Child Care Administrator’s Improper Payments Information Technology Guide

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I. SYSTEM SOLUTIONS TO PREVENT AND IDENTIFY IMPROPER PAYMENTS

A. Introduction

New or enhanced information systems can assist State administrators in preventing, identifying, and recouping improper payments in their subsidized child care programs. Information systems can support many of the processes involved in the administration of subsidized child care programs, including intake, eligibility determination, case management, provider management and payment, and reporting. Automated systems can help staff to perform their jobs more efficiently. They can also improve program integrity by assisting in the enforcement of program rules such as income thresholds for eligibility and by leveraging data from different sources for use in preventing and identifying improper payments.

The level of automation in the child care subsidy program varies widely across the States. Some child care subsidy programs currently benefit from modernization efforts of State information systems that provide a broad scope, such as including the child care subsidy program in a new eligibility determination system that may encompass other major benefit programs including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps, Medicaid, or the State Children’s Health Care Insurance Program (SCHIP). In other States, modernization efforts are not yet underway or do not include the subsidized child care programs. In these States, child care administrators may consider taking a proactive approach and advocating for inclusion of their programs into the modernization effort.

Solutions addressing the challenge of improper payments have emerged in the child care subsidy program and other benefit programs sharing similar processes. These solutions include screening tools, eligibility automation, data matching, electronic activity tracking, and reporting. This chapter profiles a number of different information system initiatives that prevent or identify improper payments in the child care subsidy program or other human service programs. While the list of system solutions is not exhaustive, it is representative of the different types of efforts used by States.