Library: News Release
OKLAHOMA CITY – CARE, the customer call center for Oklahoma Child Support Services (OCSS), will answer its seven-millionth call Monday. The call center answered more than a million child support calls in the last year alone.
Customer calls to CARE are routed first through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The IVR answers approximately two-thirds of incoming calls. The remaining callers are routed to customer service representatives in CARE, available to answer calls Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and the first days after holidays are the busiest days.
Child support customers may reach CARE by calling 1-800-522-2922.
OCSS opened CARE in 2001 to give better overall service to its customers. Before CARE was established, custodial persons and non-custodial parents were calling the district offices to get answers to routine questions about child support services. CARE handles routine questions, freeing case workers to handle more complex child support issues. CARE is able to answer 93 percent of child support calls without needing to involve a caseworker.
“Providing quick, accurate information is our goal,” said Barbara Millikan, a programs manager and CARE contract monitor for OCSS.
CARE began answering calls for the El Reno Child Support Office on March 6, 2001. CARE was rolled out statewide for all district offices in January 2003. It is operated under a contract between OKDHS and the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Public Management.
CARE has about 75 customer service representatives handling incoming calls.
To learn more about ways to make your child support payment, or for more information about Oklahoma Child Support Services, call 1-800-522-2922, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or visit www.okdhs.org and select “Child Support."
Oklahoma Child Support Services is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. To promote healthy families, OCSS establishes, monitors and enforces reliable support while encouraging self-sufficiency and strengthening relationships. The division is responsible for more than 203,000 active child support cases, collecting more than $359 million in the last year on behalf of children and families.
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