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Inyo County child support office reports steady enforcement, federal measure shifts and service changes
Summary
Eastern Sierra Child Support Services briefed supervisors on federal performance measures, recent legislative changes affecting enforcement (including driver's license policies), and local program improvements including outreach and a clean state fiscal audit.
Amy Wertig, director of Eastern Sierra Child Support Services, and analyst Courtney Boss presented the county’s fiscal year 2024–25 child support services review to the Board on Aug. 19.
Wertig said the office passed a state fiscal audit with no findings and highlighted several legislative and operational changes: a new statewide guideline calculator implemented Sept. 1, changes to driver’s license suspension rules that make suspensions non-automatic and require criteria be met before a license can be suspended, and an "arrears pass-through" change (effective May 1, 2024) that directs 100% of certain collections to families rather than reverting a portion to the state. She said these changes have improved outcomes for families, and that the office has increased outreach (including Mexican consulate events) and stabilized hiring and training.
Courtney Boss summarized Federal Performance Measures (FPMs) used to allocate federal incentive funds: FPM 1 (paternity establishment), FPM 2 (cases with support orders), FPM 3 (current collections), FPM 4 (arrearage collections) and FPM 5 (cost effectiveness). Boss said FPM 1 fell 3.5% locally — partially because Mammoth birthing hospital closed — and FPM 2 dropped 1.3%; FPM 3 (current collections) improved 1.2% while FPM 4 (arrears) held at 65.2%.
Wertig and Boss said technological and access issues (state call-center outages, legacy tools like the Work Number) have affected case processing times and that state-level investments in systems are underway (data move to Azure, planned state system improvements). They also discussed the department’s reentry work with incarcerated participants and options for flexible enforcement locally to avoid removing work-driving privileges for people who need them to pay support.
Supervisors asked about whether declines in FPMs mean fewer families need services; presenters said declines are driven in part by lower birth rates and technical reporting issues and that the office is working to improve online access and outreach to younger participants. No formal board action was taken.
