Michigan

Case Closure Project (Management Techniques)

Description/Goal

In the fall of 1998, spurred on by a desire for an accurate caseload count for the national program incentives and for federal reporting and a desire to improve caseload management, Michigan's Office of Child Support identified closure of appropriate cases as an important priority for the next year. Conversion to the new automated system had resulted in over 200,000 cases that had previously been closed or purged being designated as open in the new automated system. In addition, almost 30,000 additional cases appeared to meet federal case closure criteria. With these cases counted in its caseload Michigan OCS estimated it would be entitled to no incentive payment under “factor two,” “Cases with Orders.”

Michigan developed a two-pronged approach to deleting inappropriate cases from its caseload and to moving forward on cases needing action. First, a data clean-up effort would be undertaken to identify and close those cases that had been erroneously “re-opened” during the systems conversion process. Second, an effort would be made to contact custodial parents in additional cases meeting federal case closure criteria to jointly determine next steps on the case.

The data clean-up effort identified those cases that had been erroneously re-opened during systems conversion and closed them with a special code of `X' and a history note that read, “Case changed from `D' to `X' due to Data Cleanup Project.” At the end of the project, the special code was removed to avoid corruption of reporting data.

In the second phase of the project, cases were identified which met one of three criteria:

• Active IV-D case, non-TANF, no court order for child support, “unknown parent” and last action date more than 12 months earlier.
• Active IV-D case, TANF or non-TANF, no court order for child support and the youngest child is 18 or older.
• Active IV-D case, non-TANF, no court order for child support, known parent and last action code of 36 months.

29,556 cases fell into these categories.

Three temporary staff members were hired and trained to field calls and collect information needed to update the computer system. Staff were provided resource materials, such as local phone numbers for Prosecuting Attorneys, Friends of the Court and support specialists. They also had access to program information, in case the caller identified additional issues that needed resolution.

Beginning in April 1999, letters were sent to the custodial parent in each case which met case closure criteria. These letters notified clients that the case would be closed unless they contacted the child support office within 60 days. They also provided clients a toll-free number to call if they wished to keep their case open, had additional locate information or had questions concerning child support.

Approximately 3,000 letters were mailed each week for a 10-week period. This staggered mailing schedule created a more constant level of incoming phone calls throughout the project, reducing the likelihood that callers would not reach a staff member when they called. (The phones were staffed Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 4:30. Voice mail could be left at other times and was answered within one business day.)

Because they were sent in batches, letters could be sent by region, saving on postage. In addition, the District Manager from each region could be brought into the phone center at the most relevant times to help respond to questions concerning regional operations.

The special toll-free number was staffed from April through August.

Results

219,886 cases which had been erroneously re-opened during systems conversion were closed.

Of the 29,556 letters which were sent in cases meeting case closure criteria, 6,620 were returned by the Postal Service as undeliverable. Just over 3,000 phone calls were received by the toll-free number as a result of the mailing. Almost a quarter of those requested case closure. Approximately, 28,000 cases were closed as a result of the process, with the balance requesting continuing assistance.

Location

Statewide.

Funding

Total project costs for the Case Closure Project were $33,413 - including the costs of three temporary staff members, printing and mailing costs, and telephone costs. Project costs were paid with regular IV-D funds.

Replication Advice

Providing a toll free number to call worked well. Having a live person available to answer questions about individual cases and to provide general child support information was very helpful and was appreciated by callers.

Be careful about the wording of letters. Some members of the public take offense at terms like “alleged father” that may be common parlance among child support staff.

Having a seasoned professional staff available to answer specific program questions was also helpful.