DCL-05-33, Submittal of the 2005 OCSE 157 Report and Resubmission of FY 2004 Data Found to be Incomplete or Unreliable.

DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER

DCL-05-33

DATE: November 9, 2005

TO: ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

RE: Submittal of the 2005 OCSE 157 Report and Resubmission of FY 2004 Data Found to be Incomplete or Unreliable.

Dear Colleague:

State agencies administering Child Support Enforcement Programs under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act are required to submit the OCSE-157. This letter is being issued as a reminder to states to submit their OCSE-157 report for FY 2005 by October 31, 2005, and to submit any revisions to the FY 2005 report by December 31, 2005, to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE).

The Online Data Collection (OLDC) system is the most convenient and efficient way to submit the required report, so we encourage all States to use this electronic system. For information on this system or to be issued log-on IDs and passwords, please contact Delores Johnson at 202-401-5537 or at djohnson@acf.hhs.gov.

States are also reminded of the importance of correcting and resubmitting any child support data reported for FY 2004 that were determined to be incomplete or unreliable. For several states, corrected FY 2004 data are necessary to compute the FY 2005 paternity establishment percentage (PEP) or to enable a state to show improvement in performance between FY 2004 and FY 2005.

States should resubmit FY 2004 data, if they fall into one or both of the following categories:

The State’s FY 2004 data were found to be incomplete or unreliable and are needed to show improvement in performance or are needed to calculate the FY 2005 PEP (line 5 or line 8), or
The State is changing its PEP option.

If a state’s FY 2004 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 from IV-D to statewide PEP, data must be submitted for FY 2004 and for FY 2003, as well. That allows us to measure changes in performance from FY 2004 to FY 2005. For example, if a state used the IV-D PEP option in FY 2004 but wants to use the statewide PEP option in FY 2005, statewide data from both FY 2003 and FY 2004 must be submitted since the denominator of the PEP is the number of children born out-of-wedlock during or as of the end of the preceding fiscal year (line 8).

All final revised reports must be in OCSE no later than December 31, 2005, or post- marked by December 31, 2005, to be accepted by the OCSE. States must submit the OCSE-157 form contained in AT-01-09 dated June 22, 2001. Please do not use the recently revised version.

State officials should review reports for accuracy and make sure all fields are completed. The reports should be sent to:

Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement
DPRE, 4th Floor
370 L’Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
Attention: Joyce Pitts

States must send a copy of the report to their regional office. Audit trails as described in DCL-05-28 (September 8, 2005) must be submitted to the appropriate audit office. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact your regional program manager.

State officials are reminded that, when reporting statewide out-of-wedlock births on the form, the Federal Fiscal Year is the preferred time frame for reporting. However, if another 12-month time period is used, officials must clearly indicate on the OCSE-157 report, or in an attachment, the reporting period being used. The alternate date must be prominent on the report or in the attachment.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact Joyce Pitts at (202) 401-5368 or e-mail her at jpitts@acf.hhs.gov.

Sincerely,

Margot Bean
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement