Summary: Although states have spent more than $2 billion in federal funds since 1980 to develop automated systems to help collect child support payments from noncustodial parents, most states will miss the October 1997 deadline to have such systems up and running. GAO found that federal oversight of state efforts to develop collection systems has not been effective or timely. Although it is too early to judge the impact of fully developed automated systems on child support enforcement, these systems appear to have played a major role in locating more noncustodial parents and increasing collections. The increase in total dollars collected has been significant. States, however, have underestimated the magnitude, complexity, and costs of these projects. The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement's (OCSE) oversight of state child support systems has been narrowly focused and, as a result, not effective or timely in assessing the states' systems approaches and progress. As requirements of the newly enacted welfare reform legislation come into play, it will be increasingly important that child support enforcement systems work as envisioned and that OCSE monitor progress on a broader scale.
