View all text of Part D [§ 651 - § 669b]
§ 654a. Automated data processing
(a) In general
(b) Program managementThe automated system required by this section shall perform such functions as the Secretary may specify relating to management of the State program under this part, including—
(1) controlling and accounting for use of Federal, State, and local funds in carrying out the program; and
(2) maintaining the data necessary to meet Federal reporting requirements under this part on a timely basis.
(c) Calculation of performance indicatorsIn order to enable the Secretary to determine the incentive payments and penalty adjustments required by sections 652(g) and 658a of this title, the State agency shall—
(1) use the automated system—
(A) to maintain the requisite data on State performance with respect to paternity establishment and child support enforcement in the State; and
(B) to calculate the paternity establishment percentage for the State for each fiscal year; and
(2) have in place systems controls to ensure the completeness and reliability of, and ready access to, the data described in paragraph (1)(A), and the accuracy of the calculations described in paragraph (1)(B).
(d) Information integrity and securityThe State agency shall have in effect safeguards on the integrity, accuracy, and completeness of, access to, and use of data in the automated system required by this section, which shall include the following (in addition to such other safeguards as the Secretary may specify in regulations):
(1) Policies restricting accessWritten policies concerning access to data by State agency personnel, and sharing of data with other persons, which—
(A) permit access to and use of data only to the extent necessary to carry out the State program under this part; and
(B) specify the data which may be used for particular program purposes, and the personnel permitted access to such data.
(2) Systems controls
(3) Monitoring of access
(4) Training and information
(5) Penalties
(e) State case registry
(1) ContentsThe automated system required by this section shall include a registry (which shall be known as the “State case registry”) that contains records with respect to—
(A) each case in which services are being provided by the State agency under the State plan approved under this part; and
(B) each support order established or modified in the State on or after October 1, 1998.
(2) Linking of local registries
(3) Use of standardized data elements
(4) Payment recordsEach case record in the State case registry with respect to which services are being provided under the State plan approved under this part and with respect to which a support order has been established shall include a record of—
(A) the amount of monthly (or other periodic) support owed under the order, and other amounts (including arrearages, interest or late payment penalties, and fees) due or overdue under the order;
(B) any amount described in subparagraph (A) that has been collected;
(C) the distribution of such collected amounts;
(D) the birth date and, beginning not later than October 1, 1999, the social security number, of any child for whom the order requires the provision of support; and
(E) the amount of any lien imposed with respect to the order pursuant to section 666(a)(4) of this title.
(5) Updating and monitoringThe State agency operating the automated system required by this section shall promptly establish and update, maintain, and regularly monitor, case records in the State case registry with respect to which services are being provided under the State plan approved under this part, on the basis of—
(A) information on administrative actions and administrative and judicial proceedings and orders relating to paternity and support;
(B) information obtained from comparison with Federal, State, or local sources of information;
(C) information on support collections and distributions; and
(D) any other relevant information.
(f) Information comparisons and other disclosures of informationThe State shall use the automated system required by this section to extract information from (at such times, and in such standardized format or formats, as may be required by the Secretary), to share and compare information with, and to receive information from, other data bases and information comparison services, in order to obtain (or provide) information necessary to enable the State agency (or the Secretary or other State or Federal agencies) to carry out this part, subject to section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Such information comparison activities shall include the following:
(1) Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders
(2) Federal Parent Locator Service
(3) Temporary family assistance and medicaid agencies
(4) Intrastate and interstate information comparisons
(5) Private industry councils receiving welfare-to-work grants
(g) Collection and distribution of support payments
(1) In generalThe State shall use the automated system required by this section to assist and facilitate the collection and disbursement of support payments through the State disbursement unit operated under section 654b of this title, through the performance of functions, including, at a minimum—
(A) transmission of orders and notices to employers (and other debtors) for the withholding of income—
(i) within 2 business days after receipt of notice of, and the income source subject to, such withholding from a court, another State, an employer, the Federal Parent Locator Service, or another source recognized by the State;
(ii) using uniform formats prescribed by the Secretary; and
(iii) at the option of the employer, using the electronic transmission methods prescribed by the Secretary;
(B) ongoing monitoring to promptly identify failures to make timely payment of support; and
(C) automatic use of enforcement procedures (including procedures authorized pursuant to section 666(c) of this title) if payments are not timely made.
(2) “Business day” defined
(h) Expedited administrative procedures
(Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, title IV, § 454A, as added and amended Pub. L. 104–193, title III, §§ 311, 312(c), 325(b), 344(a)(2), Aug. 22, 1996, 110 Stat. 2205, 2208, 2226, 2235; Pub. L. 105–34, title X, § 1090(a)(1), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 961; Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(4) [title VIII, § 805(a)(1)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A–285; Pub. L. 113–183, title III, § 306(a), Sept. 29, 2014, 128 Stat. 1949.)