Child Support Report XXVII, No. 5, 20050501

Child Support Report

Vol. XXVII, No. 5, May 2005

Child Support Report is a publication of the Office of Child Support Enforcement, Division of Consumer Services.

CSR is published for information purposes only. No official endorsement of any practice, publication, or individual by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Child Support Enforcement is intended or should be inferred.

Multi-agency Collaboration to Pave the Way for Improving Medical Support

Identifying Medical Coverage for Dependents of Military Personnel

Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Notice

Increased CSENet Transactions Improve Interstate Communications

Georgia's Year of Accomplishment

Survival Rates of NDNH-Attributable Child Support Collections

Mother's Day

Improving Paternity Establishment Percentages

ACF Officials Highlight Recent Developments on a Wide Range of ACF Programs and Initiatives

Multi-agency Collaboration to Pave the Way for Improving Medical Support

By: Elaine Blackman

This summer, the Nation's state IV-D directors will meet with state directors from three other Department of Health and Human Services programs, marking the first such widespread collaborative effort on a national level concerning the issue of medical support for children.

State directors from Medicaid, SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program), and Child Welfare (IV-E) have been invited to join the state directors of child support enforcement programs in their multi-regional office-level meetings, set for June through August.

The meetings should result in a plan of action for each state IV-D director to further improve the program's effectiveness for obtaining medical support for the children it serves, as detailed in the National Child Support Enforcement Strategic Plan for FY 2005-2009.

In a joint "Dear Colleague Letter" to state directors of the four programs, in March, Administration for Children and Families Assistant Secretary Wade F. Horn and Dennis G. Smith, Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, urged their participation in the meetings. The letter pointed to the National Child Support Enforcement Strategic Plan as a driving force for this collaborative effort. The Strategic Plan stresses cooperation with other components of Federal, state, and local government, including Medicaid, SCHIP, and child welfare programs, in striving to meet its medical support goals.

The letter also specified three additional reasons that spurred plans for the meetings: the Child and Family Services Review, an ACF review system that helps states focus on systems change and improve outcomes for families and children; inspections conducted by the Office of Inspector General of seven states related to the use of Medicaid by children in foster care; and the Administration's desire to increase children's access to public and private health care coverage.

In preparing the agenda for the meetings, regional offices for each of the programs sought participation among their states. The agenda includes topics surrounding the timeliness of, and broader goals for, collaboration among these programs; perceived barriers to, and possibilities for enhancing, collaborative efforts; and best practices in states with cross-program approaches to children's health care issues.

OCSE Acting Commissioner David Siegel expects the meetings will "enhance our connections at all levels of government and through the three critical programs. Meetings such as these are important not only to us, but to those who look to us every day to improve their lives and their future-the children and families we serve."

Elaine Blackman is a Writer in the Division of Consumer Services

Identifying Medical Coverage for Dependents of Military Personnel

By: Bill Stuart

OCSE, the Ohio and New York CSE agencies, and the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) recently conducted a pilot program identifying medical coverage for dependents of military personnel. The pilot was intended to compare the medical support information at DMDC with the data in the state child support systems.

The pilot involved sending a file of all children on the Federal Case Registry (FCR) from Ohio and New York to DMDC for matching purposes. DMDC then matched the FCR participants with its records and indicated which children were enrolled and eligible for the military health insurance. The sample cases matched by DMDC for each state were then manually reviewed by OCSE staff to determine how often the child support system had the military medical insurance recorded. Neither state was required to extract the noncustodial parent, custodial parent and child data sent to DMDC. OCSE and DMDC performed all of the matching.

The pilot results provided valuable third-party medical support information to both Ohio and New York. The sample cases reviewed revealed medical coverage previously unknown to the state child support systems. It also identified cases that should be followed up, so that available medical insurance is used.

Some of the benefits of this project are:

It is cost effective as it reduces the number of National Medical Support Notices (NMSNs) sent by the states to DMDC for military personnel, since they will have the medical insurance coverage information provided to them by this match.
It identifies third-party medical insurance previously unknown to the state, e.g., military health insurance would be billed first rather than Medicaid absorbing these costs.
It expedites confirmation of the medical coverage for the child through the Department of Defense.

The recommendations resulting from the pilot are that the FCR/DMDC match be performed on a quarterly basis for all states and territories and the results be sent to the states and territories via CONNECT:DIRECT, as is other FPLS information.

For additional questions regarding this project Helen Smith can be contacted at (202)690-6639 or at hsmith@acf.hhs.gov.

Bill Stuart was involved in the Medical Support Work- group and the E-IWO Initiative.

Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Notice

If you have low-income clients that receive Medicare, please remind them that they can call 1-800-772-1213 or visit www.socialsecurity.gov for extra help.

Increased CSENet Transactions Improve Interstate Communications

By: Robin Rushton

A positive outcome of the Interstate Case Reconciliation (ICR) project is that states increased the number of exchange agreements to transmit data via CSENet by 11 percent in the first through third quarters of 2004. These exchange agreements not only determine which states and territories exchange data, but which type of CSENet transactions are exchanged.

Fifty-one states have implemented the CSENet functionality required for Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA) systems certification. Thirty-eight states have also implemented additional functionality to send and receive the Paternity (PAT), Enforcement (ENF), and Collection (COL) CSENet transactions.

During April 2005, 376 function codes for CSENet were enabled by the states and 20 states opened first-time communication with other states. Over 887,000 transactions were sent and received.

Besides assisting in the reconciliation of interstate case identifiers, another by-product of the ICR matches was to document each state's top 10 partners with shared interstate cases.

Analysts in the OCSE Division of State and Tribal Systems took the ICR document entitled "State Communication Partners" and compared it to the CSENet exchange agreement by function to determine if there were major gaps between CSENet exchange agreements and the states' largest trading partners. A series of conference calls were initiated by OCSE to determine if there are barriers to increasing the exchanges of CSENet transactions among the major trading partners.

Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Wyoming embarked on establishing new exchange agreements with other states. Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, and Rhode Island requested assistance to expand their exchange agreements. Colorado has increased its CSENet functionality and is pursuing enabling communications with Montana and Texas, and will look at expanding to other states.

A few states that implemented CSENet for all functionality had a difficult time accepting limited CSENet transactions from other states. Initially they adopted an all-or-nothing approach. For example, Wisconsin is willing to enable communications with other states but only if they can do all transactions within each function code. However, recently several states have programmed greater flexibility in their CSENet exchange agreements. North Dakota confirmed that it will enable communications and increase exchange agreements with other states that have only partial functionality. A teleconference with Wyoming resulted in the State agreeing to reprogram in order to accommodate other states with partial functionality.

States are also expanding their CSENet functionality beyond what was required for PRWORA certification. Colorado recently added COL transaction functionality. Kentucky is testing the PAT, ENF, and COL codes and anticipates having them in production by the end of May 2005. Nebraska reported that the COL transaction will be programmed and implemented by the end of 2005. Arkansas indicated that the program in CSENet to accept ENF transactions from other states will be implemented this summer.

Other states have indicated a desire to increase the number of data exchanges for CSENet after the next round of ICR matches. Nevada indicated it will not be permitted to open up ENF transactions until after the third round of ICR matches.

If your state wishes to expand its CSENet functionality or its exchange agreements with other states, please contact your CSENet technical assistance representative or your OCSE state systems analyst.

Robin Rushton is the Director of OCSE's Division of State and Tribal Systems.

Georgia's Year of Accomplishment

By: Barbara Joye

In May 2004, B. J. Walker became commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR), which includes the State Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). She immediately began to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the many health and social service agencies she leads, based on sound business principles as well as her passion for the well-being of families and children. As a result, the year since her appointment has seen dramatic improvements in these services, and child support enforcement has been no exception.

"Child support services help many Georgia families stay self-sufficient, and they make a big difference in the quality of children's lives," says Walker. "OCSE serves 24 percent of Georgia's children. It is a key component of DHR's efforts to assure that every child in this State has a safe, stable, nurturing home."

Georgia's OCSE has replaced paper child support checks with debit cards for those parents not choosing direct deposit. Since July, payments have reached families in half the time, and no one has had to worry about checks getting lost, stolen, or delayed in the mail. This dramatic change took place with very few technical problems.

OCSE then proceeded to build on an earlier Web-based interactive information system for custodial parents, "Where's my Child's Check?" (see March 2004 CSR), by launching a portal that gives both the custodial parent (CP) and the noncustodial parent (NCP) the ability to manage their cases online. Through the Constituent Services Portal, parents can apply for services, make support payments, update addresses and employment information, and monitor payment records, using a private identification number. These functions were chosen based on a survey of CPs and NCPs to determine their priorities.

Staff can also use the portal to eliminate hours of paperwork. They can access information on payments and case status, process applications and manage cases online. In addition, parents' ability to access information online instead of calling or visiting an OCSE office allows staff to concentrate on essential customer service.

One of Commissioner Walker's priorities has been to increase the number of children served by Child Protective Services who are placed with family members instead of foster parents when they cannot safely remain at home. OCSE works closely with DHR's Child Protective Services caseworkers when a paternal relative has been identified as a suitable placement but the putative father has not established paternity, so the relative has no legal relationship to the child. OCSE agents contact the father and provide paternity testing.

Two of OCSE's popular programs that strengthen families also began expanding during the past year. In four communities, OCSE has enlisted local leaders to help Georgia's Fatherhood Program increase services offered to NCPs (both men and women) who don't earn enough to pay child support. The program offers training and counseling to help parents qualify for and find better jobs and improve their relationships with their children and with the other parent. The agency recently received a Federal grant to expand its Child Access and Visitation program in five Atlanta metro-area counties. The program will arrange twice as many visits between the NCPs and their children in those counties, and will conduct outreach to CPs and NCPS to encourage them to attend parenting training, receive mediation, and use neutral pick-up and drop-off locations. The program already has an excellent record of improving compliance with child support orders, and is intended to enhance the emotional as well as financial well-being of children.

The agency also received a Federal grant to conduct a feasibility study of a health insurance pool that would offer coverage for children through the private sector at a reasonable rate when the NCP cannot get family health insurance through an employer.

"We are very proud of Commissioner Walker's outstanding leadership in improving services for children and families," says Georgia OCSE Director Robert Riddle. "I am gratified that we could support her initiatives through so many improvements in customer service and programs that strengthen families, as well as record collections of financial support."

Barbara Joye is an Account Manager for OCSE in Georgia Department of Human Resources.

Survival Rates of NDNH-Attributable Child Support Collections

By: Jennifer Francis

One of the most successful methods for collecting child support is through income withholdings issued to the noncustodial parent's (NCP) employer. In FY 2003, over 66 percent of the total child support collections reported to OCSE were the result of a direct income-withholding order. OCSE supplies state child support enforcement agencies with NCP employer data by matching employment information submitted to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) against child support case participant information available in the Federal Case Registry. In FY 2003, employment information on over 4.5 million NCPs and putative fathers was sent to the states from the NDNH, including approximately 1.9 million NCPs for whom new hire (W4) matches were found. OCSE's Division of Federal Systems measures the success of these matches in achieving child support collections by conducting studies in individual states on a small sample of the NDNH matches returned to that state. In 11 states studied from FY 2000 through FY 2002, over 13 percent of the W4 matches examined resulted in at least one child support collection. It is estimated that over $85M is collected annually in these 11 states as a result of NDNH W4-match data.

When a collection occurs as a result of a match, the payment history is tracked for a 12-month period. Even in states that achieve the highest collection rate (percent of cases that result in a payment) with NDNH new hire data, there is a steady decline in the payments attributable to these matches over time.

Among cases that receive at least one NDNH-attributable collection, only 70 to 85 percent of these income-withholding orders continued to produce collections in the second month, and by the fourth month, the survival rate dropped to approximately 50 percent. By the 12th month, the percentage of payments that still continued ranged from 28 percent to 9 percent, meaning that at least 72 percent of NCPs have ended their employment one year after the income-withholding collection began. These data suggest that employment of the NCP population is not continuous. Many NCPs may be moving and changing jobs frequently. Over 15 percent of the W4 matches studied in this sample were for employers who are known to be temporary employment agencies, where the employee may only work for a brief period of time.

The lack of continuity of collections from income-withholding orders shows the importance to the state of receiving timely employment information from the NDNH, as well as other sources.

If states are aware of an NCP's change in employment, they can work to get a new income-withholding order in place as soon as collections from the old order stop and, therefore, can help to ensure that child support is a reliable source of income for the family.

Comparative results for the same state from two different fiscal years underscore the importance of processing incoming NDNH matches in a timely manner. OCSE studied one state for two consecutive fiscal years and found significant improvement from one year to the next. Collection rates more than doubled from 7.5 percent to 15.4 percent in the second year. In the first year studied, OCSE observed a delay in the processing of many of the W4 matches sent to the state. These delays were eliminated during the second fiscal year and consequently, IWOs were sent to employers in a more timely manner and were more successful in achieving collections.

Jennifer Francis is the Economics Analysis Team Lead in OCSE.

Mother's Day

The U.S. Census Bureau released a series entitled "Facts for Features" on Mothers in March 2005.

82.5 million is the estimated number of mothers in the United States.
In Mississippi, 68 percent of women, ages 15 to 44 are mothers. This is the highest rate among states. The national average is 56 percent.
4 million women have babies each year. Of this number, 425,000 are teens, age 15 to 19. More than 100,000 are age 40 or over.
10 million single mothers are living with children under 18 years old, up from 3 million in 1970.
Only about 10 percent of women today ended their childbearing years with four or more children. That compares with 36 percent in 1976.
35,000 births occurred in 2002 attended by physicians, midwives, or others outside of hospitals.
August is the most popular month in which to have a baby. 359,000 births took place in August 2002.
Tuesday is the most popular day of the week in which to have a baby. Almost 13,000 births took place on Tuesday in 2002.
Two children is the average number that women have today.
Among mothers with infant children in 2002, 55 percent are in the labor force, down from a record 59 percent in 1998.

U.S. Census Bureau Facts For Features & Special Editions, dated March 15,2005. (CSR will provide Census Bureau Facts for Fathers in June.)

Improving Paternity Establishment Percentages

By: Nehemiah Rucker

Paternity establishment plays a crucial role in determining whether children born outside of marriage receive the financial support of both parents. The National Child Support Enforcement Strategic Plan for FY 2005-2009, as well as Federal performance-based incentive and penalty provisions, rely upon paternity establishment as a major index for measuring, evaluating, and promoting the effectiveness of state CSE programs.

On June 21-22, 2005, OCSE will be sponsoring a peer-to-peer training workshop in Dallas, Texas. Representatives from states which consistently perform well with respect to the percentage of cases in which they establish paternity will share their insights and expertise with states desiring to improve their program performance in this important aspect of child support enforcement. The training workshop will highlight methods and techniques which have proven to be successful in overcoming problems or barriers to paternity establishment performance improvements. It is expected that a compendium of "best practices" will be compiled at the conclusion of the workshop.

Look for a report of the proceedings and products of this workshop in a future publication of CSR.

Nehemiah Rucker is a Project Officer in OCSE.

ACF Officials Highlight Recent Developments on a Wide Range of ACF Programs and Initiatives

August 15-17, 2005

Holiday Inn Capitol
550 C Street, SW.
Washington, DC. 20024

Come and be a participant as Administration for Children and Families officials highlight recent developments on a wide range of ACF programs and initiatives. Share program information with state and local CSE agencies, national African American organizations, and local African American community and faith-based organizations.

For more information, contact Ja-Na Bordes at 202-401-5713 or jbordes@acf.hhs.gov

Child Support Report is a publication of the Office of Child Support Enforcement, Division of Consumer Services.

Internet: http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/
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Acknowledging CSR is appreciated