How to modernize Child Support Enforcement (CSE) programs without breaking the bank

Lane Reeder | Wednesday, Nov 2nd 2022
How to modernize Child Support Enforcement (CSE) programs without breaking the bank

Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agencies are in a constant battle of budget struggles and managing federal legislative changes that impact the program, while still providing quality services to their customers. Technology in the marketplace moves faster than state information technology departments can support financially or with personnel resources.  In addition, the services provided by the CSE programs require massive amounts of paperwork and personnel interaction with outside agencies and program participants. The current legacy systems that have not been modernized provide inadequate electronic capabilities to support case workers resulting in labor intensive services that are inefficient.  Changing the automated CSE systems is part of the solution to addressing these systemic issues.

A key factor to a state’s Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program’s success is directly related to the federal government’s Child Support Performance and Incentive System. States are constantly looking for ways to reduce their operational costs and improve their performance to maximize their annual federal incentive payments. The cost of modernizing an entire CSE legacy system is often too expensive for an agency to pursue this option for improving performance. In addition, federal regulations are consistently changing and requiring system upgrades.

Only eight states have been able to rebuild their legacy systems to utilize the performance enhancements available through current technology. Four states are in process of rebuilding their systems. For the remainder, the issue of not modernizing is typically based on the lack of funding.

A unified Customer Communications Management CCM platform can help child support enforcement programs improve their customer experience and increase caseloads. This can lead to increased funding from the federal government. Digital transformation is taking hold seemingly everywhere, and while it can create some fear and uncertainty – it also presents plenty of opportunity.

How states can increase performance with limited finances

Child Support Enforcement agencies need to modernize communication platforms while integrating with legacy systems and also be able to integrate with any new child support solution chosen in the future. States can impact cost effectiveness for incentives by reducing operation costs for system forms maintenance or system modifications when forms change.

It is critical for states to have the ability to orchestrate the delivery of communications across channels – from mobile to email, SMS and print. Maximizing the migration of communications to digital channels, while ensuring deliverability represents a significant cost savings for government agencies.

The constituents should be at forefront of these discussions – improving the touchpoints that matter most to them. This includes making applications and establishment processes more unified, offering email and push notifications as communication features, and providing mobile and web portal content with the ability to provide 2 way electronic communication.

Quadient Inspire is a cost saving approach to address these issues – working with your existing infrastructure to create a modernized constituent experience. Quadient Inspire as a solution helps reduce compliance risk and improves efficiency by involving subject matter experts in the content creation, review and approval process, providing a holistic view of, and enabling greater control over customer forms and communications.

Download the ebook to learn more about how a unified Customer Communications Management (CCM) Platform can improve CSE performance.