DCL-03-29, Modernization of the Federal Parent Locator Service

DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER

DCL-03-29

DATE: August 20, 2003

TO: ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

RE: Modernization of the Federal Parent Locator Service

Dear Colleague:

In our continuing effort to support you in serving the needs of the nation’s children, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) has initiated a project to modernize the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS).

The FPLS was established in 1975, under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, as a supplementary locate tool for use by state and local child support enforcement (CSE) workers. The FPLS provided data on delinquent obligors from various Federal sources including the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Through Federal legislation enacted during the 1990s, the FPLS was expanded to include the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH), the Federal Case Registry (FCR), and the Multistate Financial Institution Data Match (MSFIDM). The FPLS also operates the Federal Offset Program, the Passport Denial Program, CSENet and the online Interstate Referral Guide (IRG).

Today, the FPLS provides a wealth of information, through automated interfaces with state systems, to assist in locating absent parents, enforcing child support orders, and collecting past-due payments from delinquent obligors. The FPLS also provides data to authorized Federal agencies to assist in determining benefits eligibility, identifying fraud, and locating individuals for repayment of government loans. With the level of technology available today and projected for tomorrow, the FPLS is ready for its next phase of development.

In planning for the modernization of the FPLS, OCSE staff needs to answer the following questions.

Given the FPLS as is, and considering upcoming enforcement tools and the future vision of the child support program:

• Where do we want the FPLS to be in three to five years?

• How do we get there?

OCSE’s Office of Automation and Program Operations (OAPO), with contractor assistance, is finalizing an “as is” model of the FPLS, which documents graphically and descriptively, the FPLS as it currently exists. The next step in the process is to develop a new target architecture (or concept of operations) that will be more flexible, take advantage of new technologies and approaches, and position OCSE to meet future business requirements.

In that regard, OAPO is seeking input from state CSE agencies and other stakeholders in examining ways in which the FPLS can be improved. In order to facilitate this input, we are planning a series of conference calls to be held during the weeks of September 8 and September 22. My staff will be contacting your state and Regional Offices during the next few weeks to arrange these calls and solicit participation. If a member of your staff would like to participate in the calls or if you have any questions about the FPLS modernization project, please contact Ben Revers at 202-260-5479 or brevers@acf.hhs.gov.

We look forward to receiving your input on this most important project.

Sincerely,

Sherri Z. Heller, Ed.D.

Commissioner

Office of Child Support Enforcement

cc: Regional Program Administrators

ACF Regional Administrators