Child support services, collaboration and leadership focus of ERICSA 2023 annual conference

This year marks the diamond anniversary of the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association (ERICSA), which hosted its annual conference last month in Savannah, Georgia.

Since its founding in 1963, ERICSA has grown its mission to serve state and county child support organizations east of the Mississippi River. In recent years, the conference has expanded to serve state, county, and tribal child support organizations.

In all, nearly 600 participants enjoyed more than 45 sessions.

Conduent, a Premier Partner to the conference, sponsored the event’s mobile app to ensure participants and attendees had fast, easy and up-to-the-minute information about sessions and events.

Conduent’s Business Development lead for Child Support, Zach Steed, who serves on the ERICSA board of directors, was the “Voice of ERICSA” and made official announcements throughout the conference program.

Other members of the team coordinated and presented in sessions.

I moderated a session titled “Reaching the Unreached: How Child Support Programs Successfully Share the Word about the Value of the Child Support Program to Parents.” Speakers were Matthew Gomez of the Virginia Department of Social Services, and Patrick Robertson, Business Initiatives Project Manager for the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Gomez and Robertson shared their experiences in working with a federal digital marketing grant focused on improving communication with parents who need services and outlined best practices for child support programs to share information while ensuring parents are not turned away from the program.

Both Kimberly Newsom Bridges, Senior Director of our Conduent child support team, and I spoke on “The Power of Positive Leadership” with David Gillen, a regional child support manager from Florida. The session was coordinated by April Graper of Indiana.

The week included a session sharing the wisdom of Lewis Grizzard, a Georgia humorist and author, as portrayed by Bill Oberst, Jr. He shared Grizzard’s reflections on his difficult relationship with his father, which resonated with this audience of professionals committed to working with children and parents.

It wasn’t all work, though. A dinner cruise on a paddle-wheeler with great food and music was the closing highlight on the last evening, and a rousing game of “ERICSA Squares” closed out the final daytime session on Friday morning.

Conduent is honored to support ERICSA each year. The 2023 conference was indeed a gem, and we are looking forward to meeting again in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2024!

Conduent’s Child Support Services can help reduce costs, improve processes, and deliver reliable and secure payments to parents. Discover how our team can help your agency now by visiting www.conduent.com/government-solutions/child-support-solutions.