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Page 9 - Objective A-1(a)(4)

A record that the fee was waived if the applicant is receiving assistance under a State program funded under part A or E, or Title XIX of the SSA or is required to cooperate with the State agency pursuant to subsection (l) or (m) of section 6 of the Food Stamp Act of 1997.

Comment: It was pointed out that the intent appeared to be related to recording if a fee was paid or waived, and that was already covered by Objective F-4 (h). Recommendation to delete new requirement to avoid duplication and confusion.

Page 21

Objective A-10 The system must automatically interface with Federal Case Registry

d. The system must communicate with the FCR via a connection to the Social Security Administration via the network provided by the FPLS for this purpose. File transfers using Connect: Direct protocols are required on theis network provided by the FPLS.

Page 26

Objective B-4 The System must automatically submit requests for locate to the Federal Parent Locator System (FPLS).

1. For any persons requiring an FPLS locate, the system must automatically:
2. 1. Identify all cases appropriate for FPLS referral, including registration of case and order information in the Federal Case Registry if a new case;

Page 29

Objective C-1 (f)(3) If the State elects to recover genetic testing costs, obtain a judgment for generic testing costs from the party who denied paternity, when such paternity is later established.

Comment: Under FSA88 States were required to attempt to recover genetic testing costs from the part determined to be the father, however under PRWORA, recover of these costs is at State optionexcept that recently revised OCSE regulations provide that in interstate cases, the responding State must attempt to recover genetic testing costs, so the objective has been revised to require that the system has the functionality to generate the required documents for obtaining genetic testing costs.

Page 40 - D-5 Review and Adjustment:

D-5 OBJECTIVE: The system must automatically support the review and adjustment of support obligations.

Related Program Statutes and Regulations:

42 USC 654 (12)

42 USC 666 (10)

45 CFR 303.8

45 CFR 303.31

45 CFR 307.10(b)(2), (3), (12), & (14)

System Certification Requirements:

• 1. Within 15 calendar days of the date either party or the State requested a review, decide wither a review should be conducted in cases with support rights assigned to the State.
• 2. Within 15 calendar days of when a request for review is received, decide whether a review should be conducted;
• 3. Within 180 calendar days of determining a review should be conducted or locating the non-requesting parent, whichever occurs later, complete the review and adjustment process; and
• 4. Within 14 days after issuance of any order modifying a child support obligation or a determination of no change in the amount of child support, the system must:
  • (a)alert the caseworker to provide each party with a copy of the order, or
  • (b)in the case of a petition for modification, the system must generate a notice of determination that there should be no change in the amount of the child support award.

b. The system must generate at least once every three years:, a notice to each parent of the right to request a review, and appropriate plan and means in which request should be made, if such information is not provided to the parent from another source; and a notice to each parent of all proceedings in which support obligations might be modified.

3. The system must identify cases in which the order does not include health care coverage.
4. For cases in which either parent requests a review, the system must determine if a review is appropriate bases on the age of the order or other criteria selected by the State.

e. Within 15 calendar days of identifying cases potentially eligible for review, the system must screen such cases to identify those that will be reviewed.

f. The system must refer cases to the locate function, as needed, to locate the parents or the parents' assets.

g. The system must generate all legal documents, forms, and letters necessary to complete the review and adjustment process.

h. The system must record the type of document generated, the addressee, and the date sent, in the automated case record. After sending any document requiring a response, the system must notify the caseworker if such response is significantly delayed, based on State experience, and generate a follow-up information request.

i. The system must:

1. Collect income, asset, employment, and health insurance information through automated interfaces;

2. Provide a means for entry and edit of data received (including the input of manually obtained financial information), both from interfaces and financial affidavits received from other sources;

3. Perform all necessary guideline calculations;

4. Compare guideline calculation against quantitative standard developed by the State, if any;

5. Provide all information and calculations to the caseworker for determination of whether an adjustment should be pursued; and

6. Generate notices to inform parents of proposed actions and their right to challenge such actions, and generate any documents necessary to seek an adjustment or handle an appeal of such action.

j. All information received and actions taken must be recorded in the automated case record. Data elements must indicate the amount of any adjustments, including the addition of health insurance to the order or the reason for no adjustment being pursued.

k. generate a notice to each parent of all proceedings in which support obligations might be modfied.

Comment: The revisions have been made to reflect changes in Review and Adjustment regulations in OCSE AT-99-01. The primary changes are to remove old timeframes

Page 42 - Automated IRG

D-7 (e) The system should State must have written procedures to automatically update and transmit to the ACF the 7 digit FIPS address codes for the Interstate Referral Guide and download the updated FIPS addresses information related to other States. The 7 digit FIPS address codes must be uploaded into the system. The procedure must follow that prescribed by OCSE in instructions which will be issued periodically in the form of an Action Transmittal.

Comment: Clarification. The Statewide CSE system need not upload and download the 7 digit FIPS. Many States are utilizing the Automated IRG that is on the World Wide Web. It is permissible to utilize a stand-alone PC to upload and download data from the automated IRG, but the State must have a process and procedures for insuring that 7 digit FIPS code changes are downloaded periodically and updates entered into the statewide CSE system

Page 42 Case Closure

Objective D-6 ( b)

For cases closed under criteria at 45 CFR 303.11 (b)(1) through (7), (11) and (12), (6), and (10) through (12), the system must generate a notice to the custodial parent service recipient, except that for paragraph (b)(12), the notice must be sent to the initiating State, regarding the intent to close at least 60 days prior to closure.

Comment: This objective has been revised to reflect the new case closure regulations.

Page 48 Objective E-2 The system must support income withholding activities

1. The system must automatically initiate income withholding in accordance with paragrah d below, for all support orders established or modified on or after November 1, 1990 (immediate withholding cases) unless the administrative/judicial order indicates that:
   • 1. There is a demonstration of good cause for not withholding which is acceptable to the court or administrative authority; or
   • 2. the parties have signed an agreement for an alternative arrangement.
2. For cases not subject to immediate withholding, the system must automatically, in accordance with paragraph d below initiate withholding on the earliest of:

1. The date on which the non-custodial parent fails to make payments in an amount equal to the support payable for one month;

2. The date on which the non-custodial parent requests withholding begin.

3. the date on which the custodial parent requests withholding begin, if the State approves the request, or

4. such earlier date in accordance with State law.

c. The system must automatically, in accordance with paragraph d below, initiate income withholding support litigation issued or modified before October 1, 1996 if arrearages occur without the need for judicial or administrative hearing.

E-2 (d) For all but immediate and initiated withholding cases, the system must, within 2 business days after the case becomes subject to withholding timeframes specified in42 USC 653a (g)(1) for casses with information on newly hired employees and 42 USC 653A(g)(1)(A) for other cases with information from an income source, automatically generate a notice to the non-custodial parent employerwhich informs the non-custodial parentemployer:

1. Of the amount to be withheld from the noncustodial parent's wages and a statement that the amount actually withheld for support purposes, including a fee, may not be in excess of the maximum amounts permitted under the Consumer Credit Protection Act;
2. That the employer must send the amount to the State Disbursement Unit (SDU) within 7 business days of the date the noncustodial parent ( NCP) is paid, and must report to the SDU the date on which the amount was withheld from the NCP's wages, except when the State meets all Federal requirements for an SDU and elects to use the date of receipt by the SDU as the date of collection;
3. That the employer may deduct a fee established by the State for administrative costs incurred for each withholding, if the State permits a fee to be deducted;
4. That the employer is subject to a fine for discharging a NCP from employment, refusing to employ, or taking disciplinary action against the NCP because of the withholding;
5. That, if the employer fails to withhold income in accordance with the provisions of the notice, the employer is liable for the accumulated amount the employer should have withheld from the NCP's income
6. That the withholding shall have priority over any other legal process under State law against the same income;
7. That the employer may combine withheld amounts from NCPs income in a single payment to each State Disbursement Unit requesting withholding and separately identify the portion of the single payment which is attributable to each individual NCP;
8. That the employer must withhold from the noncustodial parent's income the amount specified in the notice and pay such amount to the SDU within 7 business days after the date the income would have been paid to the NCP; and
9. That the employer must notify the State promptly when the NCP terminates employment and provide the NCP's last known address and the name and address of the NCP's new employer, if known.

e. For initiated withholding, the system must send a notice to the NCP which informs the NCP that:

1. That the withholding has commenced.
2. Of the amount of overdue support that is owed and the amount to be withheld;
3. That the provisions of withholding apply to any current or subsequent employer or period of employment
4. Of the procedures available for contesting the withholding and that the only basis for contesting is a mistake of fact and
5. Of the period within which the non-custodial parent must contact the State to contest the withholding.
6. Of the actions the State will take if the individual contests the witholding, including procedures established under 45 CFR 303.100c; and
7. Of the information contained in the employers notice.

(Renumber succeeding sections in Objective E-2.

Comment: This objective has been revised to reflect revisions to the regulations at 45 CFR 303.100(e)(2). Objective E-2(d) has been revised to reflect the requirements in the notice to the employer and a new Objective E-2(e) has been revised to reflect the requirements in the notice to non-custodial parent. The remaining subsections have been renumbered.

E-2(e) If the non-custodial parent contest withholding, the system must track dates to ensure that the activities required under 45 CFR 303.100 c occur in sufficient time to allow the system to automatically generate, within no more than 45 days after provision of the notice, the documents required to inform the non-custodial parent of:

Comment: Per the revised 45 CFR 303.100 Comment: Delete reference to 45 CFR 303.100© to reflect change in regulations. Procedures for specific requirements related to contesting the withholding were deleted under new regulation.

Page 50

Objective E-3(b)(4)

The support is owed on behalf of a disabled adult with a current support order, who is deemed disabled, as a minor, under Title II or XIV XVI of the Social Security Act.

Comment: the reference to Title XIV was corrected to Title XVI.

Page 52 & 53

Related Program Statutes and Regulations

45CFR 232.11 408(a)(3)

Objective E-4 ( d) (1) (a) That amount collected which represents specific dollar amounts designated in the support order for medical purposes will be distributed under "45 CFR 302.51 "(c)"

Objective E-4 (d) (1) (b) Whether amounts collected will be applied first to satisfy any past-due support which is assigned to the State under 45 CFR 232.11 of section 457 section 408(a)(3) of the Act;

Comment: These changes are to reflect the elimination of the regulatory citation 45 CFR 232.11 . Assignments of Support Rights. We have replaced that citation with the statutory provision in PRWORA for assignment.

Page 58

Objective E-11(d)

The system must automatically:

1. Send notice to employer to enroll child unless the NCP contests the notice; and
2. Mmonitor employer and non-custodial parent compliance with ordered medical support provisions and prompt needed caseworker action when there is a failure to comply with such orders.

Note: The medical support provisions included in the Child Support Performance and Incentives Act of 1998 are not yet final and therefore are not PRWORA certification requirements.

Comment: The reference to medical support notice was from CSPIA, not PRWORA and has been deleted as a PRWORA certification requirement. The proposed regulation for medical support notice was printed in the Federal Register on November 15, 1999 and the functional requirement for the medical support notice will not be issued until the regulation is finalized. The States will have at least a year to modify their statewide systems to generate the final notice.

Page 59

The section on AEI was deleted in its entirety.

Comment: Since this statutory provision was revised by CSPIA after PRWORA and resulted in a delay in the AEI pilot and issuance of the recommended data specifications, we are deferring this certification requirement until a later date. After the data specifications are issued, the States will have at least a year to implement new AEI provisions, but it will not be a PRWORA certification requirement.

Page 63

In Objective F-1 after paragraph put the following:

NOTE: If the State Disbursement unit is outside of the State child support system, the SDU may automatically generate billing notices for IV-D cases if information from the system is used and all of the requirements under this objective are met. If the State elects this option, OCSE will review the SDU billing functionality for IV-D cases.

Comment: Additional information was added to the note following F-1 to clarify that the SDU may generate billing notices.

Page 64

Objective F-2 (g) The system must automatically record the receipt of fees including interest or late payment penalties and fees and the recover of costs in the automated case record and in the State's accounting subsystem, whether or not the State practices cost recovery or imposes fees. (When fees are waived/paid by the State, a notation must be made in the automated case record reflecting the payment of the fee by the State.)

Objective F-2(m) The system shall record and maintain charges associated with interest or late payment penalties and fees.

Comment: added the phrase "penalties and fees" to reflect types of late payment charges.

Page 65

Objective F-2 (n )

The system shall, upon timely request by any parent, automatically generate and provide information on the current status of support payments, except that non-IV-D payment records may be prospective from effective date of the State Disbursement Unit.

Note: If the State has established an SDU outside of the State child support system, OCSE will review the system requirements at paragraphs F-4 a through j during the PRWORA review at the SDU to ensure that these requirements are being met. The system requirements at paragraph m will be reviewed both on the system and at the SDU.

Comment: Objective F-2(n) was deleted because it is a program requirement, rather than a systems requirement. The note was added to clarify what the certification review team will review at the SDU and at the Statewide CSE system.

Last Modified on: January 29, 2004

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