Dear Colleague (DCL9517)

ACF/Office of Child Support Enforcement

Executive Order - Federal Government a Model Employer




February 27, 1995                       DC95-17

TO ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

RE:  Executive Order

Dear Colleague:

I am pleased to forward the Executive Order signed by President
Clinton yesterday morning, making the Federal government a model
employer in the area of child support enforcement.  We are certain
this important initiative is a timely effort to move us into the
21st Century of "putting children first."  It is critical that the
Federal government sets the example and, with this order, we do.

The President said: 

     This Executive Order "is an important step in our efforts
     to bring the Federal government in line with the basic
     values of ordinary Americans.  People who bear children
     and bring them into this world have an absolute
     responsibility to do their best to take care of them. 
     And any parent who isn't paying support should be
     required to pay.

     "...Child support enforcement is essential to the welfare
     reform effort.  And Congress should include these tough
     child support enforcement measures in the proposed
     welfare reform legislation.

     "...I thank all the people who have helped to put
     together this child support enforcement order.  We will
     proceed to aggressively implement it."
   
The Executive Order will make it easier for us to find Federal
employees who do not meet their obligations to their children, and
will speed up our ability to garnish wages and force them to pay
the child support they owe.  It also establishes a vital
communication link with all Federal agencies, including all
branches of the military, to become model employers providing
consistent support all of our children deserve.

We believe this Executive Order is a major step in addressing many
of the concerns you have expressed associated with child support
collection. 




We will be sharing information with you as implementation
progresses.  If you have questions or concerns, please contact your
ACF Regional Office.


                                   Respectfully,



                                   David Gray Ross
                                   Deputy Director
                                   Office of Child Support
                                        Enforcement

Enclosure.

cc:  ACF Regional Administrators
     OCSE Regional Program Managers
     ACF Assistant Regional Administrators


                          FEDERAL REGISTER
                           Vol. 60. No. 39

                       Presidential Documents

                   PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

             Executive Order 12953 of February 27, 1995

                                  
                            The President

 Actions Required of all Executive Agencies To Facilitate Payment of
                            Child Support

                             60 FR 11013

DATE: Tuesday, February 28, 1995

Children need and deserve the emotional and financial support of
both their parents.

The Federal Government requires States and, through them, public
and private employers to take actions necessary to ensure that
monies in payment of child support obligations are withheld and
transferred to the child's caretaker in an efficient and
expeditious manner.

The Federal Government, through its civilian employees and
Uniformed Services members, is the Nation's largest single employer
and as such should set an example of leadership and encouragement
in ensuring that all children are properly supported.

NOW, THEREFORE, by the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby
ordered as follows:

   PART I-PURPOSE

Section 101. This executive order: (a) Establishes the executive
branch of the Federal Government, through its civilian employees
and Uniformed Services members, as a model employer in promoting
and facilitating the establishment and enforcement of child
support.

   (b) Requires all Federal agencies, including the Uniformed
Services, to cooperate fully in efforts to establish paternity and
child support orders and to enforce the collection of child and
medical support in all situations where such actions may be
required.

   (c) Requires each Federal agency, including the Uniformed
Services, to provide information to its employees and members about
actions that they should take and services that are available to
ensure that their children are provided the support to which they
are legally entitled.

 PART 2-DEFINITIONS

For purposes of this order:

Sec. 201. "Federal agency" means any authority as defined at 5 U.S.C.
105, including the Uniformed Services, as defined in section 202 of
this order.

Sec. 202. "Uniformed Services" means the Army, Navy, Marine Corps,
Air Force, Coast Guard, and the Commissioned Corps of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health
Service.

Sec. 203. "Child support enforcement" means any administrative or
judicial action by a court or administrative entity of a State
necessary to establish paternity or establish a child support
order, including a medical support order, and any actions necessary
to enforce a child support or medical support order. Child support
actions may be brought under the civil or criminal laws of a State
and are not limited to actions brought on behalf of the State or
individual by State agencies providing services under title IV-D of
the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.

Sec. 204. "State" means any of the fifty States, the District of
Columbia, the territories, the possessions, and the Commonwealths
of Puerto Rico and of the Mariana Islands. [*11014]                

    PART 3-IMMEDIATE ACTIONS TO ENSURE CHILDREN ARE SUPPORTED BY
THEIR PARENTS

Sec. 301. Wage Withholding. (a) Within 60 days from the date of
this order, every Federal agency shall review its procedures for
wage withholding under 42 U.S.C. 659 and implementing regulations
to ensure that it is in full compliance with the requirements of
that section, and shall endeavor, to the extent feasible, to
process wage withholding actions consistent with the requirements
of 42 U.S.C. 666(b).

   (b) Beginning no later than July 1, 1995, the Director of the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) shall publish annually in the
Federal Register the list of agents (and their addresses)
designated to receive service of withholding notices for Federal
employees.

Sec. 302. Service of Legal Process. Every Federal agency shall
assist in the service of legal process in civil actions pursuant to
orders of courts of States to establish paternity and establish or
enforce a support obligation by making Federal employees and
members of the Uniformed Services stationed outside the United
States available for the service of process. Each agency shall
designate an official who shall be responsible for facilitating a
Federal employee's or member's availability for service of process,
regardless of the location of the employee's workplace or member's
duty station. The OPM shall publish a list of these officials
annually in the Federal Register, beginning no later than July 1,
1995.

Sec. 303. Federal Parent Locator. Every Federal agency shall
cooperate with the Federal Parent Locator Service, established
under 42 U.S.C. 653, by providing complete, timely and accurate
information that will assist in locating noncustodial parents and
their employers.

Sec. 304. Crossmatch for Delinquent Obligors. (a) The master file
of delinquent obligors that each State child support enforcement
agency submits to the Internal Revenue Service for Federal income
tax refund offset purposes shall be matched at least annually with
the payroll or personnel files of Federal agencies in order to
determine if there are any Federal employees with child support
delinquencies. The list of matches shall be forwarded to the
appropriate State child support enforcement agency to determine, in
each instance, whether wage withholding or other enforcement
actions should be commenced.  All matches will be performed in
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)-(u).

   (b) All Federal agencies shall inform current and prospective
employees that crossmatches are routinely made between Federal
personnel records and State records on individuals who owe child
support, and inform employees how to initiate voluntary wage
withholding requests.

Sec. 305. Availability of Service. All Federal agencies shall
advise current and prospective employees of services authorized
under title IV-D of the Social Security Act that are available
through the States. At a minimum, information shall be provided
annually to current employees through the Employee Assistance
Program, or similar programs, and to new employees during routine
orientation.

Sec. 306. Report on Actions Taken. Within 90 days of the date of
this order, all Federal agencies shall report to the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the actions they have
taken to comply with this order and any statutory, regulatory, and
administrative barriers that hinder them from complying with the
requirements of part 3 of this order.

PART 4-ADDITIONAL ACTIONS

Sec. 401. Additional Review for the Uniformed Services. (a) In
addition to the requirements outlined above, the Secretary of the
Department of Defense (DOD) will chair a task force, with
participation by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Transportation,
that shall conduct a full review of current policies and practices
within the Uniformed Services to ensure that children [*11015] of
Uniformed Services personnel are provided financial and medical
support in the same manner and within the same time frames as is
mandated for all other children due such support. This review shall
include, but not be limited to, issues related to withholding
non-custodial parents' wages, service of legal process, activities
to locate parents and their income and assets, release time to
attend civil paternity and support proceedings, and health
insurance coverage under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of
the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). All relevant existing statutes,
including the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1940, the
Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act, and the Tax
Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, shall be reviewed and
appropriate legislative modifications shall be identified.
   
   (b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, DOD shall submit
to OMB a report based on this review. The report shall recommend
additional policy, regulatory and legislative changes that would
improve and enhance the Federal Government's commitment to ensuring
parental support for all children.

Sec. 402. Additional Federal Agency Actions. (a) OPM and HHS shall
jointly study and prepare recommendations concerning additional
administrative, regulatory, and legislative improvements in the
policies and procedures of Federal agencies affecting child support
enforcement. Other agencies shall be included in the development of
recommendations for specific items as appropriate. The
recommendations shall address, among other things:

   (i) any changes that would be needed to ensure that Federal
employees comply with child support orders that require them to
provide health insurance coverage for their children;

   (ii) changes needed to ensure that more accurate and up-to-date
data about civilian and uniformed personnel who are being sought in
conjunction with State paternity or child support actions can be
obtained from Federal agencies and their payroll and personnel
records, to improve efforts to locate noncustodial parents and
their income and assets;

   (iii) changes needed for selecting Federal agencies to test and
evaluate new approaches to the establishment and enforcement of
child support obligations;

   (iv) proposals to improve service of process for civilian
employees and members of the Uniformed Services stationed outside
the United States, including the possibility of serving process by
certified mail in establishment and enforcement cases or of
designating an agent for service of process that would have the
same effect and bind employees to the same extent as actual service
upon the employees;

   (v) strategies to facilitate compliance with Federal and State
child support requirements by quasi-governmental agencies, advisory
groups, and commissions; and

   (vi) analysis of whether compliance with support orders should
be a factor used in defining suitability for Federal employment.

   (b) The recommendations are due within 180 days of the date of
this order. The recommendations are to be submitted in writing to
the Office of Management and Budget.

Sec. 501. Internal Management. This order is intended only to
improve the internal management of the executive branch with regard
to child support enforcement and shall not be interpreted to create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law
by a party against the United States, its officers, or any other
person.

Sec. 502. Sovereignty of the United States Government. This order
is intended only to provide that the Federal Government has elected
to require Federal agencies to adhere to the same standards as are
applicable to all other employers in the Nation and shall not be
interpreted as subjecting the Federal Government to any State law
or requirement. This order should not be construed as a waiver of
the sovereign immunity of the United [*11016] States Government or
of any existing statutory or regulatory provisions, including 42
U.S.C. 659, 662, and 665; 5 CFR Part 581; 42 CFR Part 21, Subpart
C; 32 CFR Part 54; and 32 CFR Part 81.

Sec. 503. Defense and Security.

This order is not intended to require any action that would
compromise the defense or national security interest of the United
States.

S/WILLIAM J.CLINTON

THE WHITE HOUSE,

February 27, 1995. [FR Doc. 95-5146 Filed 2-27-95; 11:23 am]

Billing code 3195-01-P