The core area provides a foundation for certificates in the five Functional Program Areas and consists of seven assessments.
- Case initiation
- Ethics
- Preparing a case for court
- Microsoft Office applications
- Written communication
- Oral communication
- Managing your caseload
The assessments address knowledge and skills identified by child support specialists in the CSS Certification Job Profile Report as being very important, but are not specific to any of the five functional areas.
The functional area includes five certificates in the program areas. It consists of five assessments. The assessments address knowledge and skills identified by child support specialists in the Child Support Specialist Certification Job Profile Report (.pdf, 137 PP, 661 KB) as being very important and are specific to each of the five functional areas.
Locate certificate
- Understanding of automated locate process for persons and assets
- Execute manual locate process for persons and assets
- Federal regulations including time frames
- Electronic searches
- Paternity establishment
- Support establishment
- Child support guidelines
- Establishment pleadings and orders
- Calculation of current support and prior support
- Automated enforcement remedies
- Semi-automated enforcement remedies
- Civil enforcement remedies
- Criminal enforcement remedies
- Review and adjustment
- Arrears computation
- Incoming interstate issues
- Enforcement pleadings and orders
- Overview of federal requirements
- Preparing transmittals
- Reading interstate orders
- CEJ, jurisdiction and determining controlling order
- Outgoing Interstate case maintenance
- Multiple orders arrears reconciliation
- Arrears computation and distributing
- Reading instate and Interstate orders
- Foster care and Office of Juvenile Affairs cases
- Tax intercept
- Financial adjustments
- Undistributed
- Overpayments
- Unreimbursed assistance
- Interest
- Receipts posting and returned warrants