Child Support Enforcement Grant Grows

Child Support Enforcement Grant Grows

Child Support Enforcement Grant Grows



The Parenting Time Opportunities for Children (PTOC) grant is a pilot program to give child support agencies the opportunity to develop, implement, and evaluate procedures to establish parenting time orders (visitation) along with new child support orders. The grant's mission is to learn more about how the Child Support Enforcement Agency can safely and effectively give families opportunities to establish parenting time orders, thereby improving the child's overall well-being. Ohio is one of five states approved in 2015 that participate. Cuyahoga, Pickaway, Montgomery, Licking and Franklin counties were approved to begin providing services to customers as well. Wayne and Stark counties began PTOC services in January of 2016. Montgomery County ran a very successful ad campaign in 2015, that included signage and audio messaging on the local RTA bus system. For a 2 month period they had 50 interior signs in buses throughout the Dayton area. In addition, there were four large exterior signs serving as rolling billboards which were located on the bus stop side of buses. Thanks in part to this effort we currently have established 95 parenting time orders! The grant program will run through September, 2017, however services will be able to continue past the grant period, if the costs involved are minimal and incidental to the establishment of a child support order. The model Ohio is using was designed to be able to last past the grant period, allowing us to continue program services. These include: implementation of domestic violence plans, informing parents about parenting time order options and the connection to child support, incorporating agreed upon parenting time orders into an existing support action, and referring parents to self-help or other legal services resources for assistance modifying or enforcing parenting time orders.