Follow-Up Audit On The Effectiveness Of Child Support Enforcement Services Performed by The Sheriff’s Office

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

This follow-up audit determined whether the Sheriff’s Office implemented the six recommendations made in the Audit Report on the Effectiveness of Child Support Enforcement Services Performed by the Office of the Sheriff (MD04-081A), issued on June 30, 2005.

The Sheriff’s Office, which is within the Department of Finance, is the chief civil law enforcement agency for the City of New York. The Sheriff’s Office processes legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, and writs issued by the New York State Family, Supreme, and Surrogate Courts, as well as those issued by the City Civil and Criminal Courts. The Sheriff’s Office Family Court Warrants Unit works in partnership with the Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Human Resource Administration (HRA) to obtain child support payments from parents who fail to make them. Child support is the amount of money a court decides a noncustodial parent owes to the custodial parent who is caring for their child or children. The agencies’ cooperation is defined in a written agreement. It permits the Sheriff’s Office to assist custodial parents in obtaining child support payments by serving summonses and subpoenas to the noncustodial parents (respondents) within the five boroughs of the City and by executing arrest warrants throughout the State of New York.

The previous audit concluded that the Sheriff’s Office did not adequately research respondent address information; did not make attempts to find respondents at different times (one attempt in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening); did not make initial attempts to find respondents in a timely manner; and used alternate personal service (service to a person other than the actual respondent) on initial attempts to find respondents rather than making additional attempts of personal services.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

Of the six recommendations made in the prior audit, the Sheriff’s office implemented one recommendation to use the Child Support Management System (CSMS) in obtaining addresses for respondent, and partially implemented two recommendations to use computer databases such as Lexis Nexis and to serve respondents at different times of the day. However, two recommendations—to establish written guidelines governing the length of time it should take to make initial attempts to find respondents and monitor adherence to those guidelines—are no longer applicable since the Sheriff’s Office has considerably improved its timeliness. In addition, we believe that the remaining recommendation, that the Sheriff’s Office should adhere to its written agreement with HRA to initially use the personal method of service rather than the alternate personal method, is no longer applicable and that the Sheriff’s Office should attempt to revise its agreement with HRA.

Audit Recommendations

To address the issues that still exist, we recommend that the Sheriff’s Office:

• Fully utilize Lexis Nexis and indicate on the mock case cards that a search was performed and record the results.

• Follow its own procedure to ensure that Deputies make attempts to find respondents at different times of the day, including the morning, afternoon, and evening.

• Revise its agreement with HRA to reflect that using either personal service or alternate personal service is acceptable in serving respondents.

Agency Response

In their response, DOF officials generally agreed with the audit’s recommendations.