Child Support Specialist I

Child Support Specialist I

When you join the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS), you join a team of more than 5,000 employees across the state dedicated to positively changing the lives of more than one million Marylanders each year. We do this by providing economic support, preventive services, and caring for children and adults. We aim to deliver services so that we more quickly meet the needs of the people we serve. At DHS, we grapple with hard questions to find new ways to foster a culture of bold innovation. We do this to ensure that in Maryland, we leave no one behind. All approved candidates will be placed on this list of eligible candidates in one Best-Qualified randomized scoring band for at least one year. Placement on this list is not a guarantee that you will be offered an interview for any given vacancy. This recruitment has been reopened to allow for additional application submissions. If you have already applied and been approved for this recruitment (25-004573-0001), please do not reapply; your application remains under consideration.

Main Purpose of Job

A Child Support Specialist I is the intermediate level of child support work. Employees in this classification investigate and analyze child support cases and initiate appropriate actions to establish, maintain or enforce support payments for dependent children in accordance with applicable federal and State laws, rules and regulations. Employees in this classification perform duties related to establishing paternity and child support orders, negotiating agreements for child support payments and health insurance coverage and maintaining and enforcing the collection of current and past due amounts.

Position Duties Examples of Work

Obtains, verifies and analyzes information from custodial and non-custodial parents, employers, financial institutions, private and governmental resources, health insurance carriers and others and uses that information to locate non-custodial parents, establish paternity, verify income and assets and determine the ability of non-custodial parents to pay child support and provide health insurance; Negotiates voluntary agreements for payment of child support and liquidation of arrears with custodial and non-custodial parents in accordance with State regulations and guidelines; Initiates and prepares a variety of documents for administrative or court hearings, such as support payment modifications, wage withholdings, earnings assignments, interstate transmittals, subpoenas, bench warrants and show cause orders in order to collect current or past due child support payments; Identifies circumstances that contribute to a problem in collecting child support or providing health insurance coverage, determines which private and governmental services and programs, such as mediation services, employment and job counseling services, visitation access program or young fathers program address the problem and refers parents to those services and programs; Monitors the receipt of child support payments and reviews case records and payment activities to determine the need for and type of enforcement activities warranted; Investigates and resolves disputes resulting from license suspensions, tax intercepts and other remedies used to enforce and collect child support; Initiates and negotiates establishment and enforcement of new or existing child support orders in out-of-state cases; Prepares and presents testimony for judicial and administrative hearings related to child support enforcement and collection; Prepares and reviews case records to ensure the validity of information to be presented in court by the legal services attorney; Maintains and updates case records by using automated systems and case folder documents; Responds to inquiries from custodial and non-custodial parents, employers, courts, public officials, attorneys, other State agencies and out-of-state agencies in order to resolve issues related to child support cases; Coordinates genetic testing arrangements with certified medical facilities; Serves as liaison between Child Support Enforcement Administration and other State agencies, local agencies, the States Attorneys Office and the courts; Places appropriate markers on case records in cases in which family violence or abuse has occurred, monitors the case to ensure that custodial and non-custodial parents, other caretakers and children are protected and refers abused caretakers and dependent children to family shelters or other protective services; May assist at orientation sessions for new applicants or for non-custodial parents by presenting information about child support program services and related services that may be helpful; May represent the State as complainant in order to obtain or enforce court orders for support; Performs other related duties.

Minimum Qualifications

Applicants must meet all minimum (and selective) qualifications to be considered, and to appear on the list of people eligible for hire. Please read all requirements before applying. Education: Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of high school equivalency certificate. Experience: One year of experience determining eligibility for government assistance programs or performing functions to establish, maintain or enforce support payments for dependent children in accordance with federal and State laws, rules and regulations. (Include specific job duties on your application relating to your Child Support payment enforcement experience as defined in the minimum qualification above.) Note: Candidates may substitute the possession of an Associate of Arts degree from an accredited college or university for the required education and experience.

Licenses, Registrations and Certifications

Employees in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operators license valid in the State of Maryland.

Selection Process

Please make sure that you provide sufficient information on your application to show that you meet the qualifications for this recruitment. All information concerning your qualifications must be submitted by the closing date. We will not consider information submitted after this date. Successful candidates will be ranked as Best Qualified and placed on the eligible list of candidates for at least one year. If you are in State service and are a promotional candidate, your salary will be determined in accordance with the State of Maryland Guidelines.