0970-0177 Supporting Statement 6-19-08[1]

Supporting Statement

OCSE‑157 Child Support Enforcement Program Annual Data Report

A. Justification

1. Circumstances making the collection of information necessary

The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) oversees administration of the Child Support Enforcement program in the 54 States and jurisdictions that participate in it. The Federal government sets program standards and policy, evaluates States performance in conducting their program, and offers technical assistance and training to the States. It also conducts audits of State program activities.

In it's oversight role, the Federal government receives data from the States. They then compile and evaluate these data for presentation in the Annual Data Report. The authority to collect and report information requested on this form is found in sections 452 (a) (4), 452 (a) (5), 452 (a) (10), and 469 of the Social Security Act (the Act) [42 u.s.c 652 and 669] (see Attachment A)

State agencies administering or supervising the administration of State plans under title IV-D of the Social Security Act are required by law to maintain a full record of child support collections and expenditures and have an adequate reporting system to provide information as requested by the Department. Under legislation at section 452 (a) (10) of the Act, OCSE is required to maintain records of activities performed and reported by State Child support Enforcement agencies for use in an annual report to Congress.

Attachment B contains the collection instruments and instruction for completing it.

2. Purpose and Use of the Information collection

The data collected by form OCSE-157 are used to prepare the annual report. In addition, these data are used to determine performance indicators for establishing the effectiveness and efficiency of State child support programs. New performance indicators were introduced in the national child support strategic plan for FY 2005-2009. Strategic plan indicators pertaining to medical support and Medicaid have caused additional lines to be added to the OCSE-157.

Child support enforcement can play a pivotal role in reducing welfare dependency, with savings to the Federal Government. One aspect of motivating States to take the necessary action is to pinpoint program areas where improvement is critical and warrants priority attention. Better performing States need to be applauded, and public as well as peer pressure brought to bear on prosecutors, judges, clerks of the court and other key child support administrators in poor performing States to stimulate massive improvements. Nationwide implementation requires the routine reporting of program data from States.

The data collected on this form will be used to:

a. respond to Congressional and public inquiries;

b. calculate budget estimates and impact statements of proposed legislation;

c. evaluate areas where technical assistance may be required by a State;

d. provide Federal auditors with an indication of where their efforts should be concentrated during compliance audits;

e. compute performance indicators used as part of the assessment of State program performance for audit penalty purposes; and

f. compute individual State incentive payments.

Lines 11 and 15 of this report remain "Reserved," while lines 33 through 37 of the report have been opened to collect Medicaid and medical support data.

3. Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction

The Administration for Child and Families developed the Online Data Collection (OLDC) System to allow States to submit their OCSE-157 reports electronically through the HHS website. States are encouraged to use this online system since it is the quickest way of submitting information to OCSE.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

This form will be the only method used by States to report child support information needed to compute states incentives and penalty performance levels and other required program data. No data are reported elsewhere and there is no other form in use by OCSE/ACF which collects similar State information.

5. Impacts on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

This reporting requirement is imposed on State government agencies. There are no small business contacted to complete this form.

6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

The data collected in OCSE-157 are used annually by OCSE to evaluate State programs and to identify areas where program improvement may be required and to set in motion tailored strategies for achieving such improvement. Failure to collect this dat would preclude the Department from monitoring and evaluating the success of the program and would prevent the Department from being in compliance with annual reporting for penalty purposes. It would also preclude the computation of performance indicators and incentive payments.

7. Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

This collection is conducted in a manner consistent with guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6. There are no special circumstances.

8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside the Agency

This form was originally developed by a workgroup of Federal and STate representatives. It was widely circulated to gain input from each State. Additionally, we published a notice of our intent to continue collecting this information in the Federal Register Volume 73 page 12741, March 10, 2008 and the second notice, Federal Register Volume 73, page number 20305, July 10, 2008.

9. Explanation of Any Payment or Gift to Respondents

No payments or other remuneration to respondents are made for the collection of this information.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

The data reported are considered to be public information.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

Data are reported only on an aggregate basis. There is no personal information or data of a sensitive nature being collected on this form.

12. Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours and Costs

Based on experience from other data collection efforts, the burden on all State agencies is estimated at 378 hours per year, calculated as follows:

Instrument	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses Per Respondent	Average Burden Hours Per Response	Total Burden Hours
OCSE-157	54	1	7.0 hours	378.0 hours
Total	54	1	7.0 hours	378.0 hours

It should be noted that this estimated time required per response is the average of all States. The burden cost is estimated to be $288.00 per respondent, for a total of $15,552 ($288 X 54 = $15,552).

13. Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents and Record Keepers

There are no additional direct costs to respondents.

14. Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

Costs to the Federal Government are estimated at $12,000 for printing, distribution, tabulation, and analyzing the data.

15. Explanation of Program Changes or Adjustments

The burden is unchanged.

16. Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

Information on this form will be published in aggregate on a State‑by‑State bases in combination with other financial and statistical data. The data is published at the end of each fiscal year in an annual report and is included in various agency publications that highlight child support data.

17. Reason (s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

The expiration date will be displayed.

18. Exceptions to the Certification Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

The information collection requirements outlined in this report do not employ the use of statistical methods.