- State Wage Reporting System (WRS): This system tracks wages as reported by employers to state agencies, providing real-time data on a parent’s earnings from employment.
- National Directory of New Hires (NDNH): Employers are mandated to report newly hired or rehired employees within a specific timeframe, enabling DCSS to quickly identify changes in employment status.
- Employment Development Department (EDD): Particularly relevant in states like California, the EDD maintains comprehensive records on employment history, wages, and unemployment benefits.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and State Tax Records: These sources offer detailed tax-related data, revealing both wage and self-employment earnings.
- Financial Institution Data Match (FIDM): This program allows HHS and DCSS to track financial assets, including bank accounts and investment income, which might not be reflected in traditional wage reports.
- Social Security Administration (SSA): Data on Social Security benefits and disability payments are also integrated into the system.
- Supplementary Sources: Other tools include records from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), credit reporting agencies, workers’ compensation records, and even real property records to determine asset ownership.
Supporters of the DOGE Team’s push to tap into this database contend that parents paying child support—moms and dads alike—have no reason to dread Elon Musk’s interest in the sprawling HHS data system. Instead, they argue, it’s the career civil servants and bureaucrats at HHS who are sweating bullets, desperate to dodge accountability for the mountain of fraud, waste, and abuse that’s almost certain to be exposed in the near future.
