Federal Case Registry
State Verification and Exchange System Conference Call Notes
May 3 & 5, 2005

Participating States

Purpose of the Call

On May 3 and 5, 2005 the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) facilitated conference calls with states to discuss the results of the one-time match between the OCSE Debtor file and the SSA State Verification and Exchange System (SVES). The agenda for the calls included the following topics.

• Determine States’ progress on reviewing cases
• Establish timeframes for completion of the project
• Project how long the PO Box should remain open
• Evaluate progress of states so SSA can allocate resources accordingly
• Discuss tracking of matches

States Progress

States’ progress on working the returned matches varied from state to state; however, all states reported they had either sent the matches to their field offices, which were in the process of working the cases, or they had completed working their matches. Eight states have completed the project, with another three states indicating that they will finish by the end of May. States remain enthusiastic about the project since they are now receiving payments in cases where no payments had been made in years. Additionally, states reported other case actions due to these matches such as: 1) in interstate cases with no payments, the matches were referred to the other state to do the income withholding, 2) CPs were referred to SSA for child benefits, 3) NCPs paid off arrears in lieu of having their SSA benefits garnished, and 4) matched information was good for locate and for updating demographic information on their system.

Volume & Timeframes

SSA reported they have processed 20,593 income withholdings nationwide. States have been extremely pleased with the prompt turnaround by SSA on handling the large volume of income withholdings sent to the special PO Box. Furthermore, states reported they are receiving payments at least one month faster than if they sent the income withholdings to their field offices. Since states progress differed from state to state it was undecided, at this time, how long the PO Box would remain open. However, given states progress thus far, the PO Box is expected to remain open until the end of August 2005. This timeframe will be discussed in a future conference call with states, which is expected at the end of June or beginning of July. In the interim, states are encouraged to report their progress to the State TS team.

Economic Analysis and Evaluation of the Data

OCSE’s Economic Analysis (EA) team discussed efforts to gather data and analyze the results of the match. The EA team would like to work with any state able to provide information on the number of matches received, the number of income withholdings sent to SSA and the amount of the collections. During the calls, representatives from Washington and Oregon volunteered to work with the EA team. Other states will provide data to their respective State Technical Support Liaison as it becomes available.

Action Items:

1. Determine why an income withholding sent to the PO Box received payments faster than if it was sent to an SSA field office.
2. Determine if matches can be sent proactively.
3. Montana will send Amy Ballenger examples of cases where they sent an income withholding, however, no payments have been received.
4. MI, MA, OK, and NY will provide a status to their TS liaison.
5. WA will provide statistical information to Jen Francis.

State Progress on Processing the Match Results

State representatives shared their progress to date in processing the SSA garnishment match data. The following matrix provides information on each state’s progress.