17304
. To address the concerns stated by the Legislature in Section
17303, each county shall establish a new county department of child
support services. Each department is also referred to in this
division as the local child support agency. The local child support
agency shall be separate and independent from any other county
department and shall be responsible for promptly and effectively
establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations,
including medical support, enforcing spousal support orders
established by a court of competent jurisdiction, and determining
paternity in the case of a child born out of wedlock. The local child
support agency shall refer all cases requiring criminal enforcement
services to the district attorney and the district attorney shall
prosecute those cases, as appropriate. If a district attorney fails
to comply with this section, the director shall notify the Attorney
General and the Attorney General shall take appropriate action to
secure compliance. The director shall be responsible for implementing
and administering all aspects of the state plan that direct the
functions to be performed by the local child support agencies
relating to their Title IV-D operations. In developing the new
system, all of the following shall apply:
(a) The director shall negotiate and enter into cooperative
agreements with county and state agencies to carry out the
requirements of the state plan and provide services relating to the
establishment of paternity or the establishment, modification, or
enforcement of child support obligations as required pursuant to
Section 654 of Title 42 of the United States Code. The cooperative
agreements shall require that the local child support agencies are
reasonably accessible to the citizens of each county and are visible
and accountable to the public for their activities. The director, in
consultation with the impacted counties, may consolidate the local
child support agencies, or any function of the agencies, in more than
one county into a single local child support agency, if the director
determines that the consolidation will increase the efficiency of
the state Title IV-D program and each county has at least one local
child support office accessible to the public.
(b) The director shall have direct oversight and supervision of
the Title IV-D operations of the local child support agency, and no
other local or state agency shall have any authority over the local
child support agency as to any function relating to its Title IV-D
operations. The local child support agency shall be responsible for
the performance of child support enforcement activities required by
law and regulation in a manner prescribed by the department. The
administrator of the local child support agency shall be responsible
for reporting to and responding to the director on all aspects of the
child support program.
(c) Nothing in this section prohibits the local child support
agency, with the prior approval of the director, from entering into
cooperative arrangements with other county departments, as necessary
to carry out the responsibilities imposed by this section pursuant to
plans of cooperation submitted to the department and approved by the
director. The local child support agency may not enter into a
cooperative agreement or contract with any county department or
independently elected official, including the office of the district
attorney, to run, supervise, manage, or oversee the Title IV-D
functions of the local child support agency. Until September 1, 2004,
the local child support agency may enter into a cooperative
agreement or contract of restricted scope and duration with a
district attorney to utilize individual attorneys as necessary to
carry out limited attorney services. Any cooperative agreement or
contract for the attorney services shall be subject to approval by
the department and contingent upon a written finding by the
department that either the relatively small size of the local child
support agency program, or other serious programmatic needs, arising
as a result of the transition make it most efficient and
cost-effective to contract for limited attorney services. The
department shall ensure that any cooperative agreement or contract
for attorney services provides that all attorneys be supervised by,
and report directly to, the local child support agency, and comply
with all state and federal child support laws and regulations. The
office of the Legislative Analyst shall review and assess the
efficiency and effectiveness of that cooperative agreement or
contract, and shall report its findings to the Legislature by January
1, 2004. Within 60 days of receipt of a plan of cooperation or
contract from the local child support agency, the department shall
either approve the plan of cooperation or contract or notify the
agency that the plan is denied. If an agency is notified that the
plan is denied, the agency shall have the opportunity to resubmit a
revised plan of cooperation or contract. If the director fails to
respond in writing within 60 days of receipt, the plan shall
otherwise be deemed approved. Nothing in this section shall be deemed
an approval of program costs relative to the cooperative
arrangements entered into by the counties with other county
departments.
(d) In order to minimize the disruption of services provided and
to capitalize on the expertise of employees, the director shall
create a program that builds on existing staff and facilities to the
fullest extent possible. All assets of the family support division in
the district attorney's office shall become assets of the local
child support agency.
(e) (1) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), all employees
and other personnel who serve the office of the district attorney and
perform child support collection and enforcement activities shall
become the employees and other personnel of the county child support
agency at their existing or equivalent classifications, and at their
existing salaries and benefits that include, but are not limited to,
accrued and unused vacation, sick leave, personal leave, and health
and pension plans.
(B) The Title IV-D director is entitled to become an employee of
the local child support agency or may be selected as the
administrator pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (f).
(2) Permanent employees of the office of the district attorney on
the effective date of this chapter shall be deemed qualified, and no
other qualifications shall be required for employment or retention in
the county child support agency. Probationary employees on the
effective date of this chapter shall retain their probationary status
and rights, and shall not be deemed to have transferred, so as to
require serving a new probationary period.
(3) Employment seniority of an employee of the office of the
district attorney on the effective date of this chapter shall be
counted toward seniority in the county child support agency and all
time spent in the same, equivalent, or higher classification shall be
counted toward classification seniority.
(4) An employee organization that has been recognized as the
representative or exclusive representative of an established
appropriate bargaining unit of employees who perform child support
collection and enforcement activities shall continue to be recognized
as the representative or exclusive representative of the same
employees of the county.
(5) An existing memorandum of understanding or agreement between
the county or the office of the district attorney and the employee
organization shall remain in effect and be fully binding on the
parties involved for the term of the agreement.
(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the rights
of employees or employee organizations to bargain in good faith on
matters of wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment,
including the negotiation of workplace standards within the scope of
bargaining as authorized by state and federal law.
(7) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a public agency
shall, in implementing programs affected by the act of addition or
amendment of this chapter to this code, perform program functions
exclusively through the use of merit civil service employees of the
public agency.
(B) Prior to transition from the district attorney to the local
child support agency under Section 17305, the district attorney may
continue existing contracts and their renewals, as appropriate. After
the transition under Section 17305, any contracting out of program
functions shall be approved by the director consistent with Section
31000 and following of the Government Code, except as otherwise
provided in subdivision (c) with regard to attorney services. The
director shall approve or disapprove a proposal to contract out
within 60 days. Failure of the director to respond to a request to
contract out within 60 days after receipt of the request shall be
deemed approval, unless the director submits an extension to respond,
which in no event shall be longer than 30 days.
(f) The administrator of the local child support agency shall be
an employee of the county selected by the board of supervisors, or in
the case of a city and county, selected by the mayor, pursuant to
the qualifications established by the department. The administrator
may hire staff, including attorneys, to fulfill the functions
required by the agency and in conformity with any staffing
requirements adopted by the department, including all those set forth
in Section 17306. All staff shall be employees of the county and
shall comply with all local, state, and federal child support laws,
regulations, and directives.