Incentive Data Reliability Standard

ACTION TRANSMITTAL

OCSE-AT-00-05

DATE: August 21, 2000

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

SUBJECT: Incentive Data Reliability Standard

CONTENT: Effective for fiscal year 2000, the new incentive formulas found in section 458A(b) of the Social Security Act (the Act) will be used to determine one-third of the incentive payments owed to States. These payments will be calculated using data submitted by States on Federal reporting forms OCSE-157, OCSE-34A, and OCSE-396A. Section 458A(b)(5)(B) of the Act requires the Secretary to determine, based on an audit, that State-reported data are complete and reliable, or the State’s maximum incentive base amount will be zero with respect to the applicable performance measure. FY 1999 data is also important as it will be used as a base year to determine improvement in a State's performance on the new incentive measures.

This Action Transmittal provides States with notice that a data reliability standard of 90 percent will be applied to audited FY 1999 and FY 2000 data needed for the calculation of incentives for FY 2000. That is, if the reliability of an individual data element used to calculate one of the performance measures under section 458A of the Act is found to be below 90 percent, the data will be deemed unreliable and the State will be ineligible for incentives for that performance measure. Attached is a table which provides the incentive data elements to which the 90 percent reliability standard will be applied.

RELATED MATERIAL:

DCL-99-17, DCL-99-108, DCL-00-34 AT-99-15, AT-00-02

SUPERSEDED MATERIAL: N/A

ATTACHMENT: Table of incentive elements to which reliability standard will be applied.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately

INQURIES TO: ACF Regional Administrators

David Gray Ross
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

State-Reported Data Elements to which

90% Reliability Standard will be Applied

*States have the option of selecting either PEP. The data reliability standard will be applied to the elements of the measure which the State selects.

**Unlike the other measures, the Cost Effectiveness measure does not provide incentives for improvement over the previous year.