DCL-99-104 Conference Call on the Federal Offset program

DCL-99-104 Sep 27, 1999

TO ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

Re: Conference Call on the Federal Offset program

Dear Colleague:

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is hosting two conference calls to follow-up on the discussion of the August collection report. As you may recall, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) problem with processing of injured spouse claims caused many more reversals this year than have occurred in the past. This problem, coupled with the timing of processing the claims, resulted in negative balances for 34 states in the month of August. After talking with many of you on September 10^th, OCSE met with the IRS and Financial Management Service (FMS) to discuss proposals for dealing with the problem. We are glad to report that many of the options discussed to recoup the negative amounts will be offered. We are in the final stages of reviewing the options and will be able to discuss these with you during the calls. Once everything has been finalized after the conference calls, we will be sending another letter detailing the options for recoupment.

OCSE has also reviewed the collection file for the month of September and found that this may be a one-time problem. Only one State (HI) has a negative balance for the month of September.

We will keep you updated as future collection cycles are processed.

We have reserved 40 lines for each call and the lines will open 15 minutes prior to the start of the call. We expect high participation, so please call early. Following is the information to access a call:

September 30^th

10:00 - 11:30 a.m. EST
1-800-545-4387
Conference Number: M60115
Access Code: 10883
(FTS users may access by calling 1-700-991-3702)

2:00 - 3:30 p.m. EST
1-800-545-4387
Conference Number: M21541
Access Code: 55191
(FTS users may access by calling 1-700-991-2610)

If you have any questions, please call Sueanne Dennard at (202) 401-5556 or Scott Hale at (202) 401-9390. Thank you for your support and cooperation as we work to improve the lives of our nation's children.

Sincerely,

David Gray Ross
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

cc: Regional Program Managers
Federal Offset Coordinators