Arrears Management Two States, Two Ways 50 CELEBRATES YEARS OF SERVING FAMILIES: THE MAGIC IS STILL ALIVE ERICSA Arrears Management Two States, Two Ways ERICSA Sharon Keri Compliance Process Manager Florida Child Support Program Bruce R. Martin Deputy Director Lancaster Co. Domestic Relations ERICSA 50th Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 19 – 23 ▪ Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Florida  

ARREARS MANAGEMENT: How we are doing it in Florida ERICSA Sharon Keri Compliance Process Manager Florida Child Support Program ERICSA 50th Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 19 – 23 ▪ Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Florida  

Compliance Process Goals Obtain full compliance with all terms of the support order Collect the support now when the family needs it, rather than later Build relationships with the parent who is ordered to pay support to ensure timely payment

Child Support Automated Management System (CAMS) Automatically reviews all IV-D cases with support orders to determine financial compliance Automatically updates case and business partner information from a multitude of locate sources Automatically initiates enforcement on cases that are not fully compliant

Financial Compliance Reviews all cases with a support order on a nightly basis Calculates the percentage of financial compliance based on payments made against payments due

Financial Compliance cont… Identifies the compliance level of the parent who owes support Full Payer High Partial Payer Low Partial Payer Nonpayer

Ability to Pay Identifies information that may impact a parent’s ability to pay support timely and in full Incarceration or probation Other institutionalization Recipient of government assistance Reemployment Assistance Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

Ability to Pay cont… Disability Employment Status Temporary Permanent Employment Status More than one IV-D case

Enforcement Approach Arrears only cases are automatically enforced using the following tools: Past Due Notice Driver License Suspension Consumer Reporting Agency Referral Business Professional Recreational License Suspension Two State Action

Enforcement Approach cont… User Review Income Withholding IRS Offset Passport Denial Unemployment Compensation Lottery Bank Levy Tailored approach, not all tools are used

Repayment on Delinquency The automated income withholding program assesses each case to determine if a repayment amount is in place The administratively set dollar amount is 20% of the ordered current support obligation Income withholding notice is automatically populated with the repayment amount

Collection of Arrears Beyond Emancipation The parent who is ordered to pay support continues to pay the same amount after the last dependent emancipates Notice is provided to the parent who is ordered to pay support, the parent who is owed support and the Clerk of the Court

Future Projects Automated program that identifies cases that do not have a repayment towards the arrears Specialized enforcement actions for targeted populations of the arrears only cases

Thank you! For additional information: Sharon Keri, Compliance Process Manager KeriS@dor.state.fl.us

ARREARS MANAGEMENT: How we are doing it in Pennsylvania ERICSA Bruce R. Martin Deputy Director Lancaster Co. Domestic Relations ERICSA 50th Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 19 – 23 ▪ Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Florida  

Overview: PA Child Support Program State IV-D Program administered by Bureau of Child Support Enforcement (BCSE) Local IV-D services provided by 67 county Domestic Relations offices consistent with Cooperative Agreement Partners in Cooperative Agreement: PA Department of Welfare, County Commissioners, President Judge

Historic efforts to manage arrears: Procedural Rules Support guidelines reviewed/updated every 4 years Promulgation of Rules establishing administrative modification procedures Emancipation of children Modification when existing order is inconsistent with rules or law

Historic efforts to manage arrears: Technology Data Integrity Tasks / E Reports Data Warehouse Performance Improvement Module Automated Case Closure/Order Modification Electronic interfaces

What’s New? Predictive Modeling Basic Premise: Preventing the accumulation of arrears is easier to manage than collecting those arrears after they have accrued.

Predictive Modeling: Payment Score Calculator (PSC) Predicts the probability that an obligor will pay at least 80% of monthly support obligation in subsequent 3 months 20 statistically weighted variables in PACSES determine the score Case attributes Demographic information Past payment patterns

Predictive Modeling: Payment Score Calculator Indicates 0 – 30% probability that obligor will pay at 80% level Indicates 31 – 50% probability that obligor will pay at 80% level

Predictive Modeling: Payment Score Calculator Indicates 51 – 79% probability that obligor will pay at 80% level Indicates 80 – 99% probability that obligor will pay at 80% level

How does PSC work? PSC can be calculated at any time – saved for 14 days PSC is stored when linked to a guideline computation at conferences to establish a new support order at conferences to modify an existing support order 5 PSC variables can be edited by DRS worker

PSC and arrears management: At the conference Assists in conference preparation Validates intuitive experience Assists in establishment of realistic orders Identifies cases appropriate for work search programs and/or temporary support orders Identifies cases appropriate for future review Guides the conference interactions and communications

PSC and arrears management: subsequent enforcement Promotes enhanced case management Early intervention strategies Prioritization of enforcement / utilization of resources Identification of support services appropriate for obligor

Example of PSC in use Early Intervention Pilot Program Overview of pilot program Cases grouped by PSC Control Group vs. Experimental Group Results PSC 1&2 Notable increase in percentage of cases paying Decrease in time lapse 1st payment received Results PSC 3&4 Notable increase in percentage of support paid

Impact of Arrears Management Strategies on PA LTD Arrears

Thank you! For additional information: Bruce Martin, Deputy Director BruceMartin@pacses.com

Questions