Title
Child Support Services (CSS) recommending the Board:
1) Authorize the Director of Child Support Services to execute a revenue generating agreement between the County of El Dorado CSS and the County of Tehama CSS, contingent upon approval by County Counsel and Risk Management, where the County of Tehama will compensate the County of El Dorado in the monthly amount of $6,250 for legal attorney services, for a period starting July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027; and
2) Authorize the Director of Child Support Services to extend the agreement annually, for a period not to extend beyond June 30, 2029, as long as staffing permits and as long as the agreement will not increase CSS’s Net County Cost.
FUNDING: State and Federal Child Support Funding.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Family Code Section 17304(a) mandates that the Director of the Department negotiate and enter into cooperative agreements with county and state agencies to fulfill the requirements of the state plan for administering the Title IV-D child support program. Family Code 17304(a) also states, “The director, in consultation with the impacted counties, may consolidate the local child support agencies, or any function of the agencies, in more than one county into a single local child support agency, if the director determines that the consolidation will increase the efficiency of the state Title IV-D program and each county has at least one local child support office accessible to the public.”
On July 30, 2024, the Board approved the Plan of Cooperation that is currently in place, where the Tehama County CSS compensates the El Dorado County CSS $6,250 per month for legal attorney services including appearing in court to establish and/or modify child support orders (Legistar file 24-1074).
As child support caseloads continue to decline statewide, smaller counties are increasingly pursuing shared service agreements to support the efficient administration of the Title IV-D program. This agree...
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