Audit 408135

Finding 2023 -01 Pennsylvania Department of Human Services – Child Support Enforcement – Pennsylvania Automated Child Support Enforcement System (PACSES) Data Reliability Validation Criteria: Per the PACSES Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) 157 Data Reliability Validation:  Line 5 should be reporting children in IV-D cases open at the end of the current federal fiscal year who were born out-of-wedlock;  Line 6 should be reporting children in IV-D cases open during or at the end of the fiscal year with paternity established or acknowledged;  Line 24 should be reporting the total amount of current support due for the fiscal year; and  Line 25 should be reporting the total amount of support distributed and disbursed as current support during the fiscal year. Condition: During the audit, it was determined that several of the PACSES cases sampled from the Line-Item Reports did not match the PACSES case data in the County’s system. Cause: The County is inaccurately inputting case information into PACSES causes cases to be improperly included to be reflected on the Line-Item Reports generated from PACSES. Effect: The County is not in compliance with OCSE-157 requirements. This is causing inaccurate information to be presented on its reports to OCSE from the PACSES system. Recommendation: We recommend the County develop and adhere to controls to ensure correct information is being inputted and reported on these PACSES reports for accurate reporting. Management Response: The County will implement controls to sufficiently verify the accuracy of the information being input within PACSES in accordance with applicable criteria as outlined by OCSE.