|
Wisconsin Department of Children and Families Wisconsin Works (W-2) Manual |
13.6.2.1 Calculating W-2 Overpayments When Moving Between W-2 T and CSJ Placements
13.6.2.2 Including the Amount of Child Support Retained in W-2 Overpayment Calculation
13.6.2.3 Determining the Overpayment Period
W-2 overpayments can occur throughout the time a participant is in W-2. To maintain accurate and consistent calculations of overpayment amounts, W-2 agency workers are required to use the W-2 Payment Calculator and Overpayment Worksheet to calculate a participant’s overpayment.
13.6.2.1 Calculating W-2 Overpayments When Moving Between W-2 T and CSJ Placements
When a participant moves between a W-2 T and a CSJ placement during a participation period, the payment is not prorated. Instead, the participant receives the payment for the placement they were in at the end of the participation period. (See 10.2.5.1)
When calculating an overpayment in this situation, W-2 agency workers must use the full payment amount of the last placement the participant was in.
| EXAMPLE: Laura is in a CSJ placement for the 1/16-2/15 participation period. She discloses additional barriers to her FEP on 2/14, and this discussion leads to a new placement of W-2 T. The FEP does not update the placement in CWW until 2/28, after pulldown, so Laura is issued a full CSJ payment of $653, instead of $608 for the W-2 T placement she should have been in at end of the participation period. Laura will have an overpayment in the amount of $45 ($653-608) because payments are not prorated when changing between a CSJ and W-2 T. |
13.6.2.2 Including the Amount of Child Support Retained in W-2 Overpayment Calculation
All parents in the W-2 group are required by law to assign all child support payments to the State while they are participating in the W-2 program and placed in a CSJ or W-2 T placement, or a CMC placement in certain situations. W-2 participants in these placements have 25% of their child support retained by the State. (See 15.1)
Participants who incur overpayments related to eligibility such as unreported income and assets should not have had any of their child support retained during the time period they were ineligible for W-2. When determining eligibility-related overpayments, W-2 agency workers must consider the amount of child support retained by the State when determining the final overpayment amount.
Overpayment calculations involving moving from a paid to an unpaid placement such as a CMF also need to consider the retained child support because unpaid placements are not subject to child support assignment and retention.
| EXAMPLE: Doris is in a CSJ placement. Her worker learns she is no longer eligible and has incurred an overpayment for her last two months of payments. During those two months, the State retained $30 a month of her child support payment received due to W-2 participation. Because Doris was not eligible for the W-2 program during that time, the W-2 agency worker must subtract the $60 total in child support payments that was retained when calculating the overpayment. Doris earned $1,306 in W-2 payments during two months of participation ($653 x 2 months). The W-2 agency worker subtracts the retained child support payments from the overpayment to reach the final total overpayment to collect: $1,306 - $60 = $1,246. |
13.6.2.3 Determining the Overpayment Period
The overpayment period must have a start date and end date. The start date of an overpayment period is when the error was made, and the end date is when the incorrect payments were stopped.
The overpayment period for administrative error claims ends with the month the error last occurred and extends back 12 months, or when the error first became effective, whichever is most recent. In other words, the overpayment period cannot begin more than 12 months prior to the notification date of the overpayment.
To determine an overpayment period start date, consider the following potential dates:
The date when the participant reported incorrect information or failed to report information;
An unreported employment start date;
End or start date for placements that were not updated timely;
Dates of nonparticipation that were not entered timely; and
Any other relevant dates where an error occurred.
EXAMPLE 1: A W-2 worker discovers on October 1, 2024, that a W-2 participant incorrectly received W-2 payments beginning in August 2023 due to an administrative error. If the worker establishes the overpayment on October 1, 2024, the overpayment period cannot begin prior to October 2023. Therefore, the overpayment period would be November 2023 to October 2024, even though the incorrect payments began in August 2023. |
| EXAMPLE 2: On August 1, a W-2 worker discovers unreported income for a W-2 participant. The worker determines through the employer that the participant started the new job earlier that year on May 23. The W-2 worker enters the unreported income and moves the participant into a CMF, effective August 7. Since the unreported income made the participant ineligible for W-2 payments, the start date of the overpayment period is May 23, when the participant started their new job. The end date of the overpayment is August 7, when the W-2 worker changed the placement. |
History: Release 25-01; Release 23-04; Release 13-03; Release 13-02.