477 Tribal Child Support Unit

Kéilteen

Janae Franklet Manager

“Ensuring all eligible tribal children receive the financial and emotional support they deserve from both parents."

The 477 Tribal Child Support Unit (TCSU) provides services to all Southeast Alaska villages and communities, with the exception of Metlakatla Indian Community. TCSU is currently the only Child Support Agency in Southeast Alaska. The majority of TCSU cases are opened when a custodial parent applies for and receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Due to the 60-month limit of TANF benefits, many TANF cases are transitioned to non-assistance cases, showing a general overall trend for current support to be paid directly to custodial parents. Approximately 72% of child support is distributed directly to families and 28% to the Tribe for reimbursement of funds owed to TANF for assignment of child support rights. This trend continued in 2020 as distribution percentages increased by 14.22% for families from FY19.

TCSU accepts all applications for child support services and makes appropriate referrals when necessary. The majority of TCSU cases are from parents or custodians who receive public assistance, i.e., TANF benefits. TCSU cases are also opened when custodians apply for other tribal services such as Child Care and Employment & Training. TCSU received 167 applications for the year, which in turn, created 101 new cases; the remaining were added to 66 existing or reopened cases.

2020 Highlights

ƒ Increased active Tribal IV-D caseload to 1,338. ƒ Distributed $1,333,958 in child support. » Reached the benchmark of collecting over $1 million in child support for the third year in a row. TCSU Specialists managed between 250-500 cases each which continued to result in higher collections. ƒ Increased collections by 14.22% which surpassed

TCSU’s fiscal performance goal of increasing collections by 5%. ƒ Successfully closed 111 child support cases. ƒ Developed educational materials to expand outreach on TCSU’s services. ƒ Presented “Think About It” virtually to 93 high school students in Juneau, Alaska.

The presentation explained the impact child support can have on life from teen pregnancy. ƒ Submitted 184 Alaska Permanent Fund (PFD) garnishment requests and successfully met an unusually early deadline for the PFD. ƒ Received 67 paternity establishment requests: 24 were not eligible to establish due to case closure or unknown father, 4 were hard to establish due to not enough information to proceed or non-cooperation, and 39 were eligible for paternity establishment. Of the eligible cases, 17 have been referred to other states, 14 are pending, and 8 are in process with Tribal Court.

2021 Goals

ƒ Increase collections by at least 8%. This year’s performance target rate is moderate due to the economic challenges as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic. ƒ Promote staff training and continuing education to strengthen industry knowledge and job performance. ƒ Increase outreach efforts by re-establishing relationships with key organizations in the community (AWARE, Gastineau Human Services, and Lemon Creek Correctional

Center), and within Tribe (Reentry & Recovery) to assist our clients.