The California Child Support Automation System (CCSAS), or what many argue to be one of the biggest computer fiascos in the history of state government, that has not only wasted several billion dollars of taxpayer money, but also served as a contributor to the complex state budget deficit, has finally been certified, saving the state over $200 million in penalties in the new federal fiscal year beginning October 1, 2008.

The state of California's automated child support system has finally been approved by the federal government, 20 years after a law was passed requiring all states to establish a single automated child support system. Last Friday, officials from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) announced the certification of the nation's largest and one of the most complicated computer programs that has been under development since 2000. The state has more than 1.6 million child support cases that cover over 1.8 million children. California was next-to-the-last state to obtain federal certification, resulting in a $193 million rebate from the federal government. The only other state that remains out of compliance is South Carolina.

In 2006, California rolled out its new statewide system, but federal officials did not complete that certification until last week. The cost of the current system is approximately $1.6 billion with about a third paid by the state. The initial 90 percent federal share dropped down to 60 percent when the state missed a deadline extended to 1997 for completing the system. The state had paid $1.2 billion in fines to the federal government from 1998 to 2006 for not meeting a federal mandate issued in 1988 to create a centralized computer system. The 1988 Family Support Act, which amended the Social Security Act, mandated an automated tracking system in states to improve the accuracy and increase efficiency for child support recipients and employers.

The lack of unified leadership within the state's child support program in the past led to a reform in 2000, when the Governor passed legislation to create a separate department, moving the collection system from the Department of Social Services to a newly established Department of Child Support Services (DCSS). Under the guidance of the state Franchise Tax Board (FTB), which has expertise with large computer systems, the state entered into a contract in 2003 with a consortium led by IBM, who helped develop and design a system that meets federal requirements and integrates the separate county systems into a single, uniformed case management system.

The California Child Support Automation System (CCSAS), features a shared computer database and uniform reporting that provides county workers with quick access to shared information so that they can track non-custodial parents as they move to a new location in order to ensure that payments continue. The CCSAS also uses a biometric scanner to verify all county employees' fingerprints before they can sign on. Servers are housed at an IBM data center in San Jose. Additionally, CCSAS transmits information overnight to child support workers in other states, reducing the month-long response times to just a few days. The newly designed system is being rolled out on county-by-county bases. Currently, forty-one counties are using the CCSAS and the rest will be online by November 2008. The child support recipients can have their payments deposited electronically into their bank accounts or onto an electronic debit card that can be used like a check card at stores.