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| We do our best at the Child Maintenance Service but lone parents still lose out We do our best at the Child Maintenance Service but lone parents still lose out | |
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| Since June 2014, when the Child Support Agency became the Child Maintenance Service, any parent who wants to apply for child maintenance must pay a £20 fee. | Since June 2014, when the Child Support Agency became the Child Maintenance Service, any parent who wants to apply for child maintenance must pay a £20 fee. |
| My job as a caseworker is to help secure financial support for children whose parents have separated. I do my best, but I see hundreds of single-parent families with little to no savings get turned away, unable to access a public service even though they are the ones who need it most and often struggle to access funds they might have had in joint bank accounts. | My job as a caseworker is to help secure financial support for children whose parents have separated. I do my best, but I see hundreds of single-parent families with little to no savings get turned away, unable to access a public service even though they are the ones who need it most and often struggle to access funds they might have had in joint bank accounts. |
| Sadly, it isn’t easy to deliver the sort of humane and quality public service families expect and deserve. Like other benefits assessors who have written for this series, I work in a stats-driven department. When I talk to families, I have to read verbatim from a script – and all our calls are monitored. | Sadly, it isn’t easy to deliver the sort of humane and quality public service families expect and deserve. Like other benefits assessors who have written for this series, I work in a stats-driven department. When I talk to families, I have to read verbatim from a script – and all our calls are monitored. |
| Every family is different, but the only difference that the DWP is interested in is whether or not they can afford to pay the access fee. I am often asked whether the fee can be deducted from the first child maintenance payment, or why the claimant has to pay a fee, when it’s their ex-partner who should be paying. Others ask if they can pay in instalments, a couple of pounds a week. But the answer every time has to be no. | Every family is different, but the only difference that the DWP is interested in is whether or not they can afford to pay the access fee. I am often asked whether the fee can be deducted from the first child maintenance payment, or why the claimant has to pay a fee, when it’s their ex-partner who should be paying. Others ask if they can pay in instalments, a couple of pounds a week. But the answer every time has to be no. |
| Every day I see parents who qualify for child maintenance get their applications rejected, simply because they are too impoverished to pay the fee. And more than 90% of parents applying for child maintenance are women. | Every day I see parents who qualify for child maintenance get their applications rejected, simply because they are too impoverished to pay the fee. And more than 90% of parents applying for child maintenance are women. |
| The turning point for me was when a manager towered over me and instructed me to terminate a call from a mother sobbing her heart out. The mother explained that her family had fallen apart and she had suffered a mental breakdown and had lost her job as a result. She begged me to waive the fee but my manager regarded that as simply “wasting time” while other applicants queued on the switchboard. | The turning point for me was when a manager towered over me and instructed me to terminate a call from a mother sobbing her heart out. The mother explained that her family had fallen apart and she had suffered a mental breakdown and had lost her job as a result. She begged me to waive the fee but my manager regarded that as simply “wasting time” while other applicants queued on the switchboard. |
| It is a very emotional experience for many parents to talk to me about their family situation and what they have been through. Many make childcare arrangements so their children aren’t within earshot of what is a very difficult phonecall. | It is a very emotional experience for many parents to talk to me about their family situation and what they have been through. Many make childcare arrangements so their children aren’t within earshot of what is a very difficult phonecall. |
| To this government’s shame, the £20 fee was charged to hundreds of survivors of domestic abuse earlier this year, despite it being explicit policy that they should be exempt. My colleagues and I were told by senior managers that even if the operator transferring the call flags up domestic abuse, we must take the fee, unless the applicant says directly they are a victim of domestic abuse. We successfully pushed back and made complaints about this. | To this government’s shame, the £20 fee was charged to hundreds of survivors of domestic abuse earlier this year, despite it being explicit policy that they should be exempt. My colleagues and I were told by senior managers that even if the operator transferring the call flags up domestic abuse, we must take the fee, unless the applicant says directly they are a victim of domestic abuse. We successfully pushed back and made complaints about this. |
| Gingerbread, which represents single parents, and Women’s Aid, a charity for domestic abuse survivors, have been among the organisations to raise concerns over the handling of domestic violence cases. | Gingerbread, which represents single parents, and Women’s Aid, a charity for domestic abuse survivors, have been among the organisations to raise concerns over the handling of domestic violence cases. |
| They have been right to point out that caseworkers do not always get the specialist training in working with domestic abuse survivors or in how to spot the signs of financial coercion. And yet the DWP itself estimates that 32% of parents applying to the service will have experienced domestic abuse. | They have been right to point out that caseworkers do not always get the specialist training in working with domestic abuse survivors or in how to spot the signs of financial coercion. And yet the DWP itself estimates that 32% of parents applying to the service will have experienced domestic abuse. |
| To top things off, we use an archaic computer system that has a chronic tendency to crash. Caseworkers are told to provide pointless log-off records to explain why they are logged out following system crashes. The irony is that filling out log-off records and being taken off the phones to explain systemic failures only wastes more valuable time that should be spent helping applicants. Every day hundreds of calls go unanswered or are lost partway through. It only adds to the frustration of the parents and staff alike. | To top things off, we use an archaic computer system that has a chronic tendency to crash. Caseworkers are told to provide pointless log-off records to explain why they are logged out following system crashes. The irony is that filling out log-off records and being taken off the phones to explain systemic failures only wastes more valuable time that should be spent helping applicants. Every day hundreds of calls go unanswered or are lost partway through. It only adds to the frustration of the parents and staff alike. |
| As for the mother whose call I was told to terminate, maybe she found a way to pay the fee. I don’t know what she did to get help, or if she ever got any help at all. | As for the mother whose call I was told to terminate, maybe she found a way to pay the fee. I don’t know what she did to get help, or if she ever got any help at all. |
| This series aims to give a voice to the staff behind the public services that are hit by mounting cuts and rising demand, and so often denigrated by the press, politicians and public. If you would like to write an article for the series, contact kirstie.brewer@theguardian.com | This series aims to give a voice to the staff behind the public services that are hit by mounting cuts and rising demand, and so often denigrated by the press, politicians and public. If you would like to write an article for the series, contact kirstie.brewer@theguardian.com |
| Talk to us on Twitter via @Guardianpublic and sign up for your free weekly Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you every Thursday. | Talk to us on Twitter via @Guardianpublic and sign up for your free weekly Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you every Thursday. |