This
measure is similar to Measure 3.5.1. However, its focus is on child support
orders rather than probationary orders.
Planning/Preparation.
Illustrative data elements are provided on Form 3.5.2, Illustrative Data
Elements for Measuring Enforcement of Child Support Orders. Data of this
type can be obtained by examining the order and the payment bookkeeping
records separately. In many cases, a bookkeeping record may contain all
required data.
Sampling
must be from court case disposition records, unless it is demonstrated that
records of the bookkeeping agency include all court cases and do not include
cases for which enforcement jurisdiction is not with the court. If court
case disposition records are used, the sampling technique must allow for
cases in which no child support is ordered. The sample should be taken from
cases in which a divorce, dissolution, or paternity establishment was
entered at least 18 months prior to the sample date, and no more than 36
months prior to the sample date. This restriction will allow adequate time
for a payment pattern to develop and for enforcement action to be taken, and
it will exclude cases that are so old that they have little relevance to
contemporary policy and practice. The sample should include 300 cases.
Data
Collection. Data
are collected on coded forms. For an example, please refer to Form
3.5.2, Illustrative Data Elements for Measuring Enforcement of Child
Support Orders. The data related to the status of enforcement actions taken
may prove problematic to collect. However, an effort should be made to
collect it. If problems are encountered, they should be described.
Specifically, the reasons why particular data elements are not available
should be noted. These reasons may have a bearing on the enforcement
capacity of the responsible agency.
Data
Analysis and Report Preparation.
Analysis involves computing summary statistics to describe the amounts
ordered and paid, regularity of payment, and enforcement responses.
All
States are required to collect and report to the Federal Government
information on the volume of Title IV–D child support cases, the amounts
of money collected, and other related information. This information should
be obtained for each jurisdiction in the State and used to assist in the
evaluation of the data for the court. The information can be obtained from
the State’s official Title IV–D agency, usually a division of the
State’s health and welfare organization.
The
summary results returned to the court will allow it to see the trends in
compliance as well as in enforcement by the responsible agency. If it proves
difficult to document the enforcement status of the cases, a description of
the reasons for the difficulty may suggest changes in practices that would
improve the monitoring capability of the system. Summary results may be
compared with information obtained from the State’s official Title IV–D
agency, as previously described. Results also may be compared with data
published for all States by the U.S. Government Office of Child Support
Enforcement in its annual statistical report. These comparisons should be
focused on States in which the respective roles of the court and other
agencies are similar. Although such comparisons should be cautiously
approached and their significance interpreted in the most tentative fashion,
they may suggest benchmarks for performance.
