Program Specialist

Job Title

This position is open only to Colorado state residents.

Department Information

The Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) exists to ensure that all children receive financial and medical support from each parent through the location of each parent, the establishment of paternity and support obligations, and the enforcement of those obligations and connection to resources to assist parents in overcoming any barriers that are impeding their ability to pay child support.

The Systems and Operations Section encompasses three major areas: Automated Child Support Enforcement System (ACSES) development and support; the Family Support Registry (FSR), Colorado's mandated State Disbursement Unit (SDU)The FSR was created and provides services per Colorado Revised Statutes 26-13-114. FSR services are for all families with a support order.

The FSR is split into two sections. FSR Financial Services (FFS) is responsible for the operation of the State Disbursement Unit (SDU). FSR Support Services (FSS) provides services to employers, families, county Child Support Services (CSS) offices, and the court.

The State Disbursement Unit, which executes the Division's annual responsibilities to receive and deliver payments totaling over $520 million annually to families. In addition, FFS staff provide financial services to families and county CSS offices. The FSR Financial Services Unit includes six State FTE and vendor services, and the Unit is responsible for the procurement and ongoing administration of associated contractual services that total over $2 million annually. This position works in the FSR Financial Services Unit.

The FSR's Financial Services Unit is responsible for using established guidelines and procedures to perform State financial reconciliations between the contract vendor, the FSR Bank, the ACSES, Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS), and the sixty-four (64) county CSS programs.

Description of Job

Weekly hybrid working arrangements. Minimum 2 days in office and maximum 3 days remote work. Please note: Work arrangements are subject to change at any time.

This position is responsible for monitoring and ensuring the quality assurance of FSR operations and activities with respective stakeholders; serves as a liaison between CDHS-CSS, FSR contractors, and county CSS units on issues/activities performed by the FSR; assists with developing procedures and rules to ensure compliance with the terms of the FSR contract(s) and any associated amendment(s) related to payment processing, customer service, and electronic payment card.

This position collaborates with the FSR contractor(s), county CSS units, and Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) staff to enhance and improve FSR service delivery to FSR stakeholders; takes action to rectify deficiencies and problems within various areas of FSR operations; identifies and reports exceptions and conditions requiring resolution to the FSR contractor(s); tracks these exceptions and ensures their resolution; and produces various reports to document, verify, and provide archival reference to substantiate all related activities.

This position provides oversight, monitoring, review, and analysis of the FSR operations on an ongoing basis to ensure contract compliance by all FSR contract vendors; identifies and reports exceptions and conditions that require contractor resolution; follows up on contractor resolutions and implements procedures to improve processes; monitors performance using statistics obtained through the State system and information reported by the contractors; performs on-site visits at the FSR facility(s) to review and monitor operations, practices, and compliance with contract requirements; samples work production to ensure compliance is at acceptable error rates for payment processing, customer service, and electronic payment card services; performs contract audits and reviews the annual self-audit reports prepared by each contractor; ensures the contractors are in compliance; provides support, training, and guidance to contractors on how to handle difficult or unusual situations as needed; assists the Supervisor with the contract procurement process; requires training in CDHS contract management and is a member of the CDHS Contract User's Group; and ensures that CDHS and FSR contractors' operational and procedural manuals are accurate, complete, up-to-date, and supported by respective technical and/or system requirements.

This position may assume the lead on projects related to their subject matter expertise. This includes documenting the purpose of the project; identifying the scope of the project; researching the law, and CSS policies and procedures; creating/implementing test plans; drafting business rules and procedures; providing project status updates; keeping the project on task; and providing training as needed.

This position identifies areas in the ACSES where improvement can be made. This includes assisting with identifying system changes required to support such improvements; ensuring Program procedures, policies, methods, and internal controls necessary to operate the FSR on a daily basis are followed; ensuring procedures, policies, methods and internal controls that effectively account for and manage the FSR activities are followed in accordance with the contractual agreement; and establishing methods and procedures not only to outline issues but also to facilitate and expedite their resolution.

This position develops and provides training, reference materials, and guidance to maximize the functionality of the FSR operations, CDHS-CSS Program business, and supported automated systems. Systems include but are not limited to: ACSES, eCSE. Training is provided on an as-needed basis to respective stakeholders to ensure that all services are delivered in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract and legislative Program requirements. This also includes ensuring appropriate CDHS or Fiscal Agent manual(s), instructions, and procedures and processes are identified, updated, and referenced to support the training.

This position develops and establishes procedures and processes to troubleshoot, answer, resolve, and investigate system and programmatic exceptions, complaints, and inquiries. This includes researching and documenting problems, determining the course of action to expedite resolution, and recommending action plans to close issues. Where inquiries result in system use and/or policy changes, this position provides information, training, and guidance to related entities or users; and updates appropriate manuals, instructions, procedures and processes to reflect the changes. This position also assists the Unit Supervisor with developing and delivering training curriculum related to the position responsibilities to cross-train other members of the Unit.

This position provides customer service and technical assistance to county CSS units and FSR staff related to system and program reviews, corrective action plans and options, and FSR and CSS functions; makes recommendations to counties and FSR contractors' managers regarding Program direction and requirements; and serves as a liaison between CDHS-CSS, FSR contractors, and county CSS units.

This position is part of the team of individuals that address customer complaints pertaining to the FSR. Complaints received through the front desk, supervisor assignment, or contractor's request for assistance. This position is responsible for documenting the issue, researching the events that led to the complaint, and working with the customer to find a win-win resolution.

Other duties as assigned that are reasonably within the scope of the position classification, including coverage of staff absences; completion of special projects, completion of the grant or temporary assignments; representation of the Unit, Division, or Department on task forces or committees; and completion of other supervisory designated tasks.

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights

Six (6) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position with a minimum of the following:

• Demonstrated two (2) years of experience in writing procedures
• Demonstrated three (3) years of experience in Child Support Services
• Demonstrated experience in being a liaison between several departments

OR - Education:

• A combination of related education in Accounting, Business, Human Services, Finance, or a closely related field and relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to six (6) years with a minimum of the following:
• Demonstrated two (2) years of experience in writing procedures
• Demonstrated three (3) years of child support services
• Demonstrated experience in being a liaison between several departments

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience writing business rules
• Experience delivering training
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy
• Proficient in Microsoft Suite/Google Suite
• Experience using ACSES (Automated Child Support Enforcement System)
• COWINS Partnership Agreement: Relevant years of State service should be considered as a preferred qualification and given weight under the process. Part-time relevant years of State service will be prorated.
• Relevant years of State service contribute to a candidate's position-related knowledge, skill, ability, behavior, or other posted competency

Conditions of Employment:

• 1075 background check (access to Federal Tax information) and reference check required.
• This position requires State of Colorado residency at the time of application (unless otherwise identified in the posting), and residency within the state throughout the