9/23/99

Contacts:
Sue Jarnagin, Institute for Public Leadership, 515/294-2951
Susan Thompson, Agriculture Information, 515/294-0705

COMMON GROUND LEADERSHIP AWARD PRESENTED

AMES, Iowa -- A group of state employees who streamlined the paperwork for processing child support obligations has received the 1999 Common Ground Leadership Award from the Institute for Public Leadership.

The work group focused on the number of pages filed with clerks of court in child support cases. In addition to reducing the number of pages of each form, the nine people in the group explored ways to make the forms more understandable to the public.

Members of the forms revision workgroup are Chief Judge John A. Nahra of the 7th Judicial District, Davenport; Chief Judge Ronald H. Schechtman of the 2nd Judicial District, Carroll; District Court Judge J. Hobart Darbyshire of the 7th Judicial District, Davenport; Susan Bergwall and Sharon Stilwell, Bureau of Collections, Des Moines; Terry Cutler, Child Support Recovery Unit, Marshalltown; M. Elise Pippin and Patricia R. Hemphill, assistant attorneys general, Des Moines; and Michael Parker, assistant attorney general, Davenport.

The award was presented Sept. 21 at the Institute for Public Leadership's final 1999 training session in Newton.

In nominating the workgroup for the award, Nancy Thoma, chief of the Department of Human Services' Bureau of Collections, said the revised legal forms are "significantly shorter and employ more understandable language. The reduction in the forms' length will ease the paper handling and storage burdens the previous forms created."

The forms must be duplicated and sent to all parties involved in a child support action. Thoma said the number of form pages could be reduced by "up to a quarter million over a year. The more compact forms also should result in reduced mailing costs for the state. And the shorter, easier-to-understand legal forms may seem less formidable."

Another benefit of the workgroup was that it gave people with a variety of perspectives the opportunity to work together. "Representatives of the judicial and executive branches of Iowa government were able to communicate some of the real world pressures and constraints that affect each branch's policy and procedural decisions. The forms revision project provided a unique forum for agency staff, state attorneys, and district court judges to brainstorm and problem solve together," said Thoma.

The Common Ground Leadership Award is given annually to a person or group that has made significant contributions toward enhancing quality of governmental services delivered to Iowans; increasing governmental effectiveness, efficiency and communication; and exemplifying the spirit of intergovernmental cooperation and achievement.

Established in 1995, the Institute for Public Leadership promotes communication, cooperation and quality service delivery among Iowa's three branches of state government. Each year the institute trains emerging leaders from all levels and branches of state government.

News Releases Agriculture in Action Ag Online Communications Skills Home