5101:12-80-05. Collection and disbursement

(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.

Effective: 2/15/2020
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 2/12/2024
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 3125.25, 3121.71
Rule Amplifies: 3121.43, 3121.48
Prior Effective Dates: 10/01/1985 (Emer.), 01/01/1986 (Emer.), 04/01/1986, 11/15/1986, 12/01/1987 (Emer.), 02/29/1988, 06/10/1988, 12/20/1988, 09/01/1989 (Emer.), 11/30/1989, 08/01/1990, 01/01/1991, 04/01/1992, 06/01/1993, 12/01/1994, 06/01/1995, 07/01/1996, 01/01/1998, 04/24/2000 (Emer.), 07/10/2000, 10/15/2001, 05/08/2003, 04/03/2005, 01/15/2008, 09/15/2013