Special Improvement Project (SIP) -- Projects to Address the Economic Downturn on IV-D Operations

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The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), invites eligible applicants to submit competitive grant applications for Special Improvement Projects (SIP) to develop creative strategies and processes to operate programs more effectively and efficiently in order to address their immediate needs during theeconomic downturn and advance longer-term structural changes. Many State/Tribal and/or local IV-D agencies are operating with substantial reductions in staff and funding resources due to continuing budget cutbacks.Creative strategies and processes could include, but are not limited to:Establishing or enhancing partnerships and/or interfaces/data exchanges with agencies such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Child Welfare, Unemployment Insurance, Courts, State/Tribal IV-D agency linkages, Department of Corrections, Unemployment Insurance, with the goal of improving case management and increasing case processing speed and flexibility.Using partnerships and collaborations with organizations that develop online legal information, automated forms, and other systems to improve the process and experience for those who represent themselves (pro se).Streamlining processes (e.g. the review and adjustment process) so that child support agencies can respond more quickly to the changing circumstances of both parents.Using automation tools to enhance program efficiency to improve service delivery and outcomes forchild support enforcementparents, especially to offset staff reductions.Given that the purpose of these projects is to improve child support enforcement outcomes for families, it is critical that applicants who are not Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (IV-D) agencies have the cooperation of IV-D agencies to operate these projects.All applications developed jointly by more than one agency/organization must identify a single lead organization as the official applicant. The lead organization will be the recipient of the grant award. Participating agencies and organizations can be included as co-participants or subcontractors with their written authorization.

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