DCL-03-30, Data Reliability Audit Requirements for the Fiscal Year 2003 Reporting Period

DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER

DCL-03-30

ATTACHMENT: Data Reliability Audit Specifications

DATE: September 2, 2003

TO: ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

RE: Data Reliability Audit Requirements for the Fiscal Year 2003 Reporting Period

Dear Colleague:

Attached to this letter are the data submission requirements for the Federal fiscal year 2003 Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) data reliability audit, as required by Section 452 (a)(4)(C)(i) of Part D of Title IV of the Social Security Act. Although the required submissions are not due until January 15, 2004, many states have requested that we specify materials and formats needed for audit trails early enough to help you coordinate and schedule these needs with your IT department activities.

We hope that you will compile and submit your data to the appropriate Area Audit Office as soon as possible. Early submission has a number of important benefits. It affords you the opportunity to review and make corrections to the OCSE-157 at any time prior to the December 31st reporting deadline. Any inconsistencies between the audit trails and the OCSE-157 that your staff can identify and correct prior to the audit should not only expedite the audit but also result in fewer reportable audit findings. Early submission also helps expedite the detailed audit work because many preliminary steps can be completed prior to January. Ultimately, an early start should result in more timely incentive payments and more time to correct data reliability problems for the subsequent audit period.

As in prior years, the OCSE Office of Audit will continue to evaluate the completeness, reliability, security, and accuracy of performance indicator data reported by the states. This requires electronic files from each state that contain the complete child support case universe as of September 30, 2003, including all open IV-D cases, closed cases, and non-IV-D cases and for each data element audited on the OCSE-157. The specifications for these files are enclosed and are the same as last year. We encourage states to comply as closely as possible with these standard specifications because like early submission, getting the data in a standard format expedites the audit work. Time spent validating data, querying, sampling, and matching sampled records will be shortened considerably if the audit trails supporting the performance indicator data are submitted the same way by all 54 states and territories.

I urge all states not yet providing read-only systems access to the auditors to do so as soon as possible. Read-only remote access to a state’s child support system allows the Office of Audit to review sample cases in the data-testing phase of the audit more efficiently and effectively. It enables a better allocation of scarce resources and results in less disruption of state and local child support operations. Read-only access is a requirement detailed in the OCSE “Certification Review Guide” issued under Action Transmittal OCSE AT-00-07, dated August 28, 2000.

As in prior years, all data elements from the OCSE-157 that make up the performance indicators will be audited. This includes paternity indicator lines 5 and 6 for all states, including states that elect the statewide Paternity Establishment Percentage (PEP) measured by lines 8 and 9. Although states will only be held accountable for the PEP measure elected, the additional audit information will help states with their determinations of which measure is in its best interest as well as provide a baseline should a decision be made to change measures. We will also continue the more thorough evaluation of lines 8 and 9 that we started last year to identify potential problems in the statewide PEP option. This testing, as discussed in an email dated September 10, 2002, from Keith Bassett to the IV-D Director’s List, is for management purposes only to help states identify and correct problems but will not be used for data reliability purposes. Data reliability for these lines will continue to be evaluated the same as prior years. A copy of that e-mail is attached to this Dear Colleague Letter.

Again, we hope that you can provide us with the audit trails as early as possible and in the suggested format for the reasons identified above. As previously stated, even if you submit early, you are still entitled by Federal regulation to make changes up until December 31. However, no changes may be made after December 31 and your data submission must be received by the appropriate Area Audit Office no later than January 15, 2004. Any state that needs to submit corrected data should refer to DCL 02-30, dated October 23, 2002.

Your timely cooperation is greatly appreciated. Please feel free to consult with our audit staff if you have any questions or need our assistance as you work with systems staff to develop the audit trail file in the suggested format.

Sincerely,

Sherri Z. Heller, Ed. D.

Commissioner

Office of Child Support Enforcement

Attachment