Federal Case Closure 101 Classroom

Course Description

This course is appropriate for all child support enforcement (CSE) directors, managers, supervisors, support case conference officers, and all staff members responsible for establishing, enforcing, and reviewing support cases and reports that deal with support case closure, and performance measures. It is recommended that participants who attend this course also attend the Order Modification and Pa. R.C.P. 1910.19(f) one-day course.

Note: This proposed new course would replace Case Closure 101 and Case Closure 201 and eventually phase out the Automated Case Closure (ACC) Workshop. The goal is to extract essential information from the 100-level and 200-level courses, add new information about the automated case closure and Performance Improvement Module (PIM) Phase II to create a comprehensive case closure course for both classroom and online delivery.

The focus of the course is to provide participants with a detailed understanding of the application of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations (45 CFR) 303.11 to support case closure. The curriculum includes accurate case evaluation and selection of closure criteria, prioritization of working reports, Data Integrity Task (DIT) lists, mail alerts, support order generation and appropriate language, and initiation of closure in Pennsylvania Child Support Enforcement System (PACSES) or in PIM II. In addition, participants will gain an understanding of how support cases are selected and managed in the automated case closure process, including the predefined criteria that make these cases eligible for closure.

The course will address:

• The definition of each Federal case closure criterion as defined in 45 CFR 303.11.
• The initiation and review of support cases eligible for closure in PACSES or PIM II.
• Automated case closure including support case selection process based on predefined criteria, county opt-in/review or opt-out and reevaluation process, exception processing when selection criteria changes, how to exempt a support case from the auto closure process, and new screens and forms.
• The reopening of the support case and re-loading the order into PACSES.
• The identification and explanation of general funding concepts and incentive issues as they relate to case closure.
• The importance of accuracy for case closure criteria and audit reviews.
• An explanation of the extraction and submittal of PACSES data used by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to determine Pennsylvania's incentive payment.
• The identification of self-assessment tools available to evaluate the performance of individual Domestic Relations Sections (DRSs) and their importance.
• Performance measures and reports, including key points on how participants can improve current support and arrears performance measures, work reports, and what impact to expect from focused efforts

6 hours

Course Level

100 Level These courses provide in-depth instruction on each of the case management processes (i.e. Case Initiation, Locate, Paternity Establishment, Financials, Enforcement, Case Closure, etc) used in the Title IV-D Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program. The courses vary in length from one to three days and are designed for less experienced CSE staff who require additional knowledge and understanding of individual CSE topics. The training is also appropriate for cross-training personnel in more than one CSE area of expertise.