers at a meeting of the Oklahoma
Employer Advisory Council on Jan. 15 at the Autry Technology Center.
Currently, most employers rely on criminal background checks due to
concerns about employee violence, substance abuse, theft and costly
litigation from criminal misconduct. In fact, the Society of Human Resource
Management estimates that about 73 percent of employers currently use
criminal background checks on all employees.
By law, some employers are required to screen applicants for certain
crimes. Other employers screen applicants voluntarily to improve workforce
quality.
Fields stated that his goal was to help employers better understand the
criminal justice system and public records related to criminal background
checks, so they could make informed decisions about their employees and
applicants. Fields provided attendees with an overview of the criminal
justice system including an explanation of the different types of sentences
and how to access public information about criminal cases.
The event was part of Project Workforce Innovation Now (Project WIN).
Project WIN is a grant project of the Oklahoma Child Support Services, in
collaboration with workforce partners across the state, to help
noncustodial parents overcome barriers to employment.
(above) District Attorney Mike Fields speaks to Enid area employers about criminal
background checks on Jan.15 at the Autry Technology Center.
Oklahoma Child Support Services
A division of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Employer Services Center
Oklahoma Employer Services Center partners with
businesses as a resource and provides assistance with
processes involving child support services.
www.okesc.org
For questions about processing documents, call
866-553-2368 or 405-325-9190 (OKC).
Collaborations is a bimonthly e-publication of the
OKESC. For questions, feedback and content
suggestions, or to opt out of receiving e-publications,
please contact d.collins@ou.edu.
Webinar
Oklahoma Central Case Registry
May 14
2 - 3 p.m.
Online registration is available at
www.OKESC.org at least
two weeks before the meeting
date listed above.
Video from webinar
series is available
For those who were unable to catch
the OKESC webinar series that aired
in 2012, videos from the first three
webcasts are now available at
www.okesc.org (click on the library tab).
The webinar topics include:
“Electronic Income Withholding
OrderProject,” “CCPA Limitations” and
“The National Medical Support Notice.”
For those who have not discovered
the benefits of the OKESC webinar
series, the webcasts are a free,
convenient, accessible way to learn
about child support processes.
Employers can watch from the
convenience of their office computer
and interact live with the instructor
during the question and answer
session. (Check out other training
video topics by clicking on the
“employer outreach” tab at
www.okesc.org.)
Employer input sought in
developing new inquiry form
The OKESC is continuing to improve
the center’s website at www.okesc.org.
Currently, an online business form is
being developed to expedite responses
to employer questions.
In the near future, the OKESC will
invite members of the Oklahoma
Employer Advisory Council
to participate in a conference call to
provide input on what information
should appear on the form, as well as
general recommendations on making
the processing of child support
documents faster and easier.
Not an OEAC member? Contact
Rusty at rustyrasmussen@ou.edu
with contact information, including
company and city.
S13018 OKDHS Issued 2/2013
This publication is authorized by Oklahoma Department of Human Services Director Ed Lake in accordance with state and federal regulations.
Copies have not been printed but are available online at www.okdhs.org/library. An electronic copy has been deposited with the
Publications Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.