ACS wins $234 million Ohio child support contract

Affiliated Computer Services Inc. won a $234 million contract from the state of Ohio to operate the state's child support collection and disbursement unit, the company announced Sept. 4.

The contract runs through the remainder of fiscal 2003 with options to renew every two years through June 30, 2009.

The contract was awarded by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services and the Department of Job and Family Services. ACS began work Sept. 3 and expects to complete the transition to the new service by Nov. 30.

The prime contractor on the project is ACS of Dallas; the subcontractor is Tier Technologies of Walnut Creek, Calif.; and the banking partner is Fifth Third Bancorp of Cincinnati.

ACS will provide will provide receipt-processing services and overall project management. Tier Technologies will provide a range of services, including training and start-up services, processing of outgoing payments, direct deposit enrollment and exception processing. Fifth Third Bank will provide depository and other banking services.

ACS currently processes more than $8.5 billion in child support payments annually through contracts in 13 states.

The company's child support contract adds to a growing ACS presence in Ohio, which also includes traffic ticket collection and processing services for Cleveland and Columbus; international registration plan services for the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles; one-stop workforce development services for the cities of Cincinnati and Dayton and the counties of Hamilton and Clermont; and an emergency medical services contract with Columbus.

ACS, a provider of business process and information technology outsourcing, has more than 35,000 employees and annual sales of $3 billion.