1. CHANGE FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION AND ADJUSTMENT REPORTING TO STATES (OCSE REF # 2597)

1.1 Summary of Changes

Effective January 2010, the Federal Offset System is being modified to send collections to the States on a weekly basis, instead of biweekly. The reason for this change is to improve the currency of arrearage data.

1.2 Background

Recent changes, resulting from the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, impact both the priority of offsets at Department of Treasury (removing the distinction in priority between Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and non-TANF past-due support), as well as providing States with the authority to pass through Federal income tax refund offset collections to the family first. These changes make it critical to maintain current arrearage data across State and Federal systems. Accepting and processing collections on a weekly basis will help synchronize the arrearage balances.

1.3 Description of Changes

The Federal Offset System will send a file every week, rather than every other week. From the information on the collection and adjustment files, the following reports will also be generated and sent to the States every week:

1. Federal Offset Collections Technical Content Correspondence (TCC) (EFlash and web posting)
2. OCSE Federal Offset Net Check Amount Report (EFlash and C:D)
3. Federal Offset Collection Report (C:D)
4. Statement of Service Fee Report (C:D)
5. Name Discrepancy Report (C:D)

There is no change to the format of the collection files or the reports that are sent to the States.

1.4 Impact on states

States will need to modify their systems by January 2010 to accept the file on a weekly basis.