Office of the Attorney General
1994 Statewide Financial and Compliance Audit
REPORT 95-109
The Office of the Attorney General has not fully complied with all federal requirements related to the Child Support Enforcement Program. Control weaknesses were noted in the child support collection/distribution functions and cash reconciliation processes. In addition, we noted compliance exceptions not exceeding an 11.6 percent error rate affecting case file processing.
The agency has not properly accounted for all transactions, cleared old reconciling items, and reported the Child Support Enforcement Trust Fund's cash position. Unresolved reconciling items totaled over $1.9 million as of October 1994. This amount consists mainly of $1.2 million in unrecovered overpayments to custodial parents over the past 20 years. However, offsets of daily deposits, returned warrants, and suspense items prevent the Trust Fund from being overdrawn. Over $406.4 million flowed through the child support system during fiscal year 1994.
Continued delays in the implementation of the new Texas Child Support Enforcement System (TXCSES) decrease the agency's ability to effectively address conditions identified in this report. Current plans are for the system to be operational by October 1995. Management is relying on TXCSES to help resolve most of the outstanding issues. Four of the findings in this report have been outstanding since 1991.
Related Report
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, Division of Audit, recently reported on the results of its audit of the Child Support Enforcement Program for the period January 1, 1992 through December 31, 1992. The findings and recommendations are addressed in a report titled "Program Results/Performance Measurements Audit, State of Texas, Report No. TX-93-PR/PM."
Key Findings
The Office of the Attorney General has not taken appropriate action to properly account for all transactions, clear old reconciling items, or ensure accurate information about its cash position in the Child Support Enforcement Trust Fund. Unresolved reconciling items totaled over $1.9 million as of October 1994. This amount consists mainly of $1.2 million in unrecovered overpayments to custodial parents over the past 20 years.
Monthly reconciliations of child support collections to distributions are not performed. In fiscal year 1994 over $406.4 million in child support collections were processed through the Child Support Enforcement Program. (Prior Audit Issue)
The agency has not used all information at its disposal to take timely and appropriate action to process child support cases. (Prior Audit Issue)
Procedures are not in place to properly account for discrepancies in deposits made by counties through the Office of the Attorney General's Collection Automation Project (CAP).
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