A $34 million computer system designed to speed child support collection across Maryland instead has slowed the process, leaving some parents angry and frustrated by delays at a time of year when expenses are high.
Alicia Knothe says her family is missing more than $200.
Her ex-husband has mailed the Howard County Department of Social Services a $150 check every week for two years, she says. But she has received only $200 since Nov. 30.
Mrs. Knothe says county officials told her the computer system put most of the money into an escrow account -- because the checks came a few days early.
"I really can't tell the children when to be hungry," said Mrs. Knothe, who has moved to Kissimmee, Fla., but still receives support for two children through Maryland's system. "Dads who do it right are being punished by this."
Officials with the state Department of Human Resources defend the year-old computer system. Its "growing pains," they say, will be fixed promptly, making collection more efficient in the long run.
The state collects only about a third of the support owed in its 342,452 cases. During the last fiscal year, the state collected $248 million. The new computer system was designed to improve that performance by making things faster for caseworkers.
The Client Information System combines child-support information with records of families receiving public assistance. It is operating in 19 counties, but some of the state's larger jurisdictions, including Baltimore, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County, will not have it for several more months. Seventy-five percent of the money for the system, several years in the planning, came from federal agencies.
Brian D. Shea, director of the Office of Program Initiatives for the state's Child-Support Enforcement Administration, says confidentiality laws prevent him from commenting on any specific case, including Mrs. Knothe's. But generally, he says, he is unaware of any significant delays being caused by the system.
When the system is introduced in a county, those receiving support are notified that checks could be from seven to 10 days late, says Department of Human Resources spokeswoman Helen Szablya said.
But it has taken much longer for Joyce Thompson of Sykesville, who still hasn't received $200 that the computer deducted from her check several weeks ago -- the first problem she's had in 10 years.
Her friend, Lynda Osterman of Columbia, got her $1,000 check for October a month late -- and received only $200 for the month of November, though her ex-husband also had paid on time. She got the rest of the money earlier this month, but is angry at the system's delays.
"I can't imagine what people without any savings would do," said Mrs. Osterman, who works with computer systems for the Rouse Co. "I'm aware that any time you put a system in, you're not going to catch everything up front. But to me, this isn't a little glitch."
Some county child-support supervisors say the massive system has hurt collection efforts because it is so complicated.
Jamie Wehler, support enforcement supervisor for the Carroll County Department of Social Services, says she has seen a productive group of caseworkers "extremely frustrated" since the new system was introduced in that county in early November.
"There are just so, so many problems with it," she said, noting that the workers had celebrated with a pizza party earlier this year when their collections increased by more than $500,000. In some cases, she said, workers must override the computer program to get it to accept a payment, particularly if a parent pays early.
"These are families who are depending on this money to keep a roof overhead, to keep food on the table," Ms. Wehler said. "People are calling in saying, 'I've never had a problem. What's happening to my money?' "
Gerard Mueller, support-enforcement supervisor for the Howard County Department of Social Services, said, "We've had some difficulties bringing up the system. We hope we'll work them out."
Mr. Shea of the state Child-Support Enforcement Administration said, "We really believe that automation is the key to our future. In the long run we'll have a much better system."
A recent study found that, based on the ratio of caseworkers to families drawing support, collection cases get only about 96 minutes of staff attention a year, he notes.
Eventually, the computer system will automatically search a series of databases, from motor-vehicle information to employment records, to find parents who are behind in payments. The computer may even be able to attach wages without a caseworker's intervention, he says.
But the computer program isn't capable of that yet. In the meantime, workers say, the system is often down to be fixed or altered.
Mary Jane Boulden, assistant director for child support in Cecil County, which was the first county brought onto the computer system in August 1993, says it works fairly well when it's operational. But overall, she says, her agents are less productive because it is so often idled.
Collection of debts in the county's 5,000 child-support cases have decreased 18 percent from last year, she says. "The system has to be fixed."