Child Support Specialist I

Position Information

The Department of Child Support Services is looking for energetic, detail-oriented, candidates with strong customer service skills to join their highly innovative team as a Child Support Specialist I.

Starting salary up to $35.46/hour ( $74,009 /year) and a competitive total compensation package, and an additional $1.50/hour for fluent bilingual assignments*!

The Department of Child Support Services is currently recruiting to fill two full-time Child Support Specialist I vacancies, one monolingual English and one fluent bilingual (English/Spanish). If you are interested in one or both positions, we encourage you to apply now!

The Sonoma County Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) works directly with parents and legal guardians to establish paternity and ensure children and families receive court-ordered financial and medical support. Child Support Specialist I is a great opportunity to begin a rewarding career with the County of Sonoma where you can enjoy the satisfaction of making a difference in your community.


The Position

As a Child Support Specialist I (CSS I), you will work within a team environment, managing tasks and making independent decisions . These positions report to their lead worker and supervisors. CSS I's will also be responsible for:

• Establishing, reviewing, enforcing, researching, preparing, and monitoring child support payments and collections
• Interviewing those receiving and paying support
• Compiling information from documents, financial statements, and other appropriate sources regarding child support cases
• Preparing legal documents
• Prioritizing and managing a large caseload while meeting mandated time frames and compliance standards

As an Ideal candidate, you will possess many of the following:

• Superb organizational and prioritization skills
• Experience handling and interpreting a variety of court orders and legal documents
• The ability to focus on complex tasks and projects with frequent interruptions
• The ability to stay composed with uncooperative, confused, and sometimes frustrated individuals
• Excellent customer service and interpersonal skills, the ability to effectively communicate by phone, in person, and in writing
• The ability to work independently and collaboratively with other staff

What We Offer

Working at the County of Sonoma offers expansive opportunities for growth and development, the ability to be a part of a challenging and rewarding work environment, and the satisfaction of knowing you're working to better our communities. You can also look forward to flexible work arrangements and excellent benefits* including:

• Hybrid Telework - A schedule that meets the needs of our staff, department operations, and the communities we serve may be available depending on the assignment
• Salary Advancement - A salary increase after 1,040 hours (6 months when working full-time) for good work performance; eligibility for a salary increase for good performance every year thereafter, until reaching the top of the salary range
• Career Advancement - With time and good performance, the opportunity for advancement to Child Support Specialist II, (Civil Service title: Child Support Officer II) ($34.36 - $41.76/hour)
• Bilingual Premium Pay* - An additional $1.50/hour on top of the hourly pay rate for fluent bilingual positions
• Paid Time Off - Competitive vacation and sick leave accruals, 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year
• County Paid Health Premium Contributions - 100% premium contribution for the majority of employee-only and employee + family health plan options
• Post-Retirement Health Reimbursement Arrangement - County contributions to help fund post-retirement health insurance/benefits
• Retirement - A pension fully integrated with Social Security
• Paid Parental Leave - May be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) after 12 months of County employment
• Student Loan Debt Relief - County employees may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education

*Salary is negotiable within the established range. Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice. Additional information can be found in the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 Memorandum Of Understanding (SEIU MOU) and our Employee Benefits Directory .

**Bilingual positions require English and Spanish skills at either the basic (conversational) or fluent (reading, writing, and conversational) level. Applicants who wish to be considered for a bilingual position must indicate their level of skill in the required supplemental questionnaire. An examination will be conducted prior to employment in a bilingual position to confirm the level of skill in this area. Bilingual premium pay is $1.50/hour for fluent skill sets.

This employment list may also be used to fill future full-time, part-time, or extra-help (temporary) positions as they occur during the active status of the list. Qualified County employees who wish to be considered for future positions should consider applying to this recruitment. The Civil Service title for this position is Child Support Officer I.

Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire to be completed.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience and Education: Education and/or experience which would provide the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and abilities listed. Normally, completion of academic coursework in the social sciences, law, and other related fields and one year of experience involving contact with the public and reviewing or preparing legal-type documents or documentation in child support operations, collections, credit investigation, law enforcement or eligibility determination work, would provide such opportunity.

Education: Academic course work which relates to knowledge and abilities listed. Normally, this would include courses in investigation, interviewing, paralegal or legal assistant and social and behavioral science.

License: Possession of a valid driver's license at the appropriate level, including necessary endorsements as required by the State of California to perform the essential job functions of the position.

Special Qualifications: The ability to speak, read and write Spanish fluently may be required for certain job assignments.

The positions advertised on this announcement does not require possession of a valid California Driver’s License.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Working knowledge of: interviewing principles and techniques used for obtaining factual information; financial record keeping procedures; modern office practices and procedures, including use of various data processing systems and equipment.

Knowledge of: methods and techniques used in collections; common legal terminology, documents, and procedures used to enforce payment of funds.

Ability to: learn and apply federal, state or local laws, ordinances, codes, procedures and rules in order to secure current and delinquent child support payments and establish paternity; learn to process, organize, and prioritize a large caseload while maintaining legal time lines and due process standards; effectively interview individuals in order to secure information required for the collection of child support payments; recognize the needs, attitudes and problems of people from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds; effectively locate individuals and research information on the whereabouts of non-custodial parents; make logical determinations from financial statements on the amount of child support payments; learn to monitor child support payment records to insure compliance with court orders; learn when and how to prepare and process appropriate legal documents; prepare correspondence and convey facts and information; serve legal documents; establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, co-workers, and public and private agency personnel; extract pertinent information from records; exercise independent judgment within general guidelines; prepare clear and concise written reports and memoranda; deal with stressful situations and hostile people; perform basic arithmetic calculations; effectively use data processing equipment and systems; analyze and interpret electronic information systems data.

Selection Procedure & Some Helpful Tips When Applying

• Your application information and your responses to the supplemental questions are evaluated and taken into consideration throughout the entire selection process.
• You should list all employers and positions held within the last ten years in the work history section of your application. Be as thorough as possible when responding to the supplemental questions.
• You may include history beyond ten years if related to the position for which you are applying. If you held multiple positions with one employer, list out each position separately.
• Failure to follow these instructions may impact your competitiveness in this process or may result in disqualification.

Please visit Getting a Job with the County of Sonoma to review more detailed information about the hiring process, including the application process, examination steps, and department selection process.

Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire be completed.

Responses to supplemental questions will be scored using position-specific criteria. Please provide specific and detailed responses of a reasonable length to allow for a thorough assessment of your qualifications. Responses that state, "See Resume" or "See Application" may be considered insufficient and therefore may not be scored.

The selection procedure will consist of the following examination:

An Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination (weight 100%) will be conducted to evaluate each applicant's application and supplemental questionnaire for satisfaction of minimum qualifications (pass/not pass); and for educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge, and abilities which relate to this position. Each applicant will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Relevance of work history, related experience, and achieved level of education and/or training as described in the application and responses to the supplemental questions.

Candidates demonstrating possession of the minimum qualifications will be placed on an employment list in order of most qualified to least qualified based on the achieved score received in the Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination which evaluates the education, training, experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, and other qualifications that you demonstrate in your application and/or response to the supplemental questionnaire. Please be aware that resumes and cover letters are not typically evaluated in the Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination. Scores may be adjusted based on such factors as the number of candidates, anticipated vacancies, past practice, and natural breaks in the scores achieved by this group of candidates.

Additional Information

A background investigation is required prior to employment. Candidates referred to departments for a selection interview are typically required to sign authorization and release forms enabling such an investigation. Failure to sign prescribed forms will result in the candidate not being considered further for that vacancy. Reference information will not be made available to applicants.

Additional requirements, such as successful completion of a physical exam, drug screen, etc., may apply, depending on the duties and responsibilities of the position. If you receive a conditional job offer for the position, the requirements upon which the offer is contingent will be outlined in the conditional job letter. You may also review th e Job Classification Screening Schedule to determine the requirements for this position.

How to Apply

Applications are accepted online at www.yourpath2sonomacounty.org . Paper applications may be submitted by person, fax (707-565-3770), email, or through the mail. All applications and appropriate supplemental information as outlined in the job bulletin must be received by the time and date specified on the first page of this job announcement. Applications received after the recruitment closes will not be accepted.

The County of Sonoma values diversity and is dedicated to creating a workplace environment that provides individuals with a sense of belonging. We are committed to having a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. The County is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer where all aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance, and business need.

HR Analyst: CA

HR Technician: VH

Important Note: Benefits described herein do not apply to Extra Help positions.

County of Sonoma Benefits: General*

These are some of the excellent benefits the County offers:

Paid Time Off: Competitive vacation accrual and sick leave accruals; additional management leave annually; 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year; and may be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) of Paid Parental Leave after 12 months of County employment.

Health Plan: Choose from nine health plans (three HMOs, three deductible HMOs, and three HSA-qualifying plans) with a generous County contribution to the premium (the contribution amount varies by bargaining unit). For more information, please see the appropriate MOU.

Retirement: Fully integrated with Social Security. For more information regarding eligibility, retirement contributions, and reciprocity with prior public service, please visit https://scretire.org/active-/-deferred/when-you-are-hired .

IRS 457 Plan: Pre-tax employee contribution up to the IRS annual maximum.

Retiree Medical: County contribution to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement to help fund post-retirement employee health insurance/benefits.

Student Loan Debt Relief: County employees may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education.

Plus, excellent dental, vision, disability, life insurance, professional development, and more.

For answers to specific questions regarding the employment process and more details about benefits or retirement, please contact Human Resources at (707) 565-2331. Additional details about benefit and compensation packages can be found in the MOUs located at Labor Agreements & Salary Resolution . For specific information about health and welfare benefits, including plan options, coverage, and premium amounts, go to Human Resources or contact the Human Resources' Risk Management-Benefits Office at benefits@sonomacounty.gov or (707) 565-2900.

*Important Notes: Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice.

Closing Date/Time: 10/8/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

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• County of Sonoma

• 707-565-8059

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