December 2023 Child Support Report
December 2023 Child Support Report December 21, 2023 | Volume 44 | No. 11 | Monthly
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Tips for Using the Child Support Portal
Courtney Garnand, FPLS Support, OCSS Division of Federal Systems

Conference season is wrapping up and the OCSS FPLS Support Team has been busy! We’ve been delivering presentations and conducting outreach on the latest Child Support Portal applications, enhancements, and best practices.
The Portal is a valuable tool for child support agencies to send and receive vital case information. It also allows our partners to share required information with child support agencies. Its user-friendly interface and applications streamline the process to access important information and services.
Here are some of the ways you can maximize your Portal experience:
Familiarize yourself with the information on the Portal welcome screen: Check out the Helpful Information and Quick Links sections on the welcome screen. You’ll find navigation guides for applications, technical documents, information sheets, and links to helpful websites outside the Portal.
Get access: Your agency determines which applications to implement and who can access them. Check with your manager to ensure you have access to the applications you need. For example, we recommend all intake and case initiation workers use the FCR Query application to search for cases in other states.
Implement applications to safely and securely communicate: Communication Center and Electronic Document Exchange (EDE) are the preferred and most secure methods of communicating and transmitting child support documents. These applications help you spend less time waiting for information to arrive by snail mail and minimize the risk of security issues while exchanging sensitive information.
As of November 2023, 44 states and territories have implemented EDE. Also, employers and organizations representing over 4,100 Federal Employer Identification Numbers (FEIN) and 43 states and tribes have joined OCSS on Communication Center.
Log in regularly: Monitor frequently used applications like Locate, EDE, Communication Center, and Department of Defense (DoD) Entitlement to ensure you review incoming information.
Review and update your Intergovernmental Reference Guide (IRG) contacts and profile questions: The IRG provides valuable information, including child support policies and procedures, agency contact information, and locator codes for states, tribes, and countries. This information is vital for intergovernmental case processing, and it’s important to keep it current. If you see something in your profile or contacts that needs to be updated, please let your state or tribal IRG administrator know.
Reach out: We'd like to hear your suggestions on how to improve the Portal. The Portal has Frequently Asked Questions and a Feedback link to submit ideas. Email FPLSsupport@acf.hhs.gov for help with implementation, training, and developing best practices. We can present virtually or in person at your next state, regional, or national conference.
Ohio Hosts Summer Institute and Engages Partners to Promote Responsible Parenting
Leslie Owens, Office of Child Support Grants, Outreach and Education, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
In August 2020, OCSS awarded funding to eight state child support agencies through the Economic Mobility and Responsible Parenting Demonstration Grant. In July 2021, we awarded funding to an additional cohort of seven state and two tribal programs. This article is part of a series that features their efforts to leverage their child support program's responsible parenting expertise. For more information, email michael.hayes@acf.hhs.gov or donna.steele@acf.hhs.gov.

The No Kidding Ohio responsible parenting program held its second annual summer institute in June 2023. The institute brought together peer educators from Ohio’s five implementation sites in both cohorts of the Charting a Course for Economic Mobility and Responsible Parenting grant. Executive Director Kimberly Dent from the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood presented on its history, program goals, and services. The Commission funds the No Kidding Ohio program, TeenWorks, through Title IV-A and TANF dollars. The grant project’s evaluation team from Ohio University also attended the institute and gave an update.
Participants spent time in two group collaboration sessions based on their role as a peer educator or program manager. Peer educators talked about parenting challenges, professional conduct, classroom participant interactions, concerns, lessons learned, and other topics. Program managers discussed peer educator engagement and recruitment, creating partnerships with local schools, classroom management during presentations, and program sustainability. Over the course of this grant, we established partnerships among all sites to allow them to learn from and support each other. We scheduled quarterly meetings for the sites to share their successes and barriers.
Partnerships are important
Implementation sites continue to build partnerships with a variety of other community organizations. The Gallia County peer educators and program managers volunteer monthly at a nonprofit that helps families in need. They set up the pantry room for Baby Pantry Day, where families in the community can get free diapers, wipes, clothing, and other baby necessities. In August, a child support case manager attended Baby Pantry Day to talk with families and promote child support awareness month.
The sites participated in other community events:
- Medicaid’s Healthy Start, where school-aged youth received backpacks and school supplies
- Cooking classes offered by the SNAP-Ed free nutrition education program, a USDA-funded program for those eligible to receive means-tested federal assistance
- School supply drives
- Family health and safety fair
Establishing these partnerships provides opportunities to promote the No Kidding Ohio program, strengthen the community, and provide resources and support to Ohio families.
For more information, email Leslie.K.Owens@jfs.ohio.gov and Amy.Rice@jfs.ohio.gov.
Fatherhood Forum Explores Ways to Support Families
James Murray, Senior Advisor, OCSS

In November, OCSS hosted a Fatherhood Forum with responsible fatherhood practitioners and stakeholders, as well as state and tribal child support directors. We met with these partners to explore ways to collaborate and invest in programs that support fathers and further employment.
ACF Acting Assistant Secretary Jeff Hild gave opening remarks and OCSS provided an in-depth look at child support services and areas to work together. We also highlighted our cross-program fact sheet to help connect fathers to services (PDF) that can help them and their families succeed. The feedback from the forum was clear: Serving the whole family through child support services is important to everyone. Our responsible fatherhood program attendees expressed that:
- It’s important for child support services to illustrate the importance of community partnerships to serve families.
- The name change to Office of Child Support Services is important, and community partners would like to help promote the child support program’s focus on helping the whole family.
- A major area of need is finding ways to increase wages for parents ordered to pay child support. The current wage gains are not enough to meet the needs of families.
This forum was an important step in engaging our partners and hearing their perspective on these important issues. OCSS will consider this feedback as we develop ways to use whole-family, community-based strategies to increase financial stability and economic mobility for families within the child support program.
How Employers Help Connect Kids to Health Insurance
Alice P. Jacobsohn, Esq., Director, Government Relations, PayrollOrg

The National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) is the OMB-approved form that state child support agencies send to employers to enroll children in employer-provided health insurance. One or both parents may be ordered to provide health insurance. Employers can receive hard copies or electronic versions from states participating in e-NMSN program.
NMSN sections
The NMSN is a two-part form consisting of Part A and Part B.
Employers complete Part A—Notice to Withhold for Health Care Coverage (OMB 0970-0222)—to identify whether the employee’s benefits include group healthcare insurance. Employers have 20 days from the date on an NMSN to complete and return Part A to states and, as applicable, provide Part B to plan administrators. Part A tells states whether the employee has already opted to cover the children or whether coverage is available, even if the employee is not enrolled in the employer-provided coverage. An employer must identify whether all types of plans are available or only certain plans for medical, dental, vision, mental health, prescription drugs, or other coverage.
Plan administrators complete Part B—Medical Support Notice to the Plan Administrator (OMB 1210-0113)—and must submit it to the child support agency within 40 days. If an employer has multiple plans, each plan administrator must complete a Part B.
OCSS has detailed form instructions for each part of the NMSN and answers to common questions about union-provided plans, COBRA coverage for former employees, and how to handle changes in employer-provided coverage. Employers can also find information about state medical support requirements, including contact information, priority for withholding, and state statutes on medical support. Employers should review state laws and regulations to ensure compliance and contact state agencies with questions.
Calculating medical support
When an employer receives both an Income Withholding for Support Order and an NMSN, they must ensure the combined withholding amounts do not exceed the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) limits. There may not be sufficient allowable disposable income to withhold the amount ordered on the IWO plus health insurance, so an employer must check the law of the employee’s work state for withholding priorities of different types of child support. Priorities and CCPA limits for every state are available on the income withholding matrix.
PayrollOrg is a nonprofit providing education and resources to help payroll professionals understand legal requirements like the NMSN. We’re hosting two conferences in 2024 that will include sessions on child support. The 2024 Capital Summit is March 11-12 in Alexandria, Virginia, and the 2024 Payroll Congress is May 7-10 in Nashville. You can find webinars and other resources on the PayrollOrg website .
About Child Support Report
Child Support Report is published monthly by the Office of Child Support Services. We welcome articles and high-quality digital photos to consider for publication. We reserve the right to edit for style, content and length, or not accept an article. OCSS does not endorse the practices or individuals in this newsletter. You may reprint an article in its entirety (or contact the author or editor for permission to excerpt); please identify Child Support Report as the source.
Jeff Hild Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families | Tanguler Gray Commissioner, OCSS |
Crystal Peeler Director, Division of Customer Communications | Andrew Phifer Editor, CSR.Editor@acf.hhs.gov |