Idaho Online With Child Support Many States Lack Systems, Face Huge Loss Of Funding

Two-thirds of the states failed to meet a deadline to install computer systems tracking child support. One-third are not even close to compliance and face huge fines.

Idaho and Washington are among the third complying.

Officials had predicted about a dozen states would miss the Oct. 1 deadline, but nearly a week later, 33 state systems have not been certified as complete by federal inspectors.

Of those, 16 states are ready to be certified, including four already reviewed and 12 ready for review, said Michael Kharfen, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services.

That leaves 17 states - representing nearly half the nation’s child support cases - with systems that are not even near completion.

The computerized systems are important because one-third of all child support cases involve an out-of-state parent, and the automated systems should help find parents who move from state to state. They’ll also help track in-state cases by making a wealth of employment and other information about parents available electronically.

States have spent $2.6 billion on this task since 1980, when Congress agreed to pay for 90 percent of the cost of computerization.

Still, some of the biggest states have failed to complete their systems, although some are closer than others. In Ohio, for instance, a statewide system is in place, but it includes only a handful of cases in each county. In Maryland, the system is working everywhere but Baltimore.

Federal law requires HHS to cut all child support funding to states without working child support collection systems. For California, that’s $340 million next year. Michigan would lose $106 million; Maryland, $59 million.

And without a working child support system, a state is also in jeopardy of losing its entire federal welfare grant. That’s $3.7 billion for California, $775 million in Michigan and $229 million in Maryland.

No fines are expected until mid-1998, after a series of reports, reviews and appeals are completed.

Congress extended the computer deadline once already, and now state officials are lobbying for another extension.

“We do not disagree with the objective of the federal legislation … (but) I have to deal with what the reality is,” said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, who signed a letter asking for a six-month delay on fines.

Asked how he could justify another delay, DeWine said: “I feel I had no choice representing the state of Ohio.”

Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., chairman of the House Ways and Means human resources subcommittee, plans legislation early next year giving HHS authority to impose smaller fines, ranging from 1 percent to 20 percent of a state’s child support money. His plan would also let HHS negotiate plans to suspend fines while states fix the problem.

He also is exploring more flexibility for states that have decentralized computer systems. California, for instance, is testing a statewide system, but counties are balking that they don’t want to give up the systems they operate on their own.

But Shaw is not in any hurry to push the legislation tempering fines, saying the threat of fines may “spur states to action.”