Centralized Collection and Disbursement of Child Support Payments (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Dec. 1, 1999 |
| Report Number |
RS20352 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Carmen Solomon-Fears, Domestic Social Policy Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
P.L. 104-193 requires state Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agencies to operate a centralized
automated unit for collection and disbursement of payments on two categories of child support
orders: (1) those enforced by the CSE agency and (2) those issued or modified on or after January
1, 1994, which are not enforced by the state CSE agency but for which the noncustodial parent's
income is subject to withholding. The state disbursement unit generally must use automated
procedures, electronic processes, and computer-driven technology to collect and disburse support
payments, to keep an accurate identification of payments, to promptly disburse money to custodial
parents or other states, and to furnish parents with a record of the current status of support payments.
The collection and disbursement unit provisions went into effect on October 1, 1998; except that
states that processed the receipt of child support payments through local courts could continue to
process those payments through such courts until September 30, 1999. All of the jurisdictions with
the October 1, 1998 deadline, with the exception of California, are now operating state disbursement
units. Information is not yet officially available with regard to states with the October 1, 1999
deadline. (States have until December 31, 1999 to notify the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) as to whether or not they have a centralized disbursement unit.) HHS expects that
California, Nebraska, Ohio and perhaps five or six other states will not meet the October 1, 1999
deadline. Because of the total loss of CSE funding plus possible loss of Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) block grant funding for states that are not in compliance with the state
disbursement unit requirements, Congress has passed legislation ( H.R. 3194 ) that would
impose a lesser alternative penalty for these states. On November 18, 1999, the House passed
H.R. 3194 , an omnibus appropriations bill, that contains a provision that would lessen
the penalty for states that are not in compliance with the centralized state disbursement unit
requirement. On November 19, 1999, the Senate passed H.R. 3194 . This bill was
signed into law ( P.L. 106-113 ) on November 29, 1999. This report will not be updated.
