Free Podcast About Child Support > Great for Dads and Practitioners

Child Support and the topics surrounding it are always hot topics. There's just so much for dads and practitioners to learn about it.

Recently, the Administration for Children and Families Child Support Enforcement office published an article about a new free podcast that covers these challenging topics. The Riverside County (RivCo) Department of Child Support Services Coffee Break launched a new podcast that helps educate the public about services available from local child support agencies. The podcast is aimed at tackling things that many people have misunderstandings about with regard to the child support program—who they serve, what caseworkers and managers can and can’t do to assist parents, and the reasons behind it all.

While it does cover California-specific child support topics, they also cover topics that apply nationwide. If you or the dads you serve are outside of California, be sure to focus/have dads focus on the content that pertains to nationwide issues.

The original article appears below.

Child Support Takes a Coffee Break
by Nicole Windom-Hurd, Assistant Director, Department of Child Support Services, Riverside County, California.

With people consuming more content through audiobooks and podcasts, we wanted to help write the narrative that informs our customers about child support programs and services. The Riverside County (RivCo) Department of Child Support Services Coffee Break podcast helps educate the public about services available from local child support agencies, both within our state of California and nationwide. 

Developing the concept 

RivCo child support Director Kimberly Britt, who enjoys listening to podcasts, conceived the idea of a child support podcast to inform the public about the variety of services and programs we offer. “Child support is such a unique case-by-case topic. It is essential to provide the best platform to discuss those topics while delivering content through the services our customers are using to consume media.”

Chief Attorney Bruce Wagner and Deputy Director of Programs and Operations Nathan Hartel co-host Coffee Break. By having decades of child support experience between them, they can discuss complex scenarios while sharing an informed, in-depth perspective. But we knew that wasn’t enough. They also had to find the right tone. While there is a need to create a lighter, more intimate and friendly approach, Wagner and Hartel recognize that their tone should match the gravity of the issues that customers must address. 

Identifying the appropriate audience was our most challenging obstacle because each child support case can involve a variety of subjects and topics. We narrowed our focus to four primary audiences — existing child support customers, the public who may need child support services, counties and government agencies, and RivCo child support employees. 

Tackling difficult content 

The podcast team recognized that many people have misunderstandings about the child support program, who we serve, what caseworkers and managers can and can’t do to assist parents, and the reasons behind it all. Rather than tiptoeing around those issues, we wanted to face them head-on and use the podcast format as an opportunity to clarify misunderstandings. The first season has six episodes featuring: 

• Facts and myths 
• The child support process 
• Legal pitfalls and how to avoid them 
• Our impact on our community 
• Future programs and services 
• Interview with the director 

Leading the way 

Listeners with mobile devices can find Season 1 of Coffee Break by searching for “RivCoDCSS” on any podcast client. Episodes are also available on the Coffee Break website. According to one podcast ranking service, Coffee Break is the #1 most listened to podcast about child support programs and services. 

RivCo child support is the first local child support agency that we know of to create a podcast that educates and informs the public about the programs and services we offer. We have listeners throughout the United States and around the world. “We have some great things in store next season,” according to Coffee Break Producer Marquese Howard. “We’ll have live interviews with customers, questions and answers directly with a lawyer, and we may even pop up at a conference near you! The first episode of Season 2 will debut by March 2020.” 

For more information about the podcast, contact Marquese Howard at 951-955-4150 or email MDHoward@RivCo.org.