1. Speaker: Sherri Grigsby, Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement
Employers & the Child Support Program; A Partnership that Benefits our Nation’s Children
Speaker: Sherri Grigsby, Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement

2. Sponsored by:

3. RCH CREDIT
This is an APA & HRCI approved program for 1 (one) RCH credit
You must attend the entire 1-hour course.
Within 30 calendar days of today, you will be sent a certificate with the program course code upon completion for your file folder.

4. A Child Support Story

5. Contents at a glance Child support program background and statistics
New hire reporting
Standard response to Verification of Employment (VOE)
Income Withholding for Support Order/Notice (IWO)
Electronic Income Withholding (e-IWO)
Lump sum reporting/Debt Inquiry Service
Electronic payments (e-Payments)
Employer services website update

6. Once Upon a Time, there were two mice who were in love….

7. The Happy Family
Ricky Mouse loved his wife Winnie so much that he used to bring her flowers
and chocolates. They had three children, triplets, Harley,
Larry and Darrell.

8. The Break Up
After the break up, Ricky was hitting the cheese pretty hard and lost his job.
Unfortunately, not all fairy tales have a happy ending.
For Sale by Owner

9. Applying for Child Support
How could Winnie be sure Ricky would pay child support? She found lots of information about the child support program on OCSE’s website.

10. The Child Support Program
Established under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act
Charged with locating noncustodial parents, establishing paternity and child support orders, enforcing child and medical support orders
Partnership between the public and private sectors

11. Roles and Responsibilities
Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE)
State Child Support Agencies
Employers
OCSE’s Role
Operate Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS)
Help states develop, manage and operate their child support programs
Fund the major share of state program operating costs
Provide policy guidance and technical support to states
Conduct audits and provide training
State Responsibility
Locate noncustodial parents (NCP)
Establish paternity
Establish child and medical support orders
Enforce child support orders
Collect and distribute support payments
Employer responsibilities under the Social Security Act
Report new hires and respond to requests for employment verification
Withhold income for support payments and health insurance premiums and/or cash medical support
Remit payments to the State Disbursement Unit (SDU)
Forward National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) Part B to Plan Administrators to enroll children in health care
Report terminations

12. Why is the child support program important?
The poverty rate for children under age 18 increased to 22% from 20.7% from 2009 to 2010
The number of children living in poverty increased to 16.4 million from 15.5 million during the same period
Children comprise 36% of people living in poverty but only 24% of the general population

13. Largest source of payments? Employers/income withholders!
In FY 2011
Accounted for nearly 70% of the child support collected
Reported 48.6 million new hires
Enrolled millions of children in health insurance plans

14. Ricky Finds a New Job
Ricky got the job and his new employer reported the new hire to the State of Florida.
Ricky saw an ad in classified section looking for a stunt double for a very famous mouse actor and the worksite was none other than the Magic Castle.

15. New Hire Reporting Requirements
Mandatory elements
Employer Name
Employer Address
Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
Employee Name
Employee Address
Employee Social Security Number (SSN)
Date of Hire
Some states may require additional elements

16. New Reporting Requirements
Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 amended section 453A(a)(2) of the Social Security Act, effective April 21, 2012
Changed the definition of Newly Hired Employee to an employee who—
(i) has not previously been employed by the employer; or
(ii) was previously employed by the employer but has been separated from such prior employment for at least 60 consecutive days

17. Independent Contractor (IC) Reporting
14 states and 1 territory require IC reporting
AL, AK, CA, CT, GU, IA, MA, ME, MI, MN, NE, NH, NJ, NV and OH
Information to report
Most states require the same information on the W-4 form (name, address, TIN - some states require additional data)
Accounts payable may have this information

18. Establishing the Child Support Order
information necessary to establish the child support order.
When the Florida Child Support Agency received the new hire record
for Ricky, they sent a Verification of Employment to the employer to gather
Verification of Employment
VOE

19. Verification of Employment (VOE)
Why must states send VOEs?
Obtain wage information when establishing or modifying an order
Obtain health insurance information
Standard response to VOE
See our website
employer/publication/forms/voeform.pdf
Third party VOE providers

20. Which states accept the standard VOE response form?
Accepting the form
Not accepting the form
Other states undecided
AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, GA, HI, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME
MA, MN, MT, NV, OK, OR, PA SD, TX, VT, WA, WV
CT, FL, ID, MI, MS ,MO
NE, NY, ND, TN, VA
----- Meeting Notes (5/7/12 11:12) -----
Automating VOE?

21. Income Withholding
time he was hitting the cheese, he got behind on some other payments including his student loans and his credit cards.
Using the VOE,
FL established a child support order based on Ricky’s income. FL issued an IWO to the employer.
Unfortunately for Ricky, during the

22. Income Withholding Order
Income withholding is the most effective means of collecting child support
Revised IWO approved by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) May 2011

23. IWO Changes*
Checkbox for employer to return IWO to sender for following reasons
Payment is not directed to a State Disbursement Unit (SDU)
Form does not contain all information for employer to comply with order
Form is altered or contains invalid information
Amount to withhold is not a dollar amount
Sender has not used the OMB-approved form (effective May 31, 2012)
Copy of underlying order is required and not included
*Does not reflect all changes to the revised IWO

24. Need More IWO Information?
Action Transmittal provides guidance to employers
IWOs issued on or after 05/31/12 (i.e., new IWOs)
Payment not directed to SDU
Use of OMB-approved IWO
IWOs issued before 05/31/12 (i.e., IWOs already processed by employer)*
The changes to the form will include:
Numerous wording changes and
Removing the shading from the form and
Adding language that if an employer receives an IWO and it is not payable to a State Disbursement Unit (SDU) they may return the IWO to the issuing entity.
Assuming theses are the only changes no modifications will need to be made to the e-IWO record layouts
* Exceptions

25. How do employers process IWOs when…
there is already an IWO in place from another state for the same children?
there is already an IWO in place for another family?
there are other garnishments from creditors and/or government entities?
the IWO is from a state other than the employer’s state?
the IWO directs payment to the CP?
Continue to honor the first order received.
Give your employee a copy of the second order.
Contact the issuing agency that sent the second withholding order and inform it that you are already sending withheld payments for the same child to another jurisdiction. Provide payment information such as the amount of the withholding and where the withholding is being sent.
Contact the issuing agency that sent the first withholding order and inform it of the second order.
Implement the IWO and withhold up to the CCPA limits
An IRS tax levy takes precedence over a child support withholding order only if the tax levy was entered before the child support order was established. The priority determination between a child support withholding order and an IRS tax levy depends on the date that the original child support order was established. Remember that the child support order is the order on which the income withholding order is based.
The employer usually is not informed of the original order date. Therefore, the following action is recommended:
If a child support IWO is received for an employee who already has a federal tax levy in place, contact the issuing child support agency about this situation. The child support agency can then contact the IRS to discuss an alternate payment plan.
If a federal tax levy is received for an employee who already has a child support withholding order in place, contact the IRS and tell them a withholding order is already being honored. The IRS may then elect to contact the issuing child support agency.
A federal tax levy is the only deduction that takes precedence over child support. Remember that child support should always be withheld before the following voluntary and involuntary deductions:
Assignment of wages
Non-tax federal debt
State and local tax levies
Creditor garnishment
Implement the IWO and apply the laws of the state that issued the order for:
Duration and amount of child support, both current and arrears
Medical support terms
Where to remit payments
Payment of fees and costs charged (if any) by the child support enforcement agency, issuing court or custodial party's attorney
Apply the laws of the principle place of employment for:
When to begin withholding
When to remit payments (this may be from 1 to 7 days after payday)
Mandatory deductions
Maximum amount to be withheld (within Consumer Credit Protection Act limits)
How to allocate withholding across multiple child support orders
Administrative fee that employer is permitted to charge
Other terms and conditions that may be set by state law

26. Employers’ Best Practices for Redirecting Payments
Contact the SDU – see matrix:
newhire/employer/contacts/contact_map.htm
Provide copies of all orders to the SDU
Problems?
Contact Cindy Holdren or
----- Meeting Notes (5/7/12 11:18) -----
Several employers told us that they do not feed

27. IWO Training Presentation
Visit
publication/training/iwo_training.pdf

28. Remitting Payments
Once the employer started withholding child support from Ricky’s wages,
the fastest, most efficient way to get the money to the child support
agency was to send the payments electronically.

29. Payments
Federal law requires all employer-withheld payments (with a few exceptions) be sent to the SDU
Contact the SDU to redirect payments for a private, non-IV-D order
See our website for SDU contacts
Click on “Employer Information”

30. Electronic Payments Cheaper, faster, safer, more accurate
Most large employers and payroll service providers remit e-Payments through the ACH network
Most payroll software supports EFT for child support
e-Payments from employers to SDUs are increasing
46% % 56%
employers, state CSE agencies and families

31. 16 States/Territories Require e-Payments for Child Support
California, Florida, Guam, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia

32. Web-based Payments 38 states have web-based payment services
AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, ND, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI and WV
Designed for small to mid-sized employers

33. Tribal IWOs
Winnie moved on with her life and decided to move back with her tribe on the reservation.
She closed her child support case in FL
and opened a case with the tribal child support agency.
The tribal CS agency issued an IWO to the employer.

34. Processing Tribal IWOs
Do tribes have their own child support programs?
Yes. 42 tribes operate their own federally-funded child support programs.
Should I honor an IWO from a tribe?
Yes. You are required to honor an IWO sent from a tribal IV-D agency just as you would if it were sent from a state IV-D agency.

35. More on Tribal IWOs
Do tribal IV-D agencies use the standard, federal income withholding order form?
Yes. IV-D tribal agencies are required to use the standard, federal form.
Where should I send payments for an order that comes from a tribe?
Send them to the payee identified on the order.

36. Fast Forward— 2 Years in the Future
Winnie decided
to move back to Orlando to be closer
to the Magic Castle where she was able
to find a job as a
double for a famous mouse actress.
She reopened her case in FL and FL issued an e-IWO to Ricky’s employer.

37. What is e-IWO?
States electronically send and employers electronically acknowledge IWOs
One “point of contact”
Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) is key
Handles terminations, lump sum payments
Child Support invades cyberspace session—Tuesday 4—5:30.

38. 24 States Using e-IWO—Represents over 70% of the child support caseload!
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Arizona
California
Colorado
District of Columbia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Massachusetts
Michigan
Missouri
Nebraska
New Jersey

39. Want more information about e-IWO?
Contact: Bill Stuart e-IWO presentation available at Ascentis.com, under Resources and 2012 Webinar Archive. Or click here
Child Support invades cyberspace session—Tuesday 4—5:30.

40. Ricky Gets a Bonus!
After returning to work and performing exceptionally well in a feature film, he was eligible to receive a bonus!
His employer used the Debt Inquiry Service to notify FL about the payout.
Last year, Ricky suffered an injury which prevented him from working for several months and he got behind in his child support payments.

41. Debt Inquiry Service (DIS)
Enables employers to notify child support agencies prior to awarding a lump sum payment
One-by-one or batch file reporting
Contact us if interested in participating
DIS
-Success Story-
An employer received a response in 45 minutes!

42. 30 States participating in Debt Inquiry
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Florida
Guam
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia

43. The Kids Are All Grown Up!
In June, the triplets graduated from high school and Ricky’s employer received a termination notice
for the child support order since all of
Boys were also 18.
The triplets were accepted to Mouse University where they would study graphic design with a focus on character animation.

44. Visit our Website!

45. Preview of new OCSE website

46. Employer Service Contacts
Sherri Grigsby
Nancy Benner
Lynnetta Thompson
Bill Stuart (e-IWO)
Cindy Holdren

47. The End.
Thank you!

48. Q&A
Copyright © 2007, SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved. 48

49. RCH Credit
If you attended this webinar for the full hour you will receive a certificate for credit
1 (one) RCH Credit – APA & HRCI
Certificate ed by July 25th.

50. Upcoming webinars
Could International Expansion Expose You to Permanent Establishment Risk
July 3rd, 10am PST
Taxing and Reporting Fringe Benefits
July 17th, 10am PST
Strategic Leadership for HR Executives
July 5th, 10am PST
How to Prepare and Deliver Legal and Effective Performance Appraisals
July 11th, 10am PST

51. How Ascentis Can Help New hire reporting – automatically generated
Support for electronic payment
Handling of complex scenarios involving IWO’s
Specify priority orders to pay IWO
Max % of earnings setup
When max hit, pay based on order or pro- rated

52. Contact