Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) The Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, 110 Stat. 2105,
42 U.S.C.
654b, requires all states to operate a state
disbursement unit (SDU) for the purpose of
collecting and disbursing support payments from a single physical location. The
SDU must be integrated with a statewide automated
child support system.
(B) In
accordance with PRWORA and section
3121.43 of the Revised Code, a
payment due under a support order shall be collected and disbursed by the
SDU in the office of child support (OCS) within the
Ohio department of job and family services. SDU, which is integrated with the
support enforcement tracking system (SETS), is divided into two operations:
(1) Child support payment central (CSPC),
which is responsible for collecting and disbursing payments, and
(2) Payment analysis and account
reconciliation (PAAR). PAAR has two sections:
(a) Payment analysis, which is responsible
for completing financial corrections, establishing recoupment accounts, issuing
manual checks, and processing exception items; and
(b) Account reconciliation, which is
responsible for reconciling the accounts used by SDU in providing support
enforcement program services, including return deposit items.
(C) The following
definitions apply to Chapter 5101:12-80 of the Administrative Code:
(1) "Cover the fiscal impact" means to credit
the OCS master concentration account with funds from a make-whole account or
from a child support enforcement agency (CSEA) .
(2) "CSPC collection
accounts" mean the bank, credit union, or savings and loan association accounts
that are used by CSPC for depositing collections received at CSPC.
(3)
"Exception item" means a payment that requires additional processing, as
described in rule 5101:12-80-05.4 of the Administrative Code, in order to
resolve the
payment.
(4) "Make-whole accounts" mean the bank, credit union,
or savings and loan association accounts that are used to reimburse the OCS
master concentration account.
(5) "OCS master
concentration account" means the bank, credit union, or savings and loan
association account that OCS maintains in accordance with section
3121.48 of the Revised Code for
the deposit of support payments OCS receives as trustee for remittance to the
persons entitled to receive the support payments.
(6) "Post" means to
enter a payment in the CSPC automated payment processing system.
(7)
"Posting identifiers" mean the five data elements used to post payments. They
are the:
(a) SETS case number;
(b) Order or recoupment account
number;
(c) Obligor's social
security number;
(d) Obligor's
name; and
(e) Obligee's
name.
(8) "Recoupment account" means a repayment account
established by PAAR for the repayment of funds through CSPC.
(9)
"Recollection
account" means an account in the CSPC vendor system for repayment of funds for
a previously returned deposit item (RDI).
(10) "Remitter" means any entity or
individual (e.g., obligor, obligee, employer, financial institution, third
party) that submits a payment to CSPC or a CSEA.
(11)
"Remitter error"
means any factual misstatement in the submission of a support payment and
includes, but is not limited to: an incorrect posting identifier, payment
amount, or payment distribution calculation contained within the payment or
associated remittance documentation.
(D) Payments received by CSPC shall be
allocated and disbursed according to division 5101:12 of the Administrative
Code.
(E) The CSEA shall establish
and maintain an e-mail account to serve as the CSEA's central point of contact
with SDU for payment-related issues. The CSEA shall:
(1) Name the e-mail account in accordance
with the format "county name_financial" (e.g., franklin_financial);
(2) Ensure staff are available to monitor the
e-mail account; and
(3) When a
response is necessary, reply within one business day of receiving the incoming
e-mail from SDU.
(F) The
CSEA shall respond to remitter inquiries regarding collection and disbursement.
The CSEA shall only direct a remitter to CSPC when:
(1) The remitter wants to enroll in the
electronic payment process, or
(2)
The remitter has placed a stop payment on a check that has been sent to
CSPC.
(G) The remitter
may contact CSPC if they have questions about payments currently being
processed by CSPC that cannot be resolved by the CSEA.
