Child support director reports six state findings, outlines immediate fixes

The Richland County child-support director reported to the committee that the Bureau of Child Support’s tri-annual review produced six findings of noncompliance and five recommendations; the director described corrective actions already taken and plans for follow-up.

The director said the agency ended the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30 having met three of four performance benchmarks and reported an arrears-collection rate of 81.59 percent—above the statewide average of 68.14 percent. The office received an incentive payment ‘just shy of $12,000’ in October and noted year-to-date revenue collections at about 81 percent of projections.

On the compliance review, the director listed six findings: (1) staff-position miscategorization with the state’s casework categories, (2) administrative-complaint letters not always sent within the state-required 10-day timeline, (3) remote-work policy missing IRS-compliance language, (4) a rehired employee’s background check had not been completed prior to rehire, (5) keypad combinations had not been changed annually or after staff departures, and (6) an authorized-access list did not accurately reflect authorized personnel and their access levels.

The director said the agency corrected the position categorization with the state, updated complaint and remote-work policies (including a required attestation staff will sign), completed the delayed background check for the rehired employee, updated keypad codes with maintenance staff, and revised the authorized-access list. The director said they intend to adopt all five recommended items and will regularly review compliance going forward.

The director acknowledged some of the noncompliance stemmed from unfamiliarity with state requirements and said the office has begun implementing fixes and coordinating with human resources and maintenance to ensure the issues do not recur. The director also said the agency had a clerical assistant resign for medical reasons and that recruitment for that position is underway.

What’s next: The office will continue to implement the Bureau of Child Support’s recommended fixes, hold regular reviews, and proceed with planned hires; the director expects to report updated staffing and compliance progress at the next quarterly review.