Child Support Officer

NOTE: Testing is now being offered continuously for vacancies throughout the state.

Overview of duties:

Under general supervision, performs paralegal functions related to the establishment and enforcement of child support orders for public assistance and non-public assistance clients; locates absent parents; interviews mothers and alleged fathers to establish paternity, explains rights and obligations and negotiates settlements; initiates necessary legal actions; works closely with the county attorney, judges, court administrators, child support magistrates, local attorneys, income maintenance and social service staff, employers, and a variety of other resource personnel; testifies in court proceedings; and maintains all necessary and legal documentation.

Examples of Duties:

• Interviews mother and alleged father in paternity cases to explain related laws, responsibilities and rights and to secure acknowledgment of paternity.

• Arranges interviews and appointments for genetic testing of alleged fathers, mother and child to establish paternity.

• Locates absent parents through cooperative efforts with law enforcement agencies, Department of Human Services, the post office, employers, custodial parents, relatives and other information sources.

• Interviews parents to obtain case information, employment status and to determine their ability to pay child support.

• Initiates interstate/intrastate actions to establish orders or enforce existing child support orders from other jurisdictions in order to secure child support payments.

• Negotiates out of court child support related settlements for approval by appropriate authority.

• Initiates necessary legal action to establish a court order for support and/or reimbursement, or to enforce an existing court order.

• Selects and refers appropriate cases to the county attorney for legal action.

• Prepares legal documents for review and signature of the county attorney.

• Interviews witnesses for trial as necessary.

• Testifies in court on behalf of agency or client, prepares court documents, provides financial and current case status information.

• Gathers information, reviews finances and makes recommendations for the amount of child support to parents, attorneys and the court.

• Participates in modification of child support and appeals hearings.

• Processes cases to comply with court orders regarding income withholding, cost-of-living adjustments, liens and medical insurance provisions.

• Monitors billings and payments on accounts and contacts obligors to resolve delinquent payments expeditiously.

• Takes appropriate legal action to establish an order for medical support or to enforce an existing medical support order.

• Contacts clients who have received overpayment of public assistance money, sets up recovery payment plan and monitors compliance.

• Handles case correspondence and all necessary case maintenance.

• Retrieves, enters and changes information from paper and computer files (including use of the statewide child support and income maintenance computer systems) in order to obtain and correct case information, monitor case status and oversee the progress of enforcement actions.

• Responds to inquiries about the child support program from any inquiring party, including employers, attorneys and clients.

• Make referrals to other agencies such as social services, legal services, job service, etc., as appropriate.

• Provides data to supervisor regarding work processing/flow and problem cases.

• Implements program changes as mandated by the legislature and the Department of Human Services.

• May assist in the preliminary investigation of suspected fraud cases and preparation of those cases for fraud prosecution.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Six months of experience as an Eligibility Worker in a social services agency covered by the Minnesota Merit System.

• Two years of experience as a Support Enforcement Aide or Collections Officer with responsibility for carrying out a part of child support collections.

or

• Three years of experience in work related to child support collections in a county social services agency (e.g., providing clerical or other support services to the child support and collections unit).

or

• Four years of experience in collections work outside of county social services setting.

or

• Within one year of completion of a Bachelor’s Degree with an emphasis in criminal justice, public administration, business administration, paralegal, social work, psychology, sociology, or other related human services field.

A candidate may substitute experience for education and education for experience in order to meet the qualifications.

Examination Process:

The examination will consist entirely of a written test covering the following content areas: reading comprehension/chart and graph interpretation/interpreting, performing arithmetic calculations, effective writing, (grammar, word usage, sentence construction, and clarity), and knowledge of interviewing techniques.

1. Apply online here (Click on “Apply” above) and complete the application and submit it to the Merit System.

2. Please watch your e-mail for further instructions on how to schedule a test date/site.