Amy Price, Michigan Office of Child Support

Representatives from NCCSD, NCSEA, and OCSS served on the Joint Committee on Public Relations to enhance child support communication. Over the last year, the committee worked on a survey to learn what the public and potential customers knew—and didn’t know—about the child support program. Michigan and California staff were on this committee and had experience in this area because they’d done work as Digital Marketing grantees. 

We collaborated with California to employ a research firm to help us collect and analyze data. We hired a marketing vendor to conduct focus groups and deploy an online survey to target demographic groups on behalf of 11 core states: California, Michigan, Utah, Vermont, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Kansas, and Virginia. The project used the same vendor, survey tool, and distribution methods to compare “apples to apples.” It was also important that we used methods that reached outside our programs’ customer base and organizational networks to recruit survey respondents. 

Some key takeaways from the focus groups:

• Child support is used as a last resort, and they prefer to “work it out on [their] own.”
• Some forgo child support because they don’t want the government involved, or they don’t want the government taking fees out of support payments.
• Some forgo child support because they just want to keep the other parent out of the child’s life.
• Those with informal arrangements say they are inconsistent. Conversely, formal arrangements are more consistent and less emotional.

Though the data varies across demographics and states, we can use the survey results to inform our marketing: 

People value our services but not always how we deliver them.
“The majority associate child support programs with positive attributes—important, necessary, and helpful. Still, 40% describe the program as difficult and 31% as unfair and confusing.” This shows we need to improve service delivery.

If our service delivery improves, past experiences exist. Myth and word of mouth fill the void. 
While service delivery issues need to be addressed, marketing and communications staff can use these tips:

• Acknowledge confusion or complexity. 
• Use testimonials and stories. 
• Share service improvements. 
• Use the research to craft our messaging. For example, focus on the services that the data show are most highly valued. The top three valued services:
  • Establishing legal paternity
  • Intercepting funds from taxes and bank accounts
  • Keeping detailed records of payments (owed and paid)

Reach out to those with an informal child support arrangement.
As caseloads are decreasing nationwide, programs are trying to reach those who could use our services but aren’t. This survey asked respondents to identify whether they had a formal or informal arrangement to avoid lengthy qualifying questions or confusion. Those who don’t have a court order are considered as having an informal arrangement.

Several themes came out of the focus group and survey data that seemed to resonate with parents using an informal arrangement. For them, it’s all about how having a formal arrangement can make their life easier and better.

• Things change. An informal arrangement might be working now, but what if the other parent remarries, moves, or has a change of heart? Put that formal arrangement in place now.
• Having an impartial intermediary can remove or lessen the emotion and conflict in the situation. If this intermediary is also calculating support and arranging and tracking payments, it means less asking or reminding the payer. 
• If the payer stops paying, there are enforcement methods, like liens on bank accounts, and ways to intercept funds like tax refunds. 

Our program plans to work on an advertising campaign based on the results from this research and hopes other states find the results of this work insightful. You can view the national research results on the NCSEA website . 

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Anna Wendt, Trailbuilding Program Manager, Colorado Division of Child Support Services and Colorado Sexual Health Initiative 

In August 2020, OCSS awarded funding to eight state child support agencies through the Economic Mobility and Responsible Parenting Demonstration Grant. In July 2021, OCSS awarded funding to an additional cohort of seven state and two tribal programs. This article is part of a series that features awardees’ efforts to leverage the child support program's responsible parenting expertise. For more information, email michael.hayes@acf.hhs.gov or donna.steele@acf.hhs.gov.

Storytelling is powerful. A good story transports you to a different time or place. It draws you to compelling, flawed, unique characters and their experiences. A good story can even spur behavior change. Colorado’s Trailbuilding: A Youth-Produced Approach to Independence Project is rooted in storytelling. 

To increase understanding of economic mobility and responsible parenting, we engage Colorado youth to share their stories. Youth connect creatively to produce films that help their peers break free from the cycle of poverty. 

Intervention and project components

Our project works through four key components. The first is a four-day group behavioral intervention where youth participate in an interactive, video-based curriculum that incorporates evidence-based programs such as Independence Road, Community PROMISE, MyMediaLife, p.a.p.a., and the 2Gen Model of Child Support Services. Youth pinpoint material from the curriculum that would resonate with their peers and create a social marketing (behavior change) concept for a film. Participants are recruited in partnership with community agencies that serve young people. 

The second component is production where youth work with a professional film crew to shoot their film. The third component is the post-production phase where youth provide editing notes, select music, and develop a range of marketing tactics. The final component is the community-level intervention where youth distribute the media to their peers. Each group determines how best to reach their desired target audience. 

Our messages and films:

• Focus on strengths instead of struggles 
• Inspire, not shame
• Promote solutions instead of dwelling on problems
• Offer solutions, not warnings

We’ve successfully completed two Trailbuilding interventions. The first was conducted with a group of young men involved in the Colorado juvenile justice system who created a short film, What Got Us Here. This film follows a young father committed to the Division of Youth Services (DYS) as he tries to overcome his past mistakes. In April, we hosted a premiere screening of the film with dozens of DYS partners and the producers’ peers. Qualitative surveys revealed that 90% of viewers believed the film effectively educated youth about the cycle of poverty, criminal behavior, and lack of father engagement. One hundred percent of the peer viewers said the youth-created message was more effective than one created by adults.

Our team recently completed a film with teens connected to The Matthews House—a Northern Colorado nonprofit that supports youth aging out of the foster care system. Their film, Eclipsed , weaves together the stories of three teens and how different drivers of poverty may influence their future. It will premiere in October 2023. 

Project Branding

We’ve also worked with our youth advisory board to create a branded campaign name — Life. As Told by Youth — and logo for the project. This campaign will expand awareness of the youth-created media and project curriculum through a website and paid social media campaigns. The website will feature project media and information on healthy relationships, sexual health, education, and child support resources targeted to teens and young adults.

We’re so proud of our creative youth producers who have shared their experiences and produced stories that inspire their peers to make choices that improve their lives.

For more information, email anna.wendt@state.co.us. 

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OCSE created domestic violence awareness tear sheet flyers in English and Spanish with information for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. There’s also a version for tribal communities that includes contact information for the StrongHearts Native Helpline.

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