On this 5th day of June 2001 the National Council of Child Support Directors resolves that:
* The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services (OCSE) and Congress should provide for full and sustained Federal Financial Participation (FFP) for all aspects of the Child Support Program at current or enhanced levels.
* Congress should ensure the continuation of 90 percentage FFP for genetic testing.
* Congress should amend federal law to extend the use of 80 percent FFP to 10/01/05 for enhancements to automated systems required by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, including implementation of the medical support notice which is required by federal regulations issued in March 2001.
* When states are required to implement new mandates, or make substantial revisions to existing program requirements, Congress should provide enhanced FFP to reduce the impact on the states' child support budgets.
* To ensure timely and consistent implementation of any of the Medical Child Support Working Group's recommendations that require State child support agencies to assume new responsibilities, Congress should provide enhanced 90 percent FFP for medical support activities for a limited 5-year period.
* OCSE and Congress should work with state IV-D Directors to identify methods for ensuring that stable and adequate levels of investment in the program by federal, state, and local governments advances the child support program's evolving mission and improves outcomes. This investment should reflect overall trends and future directions in the nation's human services delivery system rather than a point-in-time analysis, and adhere to a set of principles that properly relate funding approaches to program needs, goals and performance.
The National Council of Child Support Directors (NCCSD) is committed to increasing child support collections and to improving the delivery of child support services to children and families. Increasing collections results in financial stability for more families, which is critical as many families reach the end of strict time limits for public assistance. This requires a commitment to continue to adequately fund the Child Support Program.
Ideally, child support exists instead of welfare. However, maintaining the status quo in the child support program is not enough. We need to ensure that resources continue to be available to allow the child support program to fully implement the enforcement tools established by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Indeed, to attain success, child support agencies need state governments, Congress, and the Administration to provide not only the financial resources, but also staffing capacity, automated capability, and a predictable environment. All are necessary to effectively implement the Child Support Program at an optimum level. Based on current analysis, NCCSD believes that a positive relationship exists between increased financial investment in the child support program and increased program performance.
State Child Support Programs need to be able to count on sufficient resources for existing programs. Many states are facing legislation that would require genetic testing in all paternity cases, or allow the dis-establishment of paternity in a broader spectrum of cases. In order to ensure that states are able to continue to take the steps to establish paternity for the majority of children, the enhanced funding for genetic testing must continue.
PRWORA mandated many changes to child support automated systems. Congress designated a pool of 80 percent funding to assist states in meeting these requirements. The deadline for using the 80 percent funding is 10/1/01. Many states will not be able to use the full amount of the 80 percent FFP allocated to them by the deadline. Extending the deadline to 10/1/05 will allow states to take full advantage of FFP to improve and enhance the PRWORA mandates. NCCSD requests the extension of the deadline for using 80 percent FFP for automated system enhancements.
State child support programs are forward thinking, innovative and committed to developing creative new ways to serve our clients. While states are willing to take risks, we need OCSE's assistance as we venture into uncharted waters, by providing enhanced FFP, especially at the beginning of new initiatives or substantially altered program requirements.
The Medical Child Support Working Group's deliberations culminated in the August 2000 issuance of the report "21 Million Children's Health: Our Shared Responsibility". State child support programs are committed to performing their role in obtaining medical coverage for children, but we need enhanced FFP targeted to IV-D implementation of any of the medical support requirements to move forward on this issue.
State child support programs played a pivotal role in helping millions of low-income families move from public assistance to self-sufficiency. In addition, we are also key to cost avoidance in states by ensuring that many families never need to receive public assistance at all. The vast majority of families we serve do not currently receive cash public assistance because of the vital role that the child support workers play. We urge OCSE to continue to remain in partnership with us and give us their full support.