SNAP & CA Homelessness Prevention Health Assistance Other Benefits & Services

Information for Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and other City agencies

The child support program continuously seeks to identify improvements to our program to achieve better outcomes for the children, parents, and guardians we serve. For a basic summary of our services, see Child Support Overview and the Infographic or access the OCSS Resources Flyer.

Community Partners and the partnerships OCSS has with other City agencies are vital to us for sharing information about child support with parents and informing strategies to best assist the families and children that we all serve. If your organization would like to receive training for your staff on any child support topics, please contact Alan Farrell at 929-252-5219 or alan.farrell@dfa.state.ny.us. You can also refer to the list of upcoming Training Institute Webinars.

For close to 10 years, we have had a committee of community partners who meet with us to share ideas, suggestions, and concerns. There have been several new initiatives and changes that have come out of the committee, as outlined in our Child Support Snapshot . Contact Alan Farrell at 929-252-5219 or alan.farrell@dfa.state.ny.us if you are interested in participating.

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Click a topic, or press the enter key on a topic, to reveal the details.

Relevant Documents

Child Support Snapshot
Debt Reduction Flyer for Service Providers
CBO Information Packet
Next Steps (For Referrals to Customer Service)
US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty: Transforming Child Support into a Family Building System
NYC's Job Training Program Adapts to Challenges
Her Justice: Towards Justice For Parents in Child Support Courts
Aspen Institute: Reducing Arrears: Child Support Policy Fact Sheet
Aspen Institute: An Evidence-Based Approach to Child Support
NCSEA Child Support Communique: Co-Parenting: Opportunities and Challenges for the Child Support Program
Federal OCSS, Child Support Report: Co-Parenting Services and the Child Support Program (page 5)
Urban Institute, Elaine Sorensen: Child Support Plays an Increasingly Important Role for Poor Custodial Families
Federal OCSS: The Child Support Program is a Good Investment, Story Behind the Numbers
US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty: Transforming Child Support into a Family-Building System
Columbia University School of Social Work: The Role of Child Support Debt on the Development of Mental Health Problems among Nonresident Fathers
New York City Independent Budget Office, Fiscal Brief: A Shift In Priorities and Caseload at the City's Office of Child Support Enforcement
Annual Report

Additional Videos

Although all of our videos are posted to the OCSS YouTube Channel, this section lists videos intended for our partners.

Upcoming Presentations

The Child Support Training Institute Update

We look forward to seeing you at our free virtual child support webinars.

HRA's Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) Training Institute presents The Child Support Information Hour – an ongoing series designed to shed light on the sometimes complicated issues around child support. Programs are designed for staff at city agencies and community-based organizations, as well as our clients – custodial and noncustodial parents – and professionals that work with those clients. Each session starts with a presentation that is followed by a question and answer period.

How community-based organizations can benefit from learning about the child support program: Child support clients who are either noncustodial or custodial parents are also often participants of many other programs such as: Child Welfare, Corrections, Veterans Affairs, Workforce One, DYCD, Head Start, SNAP, Cash Assistance, Nurse Family Practitioners, Jobs Plus, and many community-based organizations. The services the child support program provides can support or detract from the goals of your organization. These information sessions can help you better understand the intersection between our program and yours. We would love for you to encourage your clients to attend sessions that might interest them. All are welcome!

All sessions are held virtually on Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:00am, unless otherwise noted. There is no cost for these webinars, we end each session with a question-and-answer period. Links for registering are below. Please Note: If you have trouble registering for any session, please email us immediately at OCSS.TrainingInsitute@dfa.state.ny.us.

Getting Started with Child Support: What New Noncustodial Parents Need to Know

Tuesday, April 30th at 10:00am
This webinar provides noncustodial parents who have recently received a child support order with information on child support – how it works, the responsibilities an NCP must meet, and the benefits – including the long-term positive effects of child support on children. The session will also address how to modify an order, available debt reduction options, and what enforcement actions could mean for an NCP.

Best Suited For
New parents and staff of organizations that serve families and individuals who are unfamiliar with child support.

Special Executive Session: Q&A with OCSS Leadership

Tuesday, May 14th at 10:00am
This event is open to everyone in the community, including noncustodial and custodial parents with or without a child support order. The leaders of OCSS want to listen and hear from you. They will make short presentations about how NYC Child Support works and then answer questions from attendees on all subjects related to child support.

Best Suited For
Parents and staff of organizations that work with individuals who have a child support case or who are thinking of applying for child support. This is an opportunity to meet the leadership of OCSS and let them know your thoughts and ideas about the program. Please help us spread the word to parents involved with or interested in the child support program.

Getting Started with Child Support: What New Custodial Parents Need to Know

Tuesday, June 4th at 10:00am
This webinar provides new custodial parents with information on child support – how it works, how to apply, and the benefits – including the long-term positive effects of child support on children. Child Support can make a difference in moving a family out of poverty, but many families that could benefit from the program are not taking advantage of it. The session will also address how to obtain child support safely if there is a domestic violence concern.

Best Suited For
New parents and staff of organizations that serve families and individuals who are unfamiliar with child support.

The Basics of Child Support Account Statements

Tuesday, June 18th at 10:00am
One of the benefits of a child support case is it provides a record of what has been paid by the noncustodial parent, to whom it was paid, and when it was paid. Account statements inform the parties, and the court about the financials of a child support case. It is provided during a court hearing when an order is already established, and it can be requested ad hoc. This webinar will explain the components of an account statement and how to interpret it.

Best Suited For
Attorneys and staff of government and community-based organizations that work with individuals who have a child support case, and attorneys that handle child support cases.

Child Support Administrative Enforcement Actions: What You Need to Know

Tuesday, July 16th at 10:00am
This training takes a deep dive into administrative enforcement actions that are taken when child support payments aren't made in a timely fashion and arrears begin to accumulate. Participants will learn about when enforcement actions occur, exemptions, and how to challenge an administrative enforcement action.

Best Suited For
Attorneys, parents, and staff of organizations that have a working knowledge of child support and want a deeper understanding of the administrative enforcement mechanism.

Child Support: Debt Reduction Options for NCPs

Tuesday, July 30th at 10:00am
Unpaid child support debt is a serious problem for noncustodial parents as well as custodial parents and their children. It leads to enforcement actions that can interfere with job retention, create barriers for father engagement and causes stress for all parties. In fact, most debt is owed by NCPs with little ability to pay. HHS has recommended that debt be reduced to help avoid incidents of child abuse and neglect. Participants will learn about the important OCSS programs that can administratively reduce child support debt owed to the government as well as strategies to avoid debt in the first place and an option for negotiating debt owed to custodial parents.

Best Suited For
Attorneys, parents, and staff of organizations that have a working knowledge of child support and want a deeper understanding of the steps NCPs can take to reduce debt that is owed either to the government or the custodial parent.

Fundamentals of Child Support

Tuesday, August 13th at 10:00am
This webinar provides a detailed overview of the child support process including information on the value of child support, the lifecycle of a child support case, and a description of programs designed to benefit parents who have a child support case.

Best Suited For
Parents and staff of organizations that serve families or individuals that are new to child support or those who would like to refresh their knowledge.

What's New in Child Support

Tuesday, September 10th at 10:00am
Attendees will learn about our latest initiatives, our new program offerings, and our approach to make child support easier to understand. Attendees will receive information about the NYC Child Support Mobile App where custodial parents can apply for child support, noncustodial parents can make online payments, and both parents can manage aspects of their child support case.

Best Suited For: Staff of organizations who work regularly with families or individuals and want to learn about new services available from OCSS.

An Introduction to Interstate Child Support Cases

Tuesday, September 24th at 10:00am
Most child support cases involve a custodial and noncustodial parent who live in the same jurisdiction. However, there are cases where the parents live in two different jurisdictions/states or countries and the child support programs in those jurisdictions need to cooperate and work together to provide child support services. Child support is federally mandated, state supervised, and in New York State, locally administered. While there are many different factors to consider, this webinar will cover the basics of how different child support agencies work together to deliver the support that children need, regardless of where they and the parents live.

Best Suited For
Staff of government and community-based organizations that work with individuals who have a child support case, and attorneys that handle child support cases.

2023 Policy Conference Materials

The Office of Child Support Services held its biennial policy conference, “Confronting Structural Racism in the Child Support Program: Listening, Understanding, and Taking Action.” The goal was to have an in-depth discussion about how structural racism affects the families we serve and delve into ways that we could reduce the negative effects that child support and closely related programs have on Black and Brown people paying and receiving child support. We brought together distinguished speakers and panelists, led by keynote speakers Jennifer Jones Austin (CEO/Executive Director, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies) and David Pate, Jr., Ph.D. (School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison), from areas of child support, child welfare, economics, and law as well as parents who have experienced the child support system firsthand.

Link to conference overview by OCSS Executive Deputy Commissioner Frances Pardus-abbadessa and interviews with multiple presenters and panelists: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeg1TxRXTePhFKSUgbIojDu-Ypk-77TBx

Slides:

Child Support in the Community Newsletter