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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
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Chapter 6. New Mexico

eChild Support Enforcement Website

Goal

To provide quality child support enforcement services through the development of an Internet-based method which will enable parents and employers to perform tasks and exchange information that were handled by phone or in person with agency staff.

Description

With over 100,000 cases to manage, New Mexico's Child Support Enforcement Division faced the same barriers to providing quality child support enforcement services that other state's child support agencies face everyday; namely, insufficient number of trained, skilled staff, limited office hours, and a rigid method for providing clients with information about their case. Clients were put on hold or had to physically go to a child support office to receive up-to-date information regarding their case. Clients were increasingly frustrated with the difficulty in obtaining information about the status of their case, and likewise had difficulty providing information that might help in the management of their case. The mainframe system that stores information about a client's case is very comprehensive—but complicated. Highly skilled caseworkers are required to interpret the information. In addition, employers who are required to work closely with the Child Support agency had some of the same difficulties as clients in accessing information regarding their responsibilities and providing required information in a convenient, timely manner.

The New Mexico Human Services Department partnered with a contractor to develop an Internet-based solution to enable parents and employers to perform tasks and exchange information that until recently could only be handled on the phone or in person with agency staff. Through the use of the Department's web site, http://childsupport.hsd.state.nm.us, clients now can:

  • Apply for child support services

  • Inquire about child support payment status

  • View payment history

  • View child support owed on the case

  • Provide address updates

  • Provide locate "leads" on the whereabouts of the non-custodial parent

  • Have payments automatically deposited into their bank accounts

  • Arrange to pay for child support electronically

  • Update employment information

  • Update asset information

Results

Benefits of the New Mexico eChild Support Solution

  • Improved Customer Service

    eChild Support puts information in the hands of parents when they need it—nights, weekends, and holidays as well as weekdays. Clients can access the Internet from home, work or libraries, to obtain accurate information that was previously available from staff only during office hours.

  • Empowered Parents

    eChild Support provides case information to the client at any time and accepts information from the client that will help the caseworker make progress on working the client's case.

  • Improved Results for Complex Cases

    As more parents use eChild Support for routine information exchange, agency staff are able to shift their focus from handling common inquiries to working on the more unique problems and complex cases. The agency is now able to utilize staff expertise for more challenging work.

  • Extended Reach of Existing Information System

    eChild Support leverages the functionality within the existing Information System. Existing processes within the Child Support Information System are used to process the information received from the Internet in an automated fashion. eChild Support provides a window or view of the voluminous and complicated data in the agency's existing Information System that is easy to understand and tailored to the specific audience requiring the data: i.e., custodial parents, non-custodial parents, employers, etc.

The New Mexico eChild Support Enforcement website had 6435 site hits between the beginning of the program on February 12, 2001 and June 8, 2001. This includes 391 requests for PINs, 50 requests for direct deposit, 29 requests for review and adjustment, and 20 applications.

Funding

Regular 66% funding.

Replication Advice

  • Leverage existing mainframe legacy processes, such as case initiation referral modules, locate response processing modules, etc.

  • Plan adequate testing time, particularly for integration with mainframe Child Support Enforcement System processes

  • Target key stakeholders' concerns, develop with their 'views' in mind.

  • Keep key child support executives involved in process and aware of the benefits

  • Plan the design to focus on protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the client(s)

Contact

Richard Quillin, State of New Mexico Human Services Department, Chief Information Officer, 2009 South Pacheco Street, 3rd floor, Pollon Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

Phone: 505-827-7752; E-mail: Rquillin@state.nm.us

Helen Nelson, State of New Mexico Human Services Department, Acting Director, Child Support Enforcement Division, 2009 South Pacheco Street, 3rd floor, Pollon Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

Phone: 505-827-7041; E-mail: Helen.Nelson@state.nm.us

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