DCL-03-43, Resubmission of FY 2002 Data Found to be Incomplete or Unreliable for Determiniation of FY 2003 Performance-Based Incentives and Penalties

DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER

DCL-03-43

DATE: December 5, 2003

TO: All State IV-D Directors

RE: Resubmission of FY 2002 Data Found to be Incomplete or Unreliable for Determiniation of FY 2003 Performance-Based Incentives and Penalties

Dear Colleague:

This letter is to remind you of the importance of correcting and resubmitting any child support data reported for FY 2002 that the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) determined to be incomplete or unreliable. For several states, corrected FY 2002 data are necessary to compute the FY 2003 paternity establishment percentage (PEP) or to enable a state to show improvement in performance between FY 2002 and FY 2003.

States should resubmit FY 2002 data if they fall into one or both of the following categories:

States’ FY 2002 data were found to be incomplete or unreliable and are needed to show improvement in performance or to calculate the FY 2003 PEP, or
State plans to change its PEP option.

If a state’s FY 2002 data were found to be incomplete or unreliable and are needed to show improvement in performance for any measure, or if a state changes its PEP option, from statewide (lines 8 and 9 on the OCSE-157) to IV-D (lines 5 and 6 on the OCSE 157) or IV-D to statewide PEP, data must be submitted for FY 2002 and, for the PEP measure, for FY 2001 as well, so that we can measure changes in performance from FY 2002 to FY 2003. For example, if a state used the IV-D PEP option in FY 2002 but wants to use the statewide PEP option in FY 2003, statewide data from both FY 2001 and FY 2002 must be submitted because the denominator of a state’s PEP is the number of children born out-of-wedlock during or as of the end of the preceding fiscal year (line 8). Similarly, if a state submitted incomplete or unreliable PEP data for FY ’02, it must report the appropriate PEP numerator for FY 2002 and the PEP denominator for FY 2001.

Also, please note that, when states report statewide out-of-wedlock births on the OCSE-157, the federal fiscal year is the preferred method of reporting. However, states may pick any twelve-month reporting period, as long as the documentation demonstrates that the paternities were acknowledged by the father on a date during that period. States are required to indicate on the OCSE-157 report or on an attachment what reporting period they are using, if it is other than the federal fiscal year. We must be able to compare ‘like’ vital statistics data from year to year. If changing its PEP option the state must check the appropriate box on the OCSE 157.

Each state is urged to correct and resubmit as soon as possible but no later than December 31, 2003 any data that meet the criteria listed above. Data submitted after this date will not be considered. Corrected data should be submitted on the appropriate OMB approved form (OCSE-157) to OCSE Central Office at:

Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement
DPRE, Fourth Floor West
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447

with a copy to your regional office. Audit trails as described in DCL-03-30 (September 2, 2003) must be submitted to your appropriate audit office. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact your regional program manager or Kimberly Smith, OCSE, Division of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, at (202) 401-5679.

Sincerely,

Sherri Z. Heller, Ed.D.
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

cc: Regional Program Managers
ACF Regional Administrators