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Computer System Glitches Hold Up Child-Welfare Checks

By Jennifer Crowe

Reno Gazette-Journal

Thursday August 24th, 2000

Hundreds of child-support checks have been late this month because of a new processing system the federal government now requires.

Rather than each county district attorney distributing checks, all child-support checks due Nevadans now are deposited in Las Vegas. Each night the information is downloaded into the problem-plagued NOMADS welfare computer system in Carson City, which cuts and mails the checks.

Welfare administrator Mike Wilden said since the state switched to the new process Aug. 1, the system has failed at least three or four days. That means instead of processing checks within 48 hours, as federal law requires, it was taking closer to a week.

The division processes 57,000 checks each month, so problems on one day can affect about 2,600 people. Is the system perfect yet? No, but were working out the bugs, Wilden said. We get complaints weekly about somebodys check being late or the payment wasnt what it should be. We processed 57,439 child-support payments totaling $9 million in July. Divide that by 22 working days, and were putting out about 2,600 checks for $450,000 each day. Thats not a low-volume workload.

But those numbers are little comfort to the women and men waiting to receive their child-support checks. Vicky Snyder, director of the local chapter of the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support, said her office has seen an increase in calls since the new check-distribution system was added to NOMADS. The system is better known by its acronym than its original moniker, Nevada Operations of Multi-Automated Data Systems.

More custodial parents arent getting their checks on time and arent sure where to turn to for help, she said.

ACES already had asked the federal government to investigate the state welfare division for misusing federal tax-return money that is supposed to go to child support. The group alleges the division is using that money for operating expenses, a charge Wilden has denied. The federal investigation is ongoing.

This is the system we have to work with, and the state has a responsibility to make sure it is working, Snyder said of NOMADS. Somebody has got to do something, because its unacceptable the way its working now.

Some have questioned why the state has added yet another function to NOMADS, the $125 million welfare computer system that has been causing headaches since it first went on line 18 months ago. NOMADS is supposed to track welfare eligibility, child-support collection and enforcement all in one system linking the counties, the state and federal government together.

Traditionally, each county had a different system of tracking child-support payments, but the federal government required all states switch to a single collection and enforcement system or face penalties. Wilden said Nevada has paid $4 million in fees to the feds for failure to get the system up and running this previous fall  $1 million each quarter the state is late.

Wilden said rather than wait until all of the bugs in NOMADS are worked out, officials decided to add child-support check processing now. He said NOMADS should meet federal requirements by November, meaning the state could see a refund of up to 80 percent of the $4 million in penalties.

People ask why add another system on top of it? Its because were going to continue to pay penalties until we fix all of these automation issues, Wilden said. Its easy to say we should delay until everything else is fixed, but we cant continue to pay $1 million a quarter in penalties. Were working it all out at once rather than piece by piece.

The problems with the new system often pop up when deposits in Las Vegas are transferred to NOMADS. If the deposits and the checks dont match, NOMADS sends out an alert. That requires collection and accounting staff at both ends of the state to reconcile the days accounts and find the mistake.

Sometimes that takes a few hours, sometimes it takes a few days, Wilden said.

As part of welfare reform, Congress required states to consolidate child-support check distribution into one central office. The idea was to make it easier for employers who were withholding wages to send checks to one office per state, rather than to individual counties. Nevada contracts with the Clark County welfare office to process the payments since its caseload already accounts for 70 percent of the states child-support payments.

But counties still are doing some of the processing work. The state didnt notify employers of the new place to send checks until July 28, three days before the changeover. About 20 percent of the checks still are being sent to the counties, which then have to forward them to Las Vegas for processing, causing another delay.

Wilden said the letters were sent late in July so checks wouldnt begin arriving in Las Vegas before the office was ready for them.

There have been some delays with the posting and distribution because its done by NOMADS, which has its quirks, said Susan Hallihan, chief deputy district attorney for Washoe Countys family support division. Plus we still have people walking into the county office with the check, which we then have to forward to Las Vegas. Weve heard a lot of complaints mostly about the delay, which is typical of any new system.

Wilden said the change has been easier in southern Nevada because the new distribution office is nearby. To run the program at both ends of the state costs about $1 million a year.

I know theres frustration among the staff in Washoe County, but I think people will be happier once we get through this training period, Wilden said.

Wilden is optimistic the new child-support check distribution system will get money to families sooner, and he said the state has made headway with NOMADS. The 57,000 checks distributed by NOMADS now is a big improvement from the 22 checks for $4,288 the system issued its first month of operation.

Its been a tough transition period, and I understand the frustration of people who get their checks late or whose checks are hung up, he said. I dont want to make excuses because I know we have checks that are late, but we are dealing with a lot of volume.

*** MORE INFORMATION Nevada child support help desk: 688-2214 Washoe County family support division: 789-7100 Association for Children for Enforcement of Support: 1195 Corporate Blvd., Suite B, in Reno. Call 857-1815 or (888) 310-2237.

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-- (SuperSSD@aol.com), August 24, 2000