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DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER

DCL-04-36

ATTACHMENT:  Large Employers contacted for EFT/EDI
Original Letter July 2003

DATE: August 27, 2004

TO: ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

RE:  Results from Letter to Large Employers to Promote Electronic Payments

Dear Colleague:

Last July, I wrote to the employers on the enclosed list as part of our continuing effort to promote electronic payments for child support.  The letter was sent to a target audience of 76 large, multistate employers who had been identified by state child support personnel as not yet remitting any child support payments electronically.

Of the 76 employers contacted, 56 percent had started remitting electronic payments or are seriously considering converting to e-payments:
• 22 percent are already submitting, and
• 34 percent expressed definite interest in converting within the next 12-24 months.

The remaining 44 percent were not interested in converting to e-payments for various reasons.  Some employers indicated it was too expensive.  Others do not have the technical resources, e.g., their payroll/accounting software doesn’t support the functionality to send electronic payments; and some lack staff to devote to this effort.

With 56 percent of these large employers already remitting or considering the conversion, we are making steady progress in the area of electronic payments.  In fact, three states (IL, IN, and MA) have already passed state legislation requiring employers to remit their child support payments electronically.  

OCSE will continue to contact large employers as states request assistance in promoting

e-payments for child support.  In addition, we have begun a project to contact the developers of payroll/accounting software to encourage them to enhance their products to support e-payments for child support.

The results from the discussions with the individual employers are attached.  We will be sharing these results with the other state contacts to help them with their employer outreach strategies as we work together to improve the lives of America’s children.

Sincerely,

Sherri Z. Heller, Ed.D.
Commissioner
Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosure

cc:  Regional Program Managers
     ACF Regional Administrators