Child support director tells Senate subcommittee progress continues on $60 million IT replacement; collections at record high

At a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Human Resources Division, Jim Fleming, director of the child support section at the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, updated lawmakers on program performance and on a long‑running computer system replacement that has an existing $60 million appropriation.

Fleming told the committee the child support program collected $192,200,000 last year, a record, and that the program’s current support collection rate — the share of monthly support actually collected — is 78.58%, the highest North Dakota has recorded. He said the program manages roughly $254,700,000 in unpaid arrears and serves 87,258 active employers statewide.

Why this matters: the department’s replacement of an aging mainframe system — funded last biennium with a $60 million appropriation (66% federal, 34% state, the state share drawn from the Community Health Trust Fund) — remains unfinished and requires continuity of funding and oversight. Fleming described the procurement steps completed so far and the next milestones.

Fleming said the department completed an RFP for a “modernization readiness” vendor and has that planning contractor under contract. He said the readiness vendor will help prepare a second RFP for the system itself; that RFP is expected “late this year, early next year,” and the expected implementation window is roughly 2½ to 3 years from award. Fleming told lawmakers the $60 million estimate reflects the department’s judgment that an off‑the‑shelf system adapted for North Dakota needs is the most cost‑effective route.

Fleming summarized how the program runs and how collections are achieved: casework to establish paternity and orders, automated tools and a staffed call center available 24/7, employer cooperation for income‑withholdings, and enforcement tools including tax offsets and, when used carefully, license suspensions. Fleming described license suspension as a case‑management tool that aims to bring nonpaying obligors to the negotiating table while allowing flexibility to avoid cutting off pathways to work. “We work really hard to avoid suspension and if we do suspend, we work really hard to make it easy to get back if they're willing to work with us,” he said.

Fleming also described non‑technical program initiatives: a partnership that connects obligors to employment services when job loss is the barrier to payment; selective non‑referral of foster‑care parents who are in active family‑reunification plans; and pilot arrangements with community partners to reach homeless veterans and other hard‑to‑contact groups.

Lawmakers pressed Fleming about the pace and cost of the IT project and whether $60 million will be sufficient. Fleming said the department is not seeking additional funds beyond the existing appropriation; rather, he said, the current hearing concerns extending or continuing the appropriation. He argued the $60 million estimate is modest relative to comparable statewide child‑support system replacements and noted that Texas and other large states have invested far more. Fleming also said the department and NDIT (the state IT agency) will include procurement language to protect sustainability and vendor support over time.

Committee members also asked about performance and taxpayer value. Fleming emphasized that the program distributes the lion’s share of collections to families (he said about 91% of distributed funds go to families) and presented national ranking metrics — noting North Dakota’s program ranks near the top nationally on several measures.

The discussion mixed operational details — caseload, staffing (Fleming said the program has 164 staff, some part‑time), and collection metrics — with procurement and oversight questions about the multi‑year technology replacement. Fleming repeatedly said the project now has momentum after a planning vendor was contracted and the program charter completed.

The subcommittee did not take a formal vote during Fleming’s presentation. Lawmakers indicated they will continue oversight of the IT appropriation and budget items as part of the division’s review process.

(Quotes in this article come directly from Jim Fleming’s testimony to the subcommittee.)