Early Intervention and Outbound Calling

Realistic ExpectationsEarly intervention is more than just a buzzword in the child support enforcement program:  research and model projects have demonstrated the effectiveness of proactive efforts to inform custodial and noncustodial parents of upcoming events and to encourage compliance with child support orders and other requirements.

In fact, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Strategic Plan provides for early intervention strategies to prevent the build-up of arrearages and promote a culture of compliance in the IV-D program.

 

Early intervention has been shown to have a positive impact under the following circumstances:

  • To remind mothers and putative fathers of scheduled dates for genetic testing
  • To remind custodial and noncustodial parents of upcoming hearings
  • To remind custodial and noncustodial parents of due dates for required forms
  • To follow-up immediately after the issuance of a child support order to make sure the noncustodial parent understands the terms of the order and the amount and date on which payment is due
  • To notify noncustodial parents immediately after a payment is missed, and encourage prompt submission

Early intervention does not have to be limited to communicating with parents.  New employers may benefit by receiving timely information about their child support responsibilities, and existing employers may appreciate a friendly “heads up” when one of their employees has a new or modified income withholding order.

Whether its primary purpose is to increase compliance or to nurture strong, lasting relationships with customers and stakeholders, early intervention has an important place within the IV-D program. 

While early intervention requires no more than phone calls to targeted individuals during normal working hours, additional steps can be taken to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of outbound calling.  Initiating calls during evening and weekend hours can increase the likelihood of making personal contact with the customer. Adding a predictive dialer will contribute to the number of successful contacts.  Using modern text to speech engines will eliminate the need for adding outbound calling staff.

In 21st Century child support enforcement, technology plays even a greater role.  Many customers have answering machines, voice mail, email, cell phones, and text messaging.  Calling campaigns can be designed to take advantage of these media.  Today’s sophisticated technology can leverage opportunities for early intervention. 

YoungWilliams has expertise in all aspects of early intervention and outbound calling.  In some of our full service offices and customer service call centers, we have personnel dedicated to early intervention.  These individuals initiate personal contact with custodial and noncustodial parents to advise them of their responsibilities and upcoming events and answer any questions they may have.  These friendly reminders not only increase attendance and cooperation; they have contributed to a greater culture of customer service within the child support programs we serve.

IV-D agencies can take advantage of YoungWilliams’ investment in a state-of-the-art outbound calling system that is highly versatile and adaptable to any type of outbound calling campaign.  It can communicate via phone, email, or even SMS text messages and can be programmed to use any of its 54 voices that sound as realistic and natural as human voices.  It is housed in a highly secure national data center to ensure system availability and protection from natural disasters.

Our experience, technical savvy, and passion for child support make us an ideal partner for IV-D agencies seeking a vendor to provide early intervention services.  We can staff a project with highly trained customer service professionals to initiate outbound calls, utilize our advanced calling technology and text-to-voice software to communicate with customers, or utilize a combination of both.  Since we have already invested substantially in our human resources, training, and technological infrastructure, we are able to offer excellent services at a very attractive price.  We are able to design a short-term call campaign or permanent solution that will meet any IV-D agency’s needs and budget.

For more information about our services, we invite you to send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .