42 U.S.C. § 654a — Automated data processing

(a) In general. To meet this section, the State agency administering the State program under this part must operate one statewide automated data-processing and information-retrieval system. The system must be able to perform the tasks in this section as often and in the way this part requires. (b) Program management. The system must perform functions the Secretary specifies for managing the State program, including (1) controlling and accounting for Federal, State, and local funds used for the program and (2) maintaining data needed for timely Federal reports. (c) Performance indicators. To let the Secretary calculate incentive payments and penalty adjustments under sections 652(g) and 658a, the agency must (1) use the system to maintain required State performance data on establishing parentage and enforcing child support and to calculate the State’s paternity-establishment percentage for each fiscal year, and (2) use controls that ensure the data are complete, reliable, and readily available and that the calculations are accurate. (d) Information integrity and security. The agency must protect the integrity, accuracy, and completeness of the system’s data and control access to and use of the data. In addition to regulatory safeguards, it must have: (1) written access policies that allow personnel to use data only as needed for this program and identify which data may be used for each purpose and which personnel may access it; (2) controls such as passwords or blocked fields enforcing those policies; (3) routine monitoring, such as audit trails and feedback, to detect unauthorized access or use quickly; (4) procedures to inform and train all personnel, including State and local staff and contractors, who may access confidential data about requirements and penalties, including Internal Revenue Code section 6103; and (5) administrative penalties, up to dismissal, for unauthorized access, disclosure, or use. (e) State case registry. (1) The system must include a “State case registry” containing records for (A) every case in which the State agency provides services under the approved State plan and (B) every support order established or modified in the State on or after October 1, 1998. (2) The registry may link local support-order registries through an automated network if it follows this section. (3) Records must use standard data elements for both parents, such as names, Social Security numbers and other uniform identification numbers, birth dates, and case numbers, and must contain other information, such as case status, that the Secretary requires. (4) Each record for a case receiving plan services where a support order exists must show: (A) monthly or other periodic support due and other amounts due or overdue, including arrearages, interest, late penalties, and fees; (B) amounts collected; (C) how collected amounts were distributed; (D) each supported child’s birth date and, no later than October 1, 1999, Social Security number; and (E) the amount of any lien imposed under section 666(a)(4). (5) The State agency must promptly create, update, maintain, and regularly monitor these records using (A) information about administrative actions and court or administrative proceedings and orders concerning parentage and support; (B) comparisons with Federal, State, or local information sources; (C) collection and distribution information; and (D) other relevant information. (f) Information comparisons and disclosures. The State must use the system, at the times and in the standard formats the Secretary requires, to extract, share, compare, and receive information from other databases and comparison services. The purpose is to obtain or provide information needed by the State agency, the Secretary, or other State or Federal agencies to carry out this part, subject to Internal Revenue Code section 6103. The activities include: (1) supplying and updating the Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders with the minimum necessary State-registry information, including notice that an order has expired; (2) exchanging information with the Federal Parent Locator Service for section 653 purposes; (3) exchanging information with State agencies in this and other States that run temporary family assistance, Medicaid, or other programs designated by the Secretary, as needed for their duties; (4) exchanging information with State agencies, agencies in other States, and interstate networks as needed and appropriate for this part or to help other States; and (5) giving a private industry council receiving welfare-to-work funds the names, addresses, phone numbers, and identifying case numbers of noncustodial parents in its service area who are in the State program funded under part A, so the council can identify and contact them about participation in that program. (g) Collection and distribution. (1) The State must use the system to help collect and pay support through the State disbursement unit. At minimum, the system must: (A) send income-withholding orders and notices to employers and other debtors within 2 business days after receiving notice of the withholding and its income source from a court, another State, an employer, the Federal Parent Locator Service, or another recognized source; use the Secretary’s standard formats; and, if the employer chooses, use the Secretary’s electronic methods; (B) continually monitor payments to identify late payments quickly; and (C) automatically use enforcement procedures, including those authorized by section 666(c), when payments are late. (2) “Business day” means a day when State offices are open for regular business. (h) Expedited procedures. To the maximum extent feasible, the system must be used to carry out the expedited administrative procedures required by section 666(c).