Allow State and local child support enforcement officials to concentrate their efforts on providing services under Title IV-D by outsourcing the management of Kentucky's Non-IV-D State Case Registry.

Maintenance of all non-IV-D cases in the State Child Support Registry with support orders established, modified or registered in Kentucky on or after October 1, 1998, by a single unit.

Ensure accurate demographic and financial information in all non-IV-D services to facilitate location and assist the State Disbursement Unit (SDU) (which is operated under a separate contract with another contractor) in payment processing. Resolve undistributed receipts.

Provide timely, accurate and courteous customer service to all custodial and noncustodial parents, employers and attorneys of record.

Non-IV-D support orders filed in Kentucky Courts are received at the unit from Kentucky's 120 counties. Information from these orders is entered into the Kentucky Automated Support Enforcement System (KASES). The orders are then scanned and indexed to a web-based document storage and retrieval system. Document images are also stored on an optical disk back-up system. Notification of case initiation and remittance instructions are then generated and mailed to the attorney of record and the employer listed on wage withholding orders. The unit consistently meets a two-business day timeframe for entering new cases and transmitting this information.

Customer service is provided to all non-IV-D case participants through a toll-free telephone number to the unit. Attorneys and employers are provided with the correct contact number. Updates are made to this contact information to attorneys and employers should the case change from IV-D to non-IV-D status.

Case specialists are immediately available to assist participants with information regarding payments and the status of their accounts.

Case specialists work with the accounting branch of the Division of Child Support and the SDU to resolve allocation and disbursement errors.

Payment records are forwarded to custodial parents, noncustodial parents, and authorized agents of the parents within two business days of a request.

Information and applications for "non-public assistance" services through the IV-D agency are sent to participants with non-IV-D support orders by the next business day following their request for enforcement services.

Explanation of the case registry and non-IV-D collection requirements is provided to private attorneys and employers as their calls are received and through group presentations and outreach.

Undistributed receipts in the non-IV-D caseload typically represent payments that have been allocated to a case but have not been credited against specific support obligations. Routinely working from the Undistributed Funds report generated by KASES, case specialists identify the causes of disbursement problems and take actions to ensure that payments are directed appropriately. When child support disbursements are returned by the post office, staff review available state databases for a more recent address for the payees. If these procedures fail to identify a new address, information can be forwarded to the vendor collection center for skip tracing, using commercial databases that will not affect a payee's credit report.

Each case specialist maintains a monthly case activity log. The vendor uses the log to invoice for services provided. Some 10% of all logged activities are randomly selected each month for a quality assurance audit to ensure at least a 90% confidence level in court order interpretation, data integrity and payment resolution.

In February 2000, there were an estimated 3,000 non-IV-D cases in the State Case Registry. As of January 31, 2002, 7,547 non-IV-D cases are on the registry. The establishment of a single, dedicated unit to handle private cases has made it less confusing and easier for the courts to comply with PRWORA requirements regarding the centralized collection and disbursement of non-IV-D wage withholdings.

All participants in a non-IV-D case, their designated representatives, and employers have immediate access to a specialized unit that can assist them. Since only non-IV-D cases are handled by this unit, customers are assured that the service they receive is accurate, complete and timely.

Because only non-IV-D cases are handled by this unit, a clear distinction is made regarding the type of services offered to case participants. When IV-D offices throughout the state handled these cases, there was a lack of consistency in the services provided. Often, enforcement services were provided that had not been requested by case participants and the participants were confused about the actions being taken on their behalf. It is now easier to assist participants in requesting the type of services that meet their needs, at the same time relieving IV-D staff from completing unnecessary case work and saving the Commonwealth staff time and money.

The use of a real-time, remote user access electronic imaging system for document storage and retrieval has proven to be an efficient and cost-effective means of ensuring that copies of documents are readily available.