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Administration for Children and Families US Department of Health and Human Services
The Office of Child Support Enforcement Giving Hope and Support to America's Children

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children & Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement

DCL-99- 125                             DEC 10, 1999

TO:        ALL IV-D DIRECTORS

RE:        Report to the Congress on Development of a Medical Support Incentive for the Child Support Enforcement Program

Dear Colleague:

This memorandum transmits to you the Report to the Congress on Development of a Medical Support Incentive for the Child Support Enforcement Program required by Public Law 105-200, known as the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (CSPIA).

Section 201(d)(2) of CSPIA required the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with States and advocates for children in need of medical support, to develop a performance indicator that would measure the effectiveness of State child support enforcement agencies in establishing and enforcing medical support obligations for children. The Secretary was also required to make recommendations for the integration of the medical support indicator with the new performance-based incentive funding system.

In order to fulfill this requirement, OCSE formed the Medical Support Incentive Work Group made of State, Federal and advocacy group representatives. This work group met twice over a period of nine months to make recommendations to the Secretary. The work group recommendation to delay the development of a medical support incentive until 2001 was included in the Secretary's report to Congress. The reasons for delay are a lack of sufficient and valid data upon which to develop performance standards and other activities that will enhance medical support enforcement efforts in the interim.

We greatly appreciate the efforts of State, Federal, and advocacy group representatives who served on the work group.

For further inquiries, please contact Tom Killmurray at tkillmurray@acf.hhs.gov or 202-401-4677.

Sincerely,

 

David Gray Ross
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosure

Report to the Congress on Development of a Medical Support Incentive for the Child Support Enforcement Program