As a result of the inquiries from other states about the Oklahoma Child Support Specialist (CSS) Certification program, the Advisory Council explained the program in the following stages:
The Child Support Specialist (CSS) Certification program is a recognition program for individuals who maintain a caseload. It is a program to recognize proficiency acquired in the educational and professional development of child support services staff. The process will continue to define and assess uniform standards for skills expected of child support professionals to do their job. An individual may be recognized as a general child support enforcement specialist with expertise in many areas or with expertise in specialized areas. An individual can take competency-based assessments to document demonstrated expertise. An individual can take assessment in one or multiple functional areas. Certificates can be obtained in one or multiple functional areas. Full certification is awarded to individual after completion of all five functional areas plus core. Core includes topics that are universal to all areas of child support. The five functional areas are: Locate, Establishment, Enforcement, Interstate, and Finance. Demonstrated expertise in Core by successful completion of core assessments is a pre-requisite to taking assessments in the functional areas. The seven core areas are: Ethics, Case Initiation, Child Support Law and Policy, Microsoft Office Applications, Written Communication, Oral Communication and Managing Your Caseload.
Professional development opportunities are available for all functional and core areas. In preparation for certification, participants are encouraged to enroll in relevant specialized training offered and listed on the Oklahoma Child Support Services training calendar. In addition e-training is available in some areas. The online Child Support Manual is also available in the OCSS Library. National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA) (Link opens in a new window) Tele-talks and the Oklahoma Child Support Enforcement Association (OCSEA) (Link opens in a new window) conference also provide opportunities for professional development relevant to the certification process. Preparation ensures success!
In order to prepare for the full assessments, a CSS will have the option of going through an online pre-assessment which will take about 20-40 minutes in length for each core and functional area. The pre-assessment will be a sampling of the types of questions to be covered in the full assessment. At the end of the online pre-assessment, the CSS will receive immediate feedback about their performance identifying areas of strength and areas where improvement is needed. Direction to appropriate resources will also be provided at the end of the pre-assessment.
Certification participants will successfully complete all seven core areas before taking assessments for any of the functional areas. Individuals can take an assessment in any functional area. It is recommended that CSS's take relevant specialized training and the online pre-assessment before taking the full assessment. All assessments will be administered in secure designated assessment sites. Each assessment will require one to two hours to complete. Assessment results will not be the property of Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) or OCSS. Upon successful completion of core assessments, an individual can register to take any assessment in any functional area with the approval of the immediate supervisor in order to maintain staffing in district offices.
Certification participants will receive feedback and successful completion documentation concerning the assessments directly. Individual scores will be available to participants only. If professional development is needed, participants will receive information concerning professional development opportunities.
The successful completion of any functional area will require the one time successful completion of all Core areas. At that time, an individual may make application with OCSEA (Link opens in new window) and be awarded a certificate in that functional area. Upon successful completion of Core and all functional areas an individual may make application with OCSEA (Link opens in new window) and be awarded full Certification.
Each individual CSS will take one comprehensive test on the seven core areas and five functional areas, plus 20 hours of service credit as a subject matter expert (SME) every two years.