Improve Public Assistance Research Service

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

The Child Support Services Department (CSSD) staff in Los Angeles County frequently needs public assistance (PA) history information in order to audit a child support case or to address participant complaints. While current information is sent electronically from the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS), CSSD often requires research for legacy information that predates 1998 – the year that the current DPSS online database was started. This service was formerly provided by DPSS staff at a cost to CSSD of $1.33 million annually. Beyond the cost, the process suffered from long delays in delivery of the research reports, accompanied by complaints of miscommunication and unnecessary work. The PA Research Project sought to improve the process of obtaining PA information in a manner that would be less costly, more efficient, and provide better customer service to both the child support staff that required PA research reports (i.e. auditors, attorneys for court requests, Ombudsman staff for complaint resolutions) and for the child support participants themselves.