North Carolina

NEAT Project

Goal: To concentrate on case clean up and to increase the percentage of cases with an order.

Description: The North Carolina Child Support Enforcement Program established a Pilot Project in the Northeastern Area of the State beginning July 1, 2000 and ending June 30, 2001. The effort began with the North Eastern Area Team (NEAT) Project in an area of the State covering 15 state-operated counties. The team members for this project were selected based on their performance and proficiency in the area of establishment and interstate casework.

The project supports local child support offices by performing identified tasks using the North Carolina automated child support system. This support is done from remote locations throughout the State, thereby freeing local staff to provide higher quality services, more efficient case management, and more responsive service.

Some examples of tasks that can be handled remotely include: 1) review of cases to insure they are in the correct processing status (that is,"locate cases" will go through the automated locate process); 2) completion of documents to initiate civil action for establishment of paternity and support; 3) working New Hire worklist items to initiate income withholding; and 4) case closure based on federal case closure criteria.

Briefings were held with the local staff and supervisors to present the project and discuss procedures and expectations before the project began in a county. Project queries were identified by the team leader, distributed to the team members using the LAN, and worked from remote locations throughout the State. Team members did not need to travel to other areas of the State. The "worklist" items were connected to the New Hire Database. Based on New Hire information, Team members generated income-withholding documents from their remote locations. Local agents filed the documents in their respective judicial districts. Procedures were developed to ensure communication and feedback between local office staff and team members and timeframes were established to ensure timely responses to requests made by the team and local office staff.

The Interstate team specialist worked the query of cases in "delinquent processing status" when the noncustodial parent had a verified out-of-state address and generated direct income withholdings when appropriate, as well as registered for enforcement with the other State. The local child support office provided documentation such as the order pay history and others needed for the Registration Package.

Results: The table below shows the increase in percent of cases with an order for the 15 participating counties in the northeastern area of North Carolina. A total of 858 civil actions and 2,422 case closure notices were generated.

Table 9.1. Increase in Percent of Cases with an Order

County	Increase as of 6/30/00	Increase as of 07/01/01	Increase as of 12/31/01
Bertie	70%	76%	84%
Camden	83%	86%	89%
Carteret	69%	77%	82%
Craven	59%	67%	74%
Currituck	50%	61%	78%
Dare	50%	64%	72%
Franklin	55%	67%	78%
Gates	80%	88%	92%
Hertford	63%	71%	82%
Hyde	53%	64%	77%
Pamlico	78%	88%	90%
Pasquotank	75%	80%	86%
Perquimans	81%	87%	90%
Tyrrell	55%	67%	84%
Warren	70%	77%	80%

Location: Counties named above. The offices in the project area continue to follow the procedures and practices established by the NEAT Project. The project has expanded to include the 16 additional State operated local child support offices in the State. Data for these counties is not available at this time. We are confident the results will be comparable to that data shown for the Northeastern Area Project.

Additionally, the project expanded to include a procedure to initiate civil actions from the Central Office on Affidavits of Parentage received from Vital Records when the NCP has signed an Affidavit. These documents are printed in the local office for local staff to follow up with obtaining service of process.

Funding: No additional funds were required as this was completed by reallocation of existing resources.

Replication Advice: Teamwork is essential for the success of the project. It is imperative that procedures and expectations are made clear to all parties involved (that is, team leader, office manager, local office staff, team members). The focus of the effort: (1) to establish an efficient and expeditious procedure to handle new cases; (2) to identify and close all appropriate cases based on federal case closure criteria; and (3) to proceed with civil actions against NCPs when a valid address or valid employer is available for process of service. The result of these actions is an increase in the percent of cases with an order.

Contact:

Ms. Elizabeth Harris

Assistant Chief of Local Operations

e-mail: Elizabeth.Harris@ncmail.net