Action Transmittal AT-94-04

Charge-backs for Child Support Enforcement Network (CSENet) usage


Transmittal No.     OCSE-AT-94-04            Date:    June 2, 1994

TO:            STATE AGENCIES ADMINISTERING CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT 
               PLANS UNDER TITLE IV-D OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT AND 
               OTHER INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS

SUBJECT:       Charge-backs for Child Support Enforcement Network 
               (CSENet) usage

AUTHORITY:     Public Law 102-394, Department of Labor, Health and 
               Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies 
               Appropriations Act of 1993 at Section 214 specifies 
               that, "for any program funded in this Act or 
               subsequent Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
               Services, and Education and Related Agencies 
               Appropriations Acts, the Secretary of Health and Human 
               Services is authorized, when providing services or 
               conducting activities for which the Secretary is 
               entitled to reimbursement by the State, to obtain such 
               reimbursement as an offset against Federal payments to 
               which the State would otherwise be entitled under such 
               program from funds appropriated for the same or any 
               subsequent fiscal year.  Such offsets shall be 
               credited to the appropriation account which bore the 
               expense of providing the service or conducting the 
               activity, and shall remain available until expended."

PURPOSE:       The purpose of this Action Transmittal is to provide 
               information on the cost recovery procedures of the 
               Administration for Children and Families for the Child 
               Support Enforcement Network (CSENet). 

               The Federal Government has paid for the full costs of 
               the first two years of the CSENet contract.  This 
               included funding for hardware, software, installation, 
               telecommunications, training, and services associated 
               with the implementation and use of CSENet.  In 
               addition, we have and will continue to provide limited 
               funding for on-going technical assistance to assist 
               States in achieving an automated interface between the 
               CSENet workstation and their statewide automated Child 
               Support Enforcement (CSE) system.  

               As stated in OCSE-AT-92-05, dated August 21, 1992, in 
               order to make CSENet self-financing, the State users 
               will be charged back for the ongoing cost of CSENet 
               beginning in May 1994.

BILLING:       There are two aspects of the CSENet charges:  1) a 
               fixed price portion which covers the management of the 
               network, host services, hotline and maintenance of the 
               CSENet workstations; and, 2) telecommunication charges 
               for FTS 2000 services which represent the remaining 6% 
               of the CSENet charges.
               
               Initially, the CSENet charges will be equally divided 
               among the participating States and territories.  For 
               your information and understanding of these charges, 
               the CSENet contractor will monitor the 
               telecommunication charges by State and provide 
               statistical and cost information to the States.  As we 
               have discussed and gained agreement on by the CSENet 
               Steering Committee, the methodology and allocation of 
               charges among the States may change as the system 
               becomes fully operational.  As the system matures, 
               this information will be presented to the CSENet 
               Steering Committee for a reexamination of the 
               methodology for charging.  Such reexaminations will 
               take place periodically and be thoroughly reviewed as 
               the States develop automated interfaces between CSENet 
               and their statewide automated systems.

               The estimated quarterly CSENet fee per State for the 
               4th quarter of FFY 1994 is $2,550 or $850 per month.  
               Any adjustments to the telecommunication costs will be 
               made in the following year. 
               
PROCEDURES:    The CSENet charges will be paid by the State through 
               the following procedures:

          1)   ACF will provide the States with a notice of their 
               quarterly CSENet fees thirty (30) days before each 
               Federal Fiscal Quarter. 

          2)   States may pay these fees through any of the following 
               techniques:

          a)   States that have executed an agreement with ACF will 
               have their CSENet fees automatically collected through 
               offset to their quarterly CSE grant;  

          b)   States that have not yet executed the agreement in 
               Attachment A should either include the total of 
               Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) and CSENet fees 
               on line 11 of the OCSE-131 and provide a breakout 
               between FPLS and CSENet as a footnote on the form and 
               the amount reported as CSENet fees will be collected 
               though an offset to their quarterly CSE grant; or

          c)   States should send a check for the amount of the 
               CSENet fee made out to the Administration for Children 
               and Families and mailed to the attention of Charleen 
               Tompkins, ACF/OFM/DFEBG, Aerospace Building, Room 702, 
               370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20447. 

          3)   The telecommunications portion of CSENet will be 
               estimated based on charges from the previous quarter.  
               Adjustments to the estimated telecommunications 
               charges will be made in the following fiscal year. 
               
          4)   Please note that the State is eligible to receive 
               Federal funding at the regular matching rate for the 
               amount of the CSENet charge-back.  The State should 
               report the actual charges on line 9 of the OCSE-131 
               which reports expenditures for the quarter  during 
               which the State paid for CSENet services.

ACTION         It appears that the most efficient means, for
REQUESTED:     both the States and the Federal government, of
               paying CSENet charges would be through automatic 
               offset  of each State's grant award.  This would 
               enable each State to pay quarterly charges without the 
               need to issue a check or enter charges to be offset on 
               the OCSE-131.  If a State wishes to employ this 
               technique, it should execute the attached agreement 
               and return it to Robin Rushton.

               States which elect to pay by check or through the 
               quarterly OCSE-131 process should inform Ms. Rushton 
               that they will use one of these techniques.

DEBT           If a State is delinquent in paying its CSENet 
COLLECTION:    charges via check or the quarterly OCSE-131, ACF will 
               employ the Debt collection measures of 
               45 CFR Part 30.

RELATED        OCSE-AT-92-05, dated August 21, 1992
REFERENCE:     

EFFECTIVE      CSENet fees will be collected beginning with the
DATE:          Third Quarter FFY 1994 (April-June quarter). 

INQUIRIES      Robin Rushton
TO:            Director
               Division of Child Support Information Systems
               370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW
               Washington D.C. 20447
               Telephone: (202) 401-6519
               FAX:       (202) 401-6400



               ________________________
               Director
               Office of Information Systems Management


                        AGREEMENT BETWEEN 
        THE ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (ACF)
          DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (DHHS)
                                AND
                 CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
              STATE OF _____________________________



I.   PURPOSE

     To record the agreement and understanding between the 
     Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the State of 
     _______________________, to permit the fees for the Child 
     Support Enforcement Network (CSENet) to be offset against the 
     State's quarterly child support grant.

II.  BACKGROUND
     
     CSENet is a nationwide communications network linking State 
     child support enforcement systems.  Over the network, States 
     will use standard transactions to electronically request or 
     report location, paternity and support establishment, 
     enforcement and collection information.  The contract to 
     implement CSENet was awarded on April 30, 1992 to IBM Federal 
     Systems (now LORAL Corporation) with Computer Science 
     Corporation and Deloitte Touche as principal subcontractors. ACF 
     provided the funding for the initial 24 months, the technical 
     assistance task orders and the first option year of the CSENet 
     contract.  As specified in OCSE Action Transmittal 92-5, the 
     State users will be charged back for the ongoing costs of CSENet 
     beginning May 1994. The fees collection for CSENet will be used 
     to exercise additional option years of the CSENet contract.

     Public Law 102-394, Department of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 
     of 1993 at Section 214 specifies that, "for any program funded 
     in this Act or subsequent Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations 
     Acts, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized, 
     when providing services or conducting activities for which the 
     Secretary is entitled to reimbursement by the State, to obtain 
     such reimbursement as an offset against Federal payments to 
     which the State would otherwise be entitled under such program 
     from funds appropriated for the same or any subsequent fiscal 
     year.  Such offsets shall be credited to the appropriation 
     account which bore the expense of providing the service or 
     conducting the activity, and shall remain available until 
     expended."





III. UNDERSTANDING


     A.   ACF will provide CSENet services to State Child Support 
          Enforcement Agencies for the purposes of transmitting 
          interstate child support information. These services will 
          include management of the network, host services, hotline, 
          maintenance of the State CSENet workstation and 
          telecommunication services for CSENet. 


     B.   ACF will provide the States with projections for the fixed 
          price portion of the CSENet contract, currently 
          representing 94% of the total costs and estimates of 
          telecommunications costs based on the previous year of 
          telecommunication charges. 


     C.   The telecommunications portion of CSENet will be estimated 
          based on charges from the previous quarter.  Adjustments to 
          the estimated telecommunications charges will be made in 
          the following fiscal year. 

     D.   ACF will provide the States with a notice of their 
          quarterly CSENet fees thirty (30) days before the end of 
          each Federal Fiscal Quarter. 


     E.   ACF is hereby authorized to offset the CSENet fees from the 
          State's quarterly child support grant, without requiring 
          the State to report the CSENet fees on line 11 of the 
          OCSE-131.

               
     F.   The State is eligible to receive Federal funding at the 
          regular matching rate for the amount of the CSENet 
          charge-back.  The State should report the actual charges on 
          line 9 of the OCSE-131 reporting expenditures for the 
          quarter during which the State paid for CSENet services 
          through automatic grant offset.



     G.   ACF and the State agree to identify a liaison to each other 
          to facilitate carrying out the provisions of this 
          agreement.

The parties executing this agreement have the authority to sign this 
agreement:



By:________________________          Date:______________________
     Laurence J. Love
     Deputy Assistant Secretary
       for Program Operations
     Administration for Children and Families
     U.S. Department of Health and Human Services



By:________________________          Date:______________________


Title:____________________


State Agency:_______________________


Address: