ILLINOIS
EFT - INCREASE USAGE
Goal: To receive 30% of incoming child support payments by
EFT.
Description: In order to achieve the established goal of
30% the Illinois State Disbursement Unit (SDU) strategically
implemented the following initiatives:
A Dedicated EFT team:
- Implemented an EFT team dedicated to customer service and
employer outreach. The EFT team is responsible for building
relationships with decision makers in companies employing child
support obligors as well as payroll specialists within those
organizations. The EFT team has contacted over 7,000 employers
between November 2000 and June 2003.
- Hired an Employer Liaison with sales and marketing skills. This
person is skilled at scaling company "gate keepers" the
first step in presenting the EFT concept to the employers. The
Employer Liaison's responsibilities include: determining who
in an organization can make decisions regarding EFT, communicating
Illinois law regarding EFT to organizations, working with various
departments within a company to assist in the set-up process, and
following up frequently with organizations to ensure EFT
compliance.
- Trained an EFT Testing Coordinator. The coordinator is skilled
in record layout and guiding companies through EFT
development.
- Prepared multiple EFT Specialists to work with employers who
are using EFT. This person provides needed corrections and acts as
a resource to the employers with child support issues.
Target Employers and Associations
- Employers were targeted based on their case volume and divided
into three tiers or priorities based on the number of cases with
child support payments they remitted to the SDU. The first priority
was employers with 100 cases or more. This first target was
comprised of approximately 75 companies. The second priority
included employers with 30 - 99 cases. Approximately 419
companies were in that group.
- Lists of payroll providers were identified. If they were able
to remit their customer's child support electronically, they
were strongly encouraged to do so. If they were not able to remit
via EFT, the Employer Liaison worked with them until they were
successful with remitting EFT payments.
- Informed payroll and employer associations about child support
issues and the benefits of EFT.
Implement an Employer Communication Plan
- An EFT information packet was created to inform employers of
the process and benefits of using EFT. This packet was mailed to
targeted employers, payroll associations and payroll service
providers. These groups then received a follow-up phone call to
verify that the packet was received and to provide answers to
questions about material in the packet.
- The Illinois Department of Public Aid added a link to the EFT
information packet on their web site as another means of
disseminating the information.
- Links were set up between association web sites such as The
American Society for Payroll Managementand IDPA's web
site.
- An article regarding Illinois' EFT initiative was
submitted and published by the APA's Paytechmonthly
magazine and in EA Facts,a publication by the
Employer's Association.
- EFT team members participated in conferences and association
meetings such as the Treasury Management Association's
Windy City Summitand the American Payroll
Association's Illinois Statewide Payroll
Conference.
Results: The Illinois SDU's EFT team reached the
goal of 30% EFT payments in December 2002. The following table
depicts the progress the EFT team has made since its inception in
November 2000.
EFT Team Progress
Date |
#of EFT Payments |
# of Employers |
EFT % |
Dec-00 |
18,633 |
108 |
4% |
Dec-01 |
83,430 |
2,074 |
19% |
Dec-02 |
147,595 |
3,733 |
30% |
May-03 |
186,381 |
4,203 |
36% |
Location: This activity is centralized in the Illinois
State Disbursement Unit. It lends itself to adaptation by other
states. Though other states have engaged in EFT-EDI outreach,
Illinois' approach has led to greater levels of participation
by employers.
Funding: Regular IV-D funds are used.
Replication Advice: The key to success is persistence and
excellent customer service.
Contact:
Christine Towles
Management Operations Analyst
AIDA50G1@mail.idpa.state.il.us
Phone: (630) 221-2334