# Presentation: 672346

## ASSIGNMENT OFSUPPORT RIGHTS MODULE

- ASSIGNMENT OFSUPPORT RIGHTS MODULE

- Changes Under PRWORA

- H/T 2-1

**Notes:**
5
Display this slide before beginning the assignment module.

## Overview of New Assignment

- Family-First Policy
- Ownership of assigned arrearages shifted
- FROM State
- TO Family
- Amounts assigned to State will decrease

- H/T 2-2

**Notes:**
6
The old assignments required families to assign ALL past due support to the State.  The new assignment treats arrears that accrue prior to the assistance period differently.  Such arrears will become TEMPORARILY ASSIGNED to the State during the assistance period.   Thus, assigned arrears can potentially shift from the State to the family.

Since pre-assistance arrears will no longer be assigned to the State once the family leaves assistance, total amounts assigned to the State will decrease the amounts States may retain for reimbursement of public assistance expenditures.

## Implementation Options

- Phase-In Beginning October 1, 1997 				(“Plan A”)
- Collapse Assignments October 1, 1998 			(“Plan B”)

- H/T 2-3

**Notes:**
7
PRWORA as passed in August 1996 mandated that the new requirements be phased-in, beginning October 1, 1997.  The technical amendments contained in H.R. 2015 allow States to implement the changes all at once on October 1, 1998.  We’ll cover the option available under Plan A first.

## Phase-In Assignments (“Plan A”)

- Phase-In Assignments (“Plan A”)

- Start Tracking Temporarily Assigned Arrears On October 1, 1997
- Phase In New Requirements Over Three-Year Period (October 1997 - September 2000)
- Delay Payment of Temporarily Assigned Arrears to Family Until October 2000

- H/T 2-4

**Notes:**
8
PRWORA, as passed by Congress in August 1996, allowed States to phase in the new assignment  requirements over 3 years.  This provided States with the opportunity to recover more public assistance expenditures by delaying the payment of previously assigned arrears to the family until October 2000. 

However, the legislation required States  to begin tracking a new arrearage type (called temporarily assigned arrears) effective October 1, 1997.  Some States may not have been ready by then.  Other States may find it more costly to do two separate systems changes:  one for October 1, 1997, the other for October 1, 2000.

Plan B may provide more flexibility for those States who do not want to make two separate systems changes or who were not able to begin tracking temporarily assigned arrears.  We will talk about Plan B after we cover Plan A.

## Determining Ownership of Arrearages

- Three Critical Dates/Time Periods :
- date assignment was executed
- dates family was off assistance
- today’s date (or date of payment)!

- H/T 2-5

**Notes:**
9
Under the new assignment framework, it will be necessary to determine three critical dates in order to identify to whom a specific arrearage is owed: the date the assignment was executed, the date the family terminated assistance, and the today’s date.  These three dates are necessary due to the phase-in of the assignment requirements.

This is different than the way we used to determine arrearage ownership -- under old assignments, we only cared about the date the family left assistance.  Because we will now have the possibility of three different types of assignments on a single case, we will need to identify these dates each time we want to determine to whom an arrearage is owed.  We will revisit this when we work through examples at the end of this module.

## Limitation on Assignments

- The limitation on assignments is based on:
- the total accumulated unreimbursed assistance, OR
- the total amount of unpaid child support, whichever amount is LESS

- H/T 2-6

**Notes:**
10
PRWORA not only changed the Federal distribution statute, it also changed the Federal assignment statute contained under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act.   The limitation is based on the total accumulated unreimbursed assistance OR the total amount of unpaid child support, whichever amount is LESS.

The new assignment is very similar to the way in which assignments worked  under the old rules.  The difference is, the limitation is now contained within the Federal assignment statute, and not just in the distribution statute.  This changes the way in which we maintain our assigned arrearage balances once the family leaves assistance.   

This is important to understand because, under the new assignment statute, once a family leaves assistance, the maximum amount that can be assigned is limited to the amount of unreimbursed assistance or the total amount of unpaid child support.

## Plan A:  Three Key Time Periods

- Assignments Executed ...
- Prior to October 1, 1997
- October 1, 1997 thru September 30, 2000
- On and after October 1, 2000

- H/T 2-7

**Notes:**
11
As we said earlier, the date the assignment is executed is the first of three critical dates we need to know in order to determine the ownership of an arrearage.  There will be three different time periods for which we will apply different rules:  pre-October 1997 assignments; assignments executed October 1, 1997 thru September 30, 2000; and assignments executed October 1, 2000 and later.  

We will cover the differences between assignments executed during these three different time periods next.

## Assignments Prior to October 1997 (“Plan A”)

- Assignments Prior to October 1997 (“Plan A”)

- Current Assistance Cases
- Permanently Assigned Arrears
- Former Assistance Cases
- Permanently Assigned Arrears
- Never-Assigned Arrears
- Unassigned Arrears

- H/T 2-8

**Notes:**
12
First we will cover assignments executed prior to October 1, 1997 so that we may review what types of arrearages will exist on cases with these types of assignments.

For current assistance cases in which an assignment was executed prior to October 1, 1997, only one type of arrearage can exist:  permanently assigned arrears.  Only one type of arrearage exists because public assistance recipients who execute these pre-October 1, 1997 assignments, assign ALL past-due child support to the State.

For former assistance cases in which an assignment was executed prior to October 1, 1997, three types of arrearages can exist:  permanently assigned arrears, never-assigned arrears, and unassigned arrears.

We will cover the definitions for these three types of arrearages next.

## Definition:  Permanently Assigned Arrears

- Definition:  Permanently Assigned Arrears

- Arrears which accrue
- _before_ the family applies for assistance (in pre-October 1997 assignments only)
- _during_ the period the family receives assistance (for all assignments)

- H/T 2-9

**Notes:**
13
All of the definitions we cover today are in your materials.  We have also included in your materials a one page summary of the definitions we use today.  You’ll find it in the appendix.

Under the old assignment law, ALL assigned arrears were “permanently” assigned.  Under PRWORA, we now make this affirmative distinction because the new Federal law creates two brand new types of assigned arrearages.  We will cover these new arrearages later during this module.

Permanently assigned arrearages are those arrears that are assigned at the time the family applies for assistance (for instance, pre-assistance arrears for pre-October 1, 1997 assignments) AND any arrears which accrue during periods of assistance.

PRWORA  created this permanent assignment for assignments executed prior to October 1, 1997, so States would not have to retroactively determine periods of pre-assistance, during assistance and post assistance arrears.  The Federal distribution action transmittal defines these permanently assigned arrearages, based on subsection (b) of section 457, as amended by PRWORA (continuation of assignments).

## Definition:Never-Assigned Arrears

- Definition:Never-Assigned Arrears

- Arrears which accrue
- after the family’s most recent period of assistance, or
- at any time, in the case where a family has never received assistance.

- H/T 2-10

**Notes:**
14
Never-Assigned arrearages are the same type of arrears as what we used to call “non-assistance arrearages.”  

Never-Assigned arrearages are those arrears that accrue during the period immediately after a family’s most recent period of assistance, in former assistance cases, OR, they are all arrears that accrue in a case in which a family has never received assistance.

Never-Assigned arrears can only exist in “Never Assistance” cases or “Former Assistance” cases.  They can never exist in Current Assistance Cases.

## Definition:Unassigned Arrears

- Definition:Unassigned Arrears

- Arrears that were previously assigned which
- exceed the cumulative amount of unreimbursed assistance at the time the family leaves the assistance program

- H/T 2-11

**Notes:**
15
Unassigned arrears are arrears which can belong to the family when the family is no longer receiving assistance; they are previously-assigned arrears which revert back to a family after the family terminates public assistance when, at the time the family terminates from assistance, the assigned arrears exceed the amount of cumulative unreimbursed assistance.

For example:  if at the time a family terminates from assistance, the permanently assigned arrearages are $1,000, and the amount of cumulative unreimbursed assistance is $500, the amount which exceeds the cumulative amount of unreimbursed assistance ($500) becomes unassigned and belongs to the family.  (If necessary, draw this out for participants on a white board, a flip chart or an overhead transparency)

If the family subsequently goes back on assistance, the unassigned arrears will become assigned along with any accrued never-assigned arrears.

Now let’s take a look at an example of how these types of assignments will work.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders        10/1/97                                             10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  Off Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- N

- N

- N

- H/T 2-12

**Notes:**
16
13
First explain how example is set up:  Vertical axis displays the different families, horizontal axis displays time; N/Red represents Never-Assigned Arrears, C/Green represents Conditionally Assigned Arrears, P/Blue represents Permanently Assigned Arrears, T/Yellow represents Temporarily Assigned Arrears. Under this example, we will not cover Unassigned arrears, since we will be tracking arrears only, and not URA.  While explaining how this example is set up, it is very helpful to utilize a laser-pointer to point to the powerpoint image on the screen.

In this example, we are going to take 3 different families and examine how each family’s child support arrears will change in character over time, under the new law.

In this first slide, all three families have never been on assistance, and thus, all three families’ arrears are Never-Assigned. 

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders     10/1/97                                     10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  On Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- =  N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- N

- N

- H/T 2-13

**Notes:**
17
14
In this slide, Family A executes an assignment of support rights prior to October 1, 1997, and is on assistance past October 1, 1997.  The other two families continue to remain in “never-assistance” status.  

How would you characterize the arrears that accrue for Family A after October 1, 1997 while the family is receiving assistance?

Go through the arrearages for Family A on this slide, asking participants what they would call each block of arrears.  It is very helpful to utilize a laser-pointer while you are doing this.  See next slide for answer(s).

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders     10/1/97                                     10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  On Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- =  N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- P

- P

- N

- N

- H/T 2-14

**Notes:**
18
14
Answer:  All arrears for Family A are permanently assigned.  

All arrears existing prior to execution of the assignment are Permanently Assigned, and all arrears that accrued during the assistance period are Permanently assigned.  Remember, the reason why all pre-assistance arrears are Permanently Assigned under this assignment is because the assignment was executed BEFORE October 1, 1997.

Family B and Family C still have never received assistance.

## Assignments 10/1/97 thru 9/30/2000 (“Plan A”)

- CURRENT ASSISTANCE CASES
- Permanently Assigned Arrears
- accrue _during_ assistance period
- Temporarily Assigned Arrears
- accrue _prior_ to assistance period

- H/T 2-15

**Notes:**
19
Now we will cover assignments executed from October 1, 1997 through September 30, 2000.  There are some key differences between these assignments and assignments executed prior to October 1, 1997.

For current assistance cases in which an assignment was executed anytime from October 1, 1997 through September 30, 2000, there will be two types of arrearages which can exist:  permanently assigned arrears, and a new kind of arrearage called temporarily assigned arrears.  

Permanently assigned arrears under these assignments are only those arrears which accrue during assistance periods.  Arrears which accrued prior to the assistance period will not be permanently assigned.

Temporarily assigned arrears are those arrears which accrued prior to the assistance period.  The nature of this assignment is temporary because these arrears can potentially shift back to the family.  

Let’s take a look at a definition of temporarily assigned arrears.

## Definition:Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- Definition:Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- Arrears which
- accrue during nonassistance periods, and
- were not permanently assigned under prior assignments.

- H/T 2-16

**Notes:**
20
Temporarily assigned arrears are those arrears which accrued prior to the assistance period which were not previously assigned.  In other words, they are all arrears which existed prior to the assistance period which were unassigned or never-assigned.

These arrears, while they are temporarily assigned, may be collected and retained by the State, up to the amount of unreimbursed assistance.

It is important to remember that pre-assistance arrears which accrued under assignments executed before October 1, 1997 remain permanently assigned.

Since the law is silent regarding the order of distribution to arrears during assistance periods, States have a choice about whether to apply collections to temporarily assigned or to permanently assigned arrears first.   We’ll cover this in more detail during the distribution and policy modules of this course.

Now let’s continue with our three-family example to take a look at how temporarily assigned arrears are created ...

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders      10/1/97                                     10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  Off Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- = N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- P            P            N

- N

- N

- H/T 2-17

**Notes:**
21
17
In this slide, Family A has now been off of assistance for awhile.  As you can see, all arrears which have accrued since the family left assistance are Never-Assigned Arrears.  Arrears which accrued before the family left assistance continue to remain Permanently Assigned.

Families B and C are only accruing Never-Assigned Arrears since they still have never been on assistance.

Let’s take a look at what happens if Family A goes back on assistance.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders      10/1/97                                     10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  On Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- = N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- N

- N

- H/T 2-18

**Notes:**
22
18
In this slide, Family A now goes back on assistance.  If Family A remains on assistance until June 30, 1999, how would you characterize the arrears for periods preceding and during assistance?

Use laser pointer to go through blocks of arrears with participants.  Have participants identify character of each block of arrears.  The next slide provides the answers.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders      10/1/97                                     10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  On Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- = N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- P           P             T           P

- N

- N

- H/T 2-19

**Notes:**
23
18
Answer:  This time, since the assignment is executed AFTER October 1, 1997, all arrears which accrued after the family’s most recent period of assistance become Temporarily Assigned.  The permanently assigned arrears remain permanently assigned.  Also, arrears which accrue during this new assistance period are permanently assigned.

Refer participants to definitions to review how permanently assigned arrears and temporarily assigned arrears are defined.

Again, Families B and C only have Never-Assigned arrears because they have never received assistance.

## Assignments 10/1/97 thru 9/30/2000 (“Plan A”)

- FORMER ASSISTANCE CASES
- Permanently Assigned Arrears
- Temporarily Assigned Arrears
- until October 1, 2000
- Never-Assigned Arrears
- Unassigned Arrears

- H/T 2-20

**Notes:**
24
Now we will take a look at the types of arrears which can exist for former assistance cases when an assignment is executed from October 1, 1997 through September 30, 2000.

You may recall that in former assistance cases under pre-October 1997 assignments, there were only THREE kinds of arrears that could exist:  permanently assigned arrears, never-assigned arrears and unassigned arrears.

For former assistance cases with assignments executed from October 1, 1997 through September 30, 2000, there will be FOUR types of arrears that can exist:  permanently assigned arrears, temporarily assigned arrears, never-assigned arrears, and unassigned arrears. 

In former assistance cases, temporarily assigned arrears will CONTINUE to be temporarily assigned to the State until October 1, 2000.  Until October 1, 2000, the State will have the opportunity to collect and retain these arrears, up to the amount of unreimbursed assistance.  On October 1, 2000, if the family is not receiving assistance, any unpaid temporarily assigned arrears will revert back to the family.  We will cover arrears which revert back to the family, next.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders    10/1/97                                       10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  Off Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- = N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- P            P          T          P            N

- N

- N

- H/T 2-21

**Notes:**
25
20
Let’s follow our example a little further to see what happens in former assistance cases before October 1, 2000.

Now, Family A has been off assistance again for a period of time.  As you can see, the temporarily assigned arrears have remained temporarily assigned.  Why did they remain temporarily assigned even though the family is not receiving assistance?  They remain assigned because the date is still prior to October 1, 2000.

Again, arrears which have accrued since the family left assistance are Never-Assigned, as are all arrears for both Family B and Family C.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders        10/1/97                                       10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  On Assistance
- Family B
-  On Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- = N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- N

- H/T 2-22

**Notes:**
26
21
Now, what would happen if both Family A and Family B were to go on assistance?  Assume both families stay on assistance and the date is now after 10/1/2000.  How would you characterize the arrears which accrue prior to and during the assistance period?

Use laser pointer to work through blocks of arrears with participants.  Answers are on next slide.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders        10/1/97                                       10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  On Assistance
- Family B
-  On Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- = N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- P           P          T          P            T             P

- T                                          P

- N

- H/T 2-23

**Notes:**
27
21
Answer:  For Family A, even though the assistance period runs past October 1, 2000, all Never-Assigned arrears for this family are temporarily assigned.   Why are they temporarily assigned?  They are temporarily assigned because the family is still receiving assistance.

All of Family B’s Never-Assigned arrears are temporarily assigned.  Thus, more of Family B’s arrears can potentially revert back to the family.  For Family A, fewer arrears are temporarily assigned and thus, less will revert back to the family.

For Family A, arrears which accrued under the pre-October 1997 assignment remain permanently assigned.

For both Family A and Family B, all arrears accruing during assistance periods are also permanently assigned.

For Family C, all arrears are still Never-Assigned.

## Assignments After 9/30/2000 (“Plan A”)

- Assignments After 9/30/2000 (“Plan A”)

- CURRENT ASSISTANCE CASES
- Permanently Assigned Arrears
- accrue _during_ assistance period
- Temporarily Assigned Arrears
- accrue _prior to_ assistance period

- H/T 2-24

**Notes:**
28
Now let’s take a look at assignment executed on October 1, 2000 and later.

In current assistance cases under this third type of assignments, only two types of arrears can exist:  permanently assigned arrears and temporarily assigned arrears.

This is the same as in current assistance cases under assignments executed 10/1/97 - 9/30/2000.  Nothing changes here.

However, the key difference with respect to temporarily assigned arrears effective October 1, 2000 is that temporarily assigned arrears can only exist on Current Assistance Cases.  They will never exist on former assistance cases after September 30, 2000.

We’ll cover this in more detail in the next slide, where we will talk about former assistance cases after September 30, 2000.

## Assignments on 10/1/2000 and Later  (“Plan A”)

- FORMER ASSISTANCE CASES
- Permanently Assigned Arrears
- Never-Assigned Arrears
- _Conditionally_ Assigned Arrears
- Unassigned Arrears

- H/T 2-25

**Notes:**
29
In former assistance cases for assignments executed after September 30, 2000, there will be four kinds of arrears.  However this time, instead of temporarily assigned arrears, there will be a new kind of arrearage called Conditionally Assigned Arrears.

Once a family terminates from assistance after September 30, 2000, all unpaid temporarily assigned arrears will revert back to the family as CONDITIONALLY assigned arrears.  

This will happen in both former assistance cases with assignments executed from October 1, 1997 through September 30, 2000, and in former assistance cases with assignments executed October 1, 2000 and later.  

The key thing to remember is:  all temporarily assigned arrears become CONDITIONALLY assigned on October 1, 2000, for former assistance cases, or on the date the family leaves assistance, if a case is a current assistance case.  

Let’s take a look at the definition of conditionally assigned arrears.

## Definition (“Plan A”):Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- Definition (“Plan A”):Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- Arrears which
- were temporarily assigned, and revert back to the family on:
- October 1, 2000, if the family terminated from assistance prior to October 1, 2000, or
- the date the family leaves the assistance program, if after September 30, 2000.

- H/T 2-26

**Notes:**
30
Conditionally Assigned Arrears are arrears which were temporarily assigned and which revert back to the family on October 1, 2000 or the date the family terminates from assistance, whichever date is later.

So, for cases which are in former assistance status as of October 1, 2000, all unpaid temporarily assigned arrears will become conditionally assigned arrears.  

For current assistance cases October 1, 2000 and later, all unpaid temporarily assigned arrears will become conditionally assigned arrears the date the family terminates from assistance.

You may ask, what is the condition that applies to these arrears?  Let’s take a look at some features of conditionally assigned arrears. 

## Features of Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- Collections applied to Conditionally Assigned arrears are disbursed to the family UNLESS ...
- the collection was made by way of a Federal Tax Refund Offset

- H/T 2-27

**Notes:**
31
There are several features of conditionally assigned arrears, including the CONDITION which applies to these arrears.

The condition is this:  Once a temporarily assigned arrearage becomes a conditionally assigned arrearage, all collections applied to this arrearage are disbursed to the family UNLESS an IRS tax offset payment is applied to this arrearage balance AND the unreimbursed assistance  balance is greater than $0.

In otherwords, any NON-IRS payments applied to a conditionally assigned arrearage balance will be disbursed to the family.

The IRS tax offset exception was built into the new assignment law to provide States with a way in which to recover some assistance expenditures, even though these arrears will otherwise belong to the family.

## Features of Conditionally Assigned Arrears, continued

- Conditionally Assigned Arrears and Temporarily Assigned Arrears Can Never Co-exist.

- H/T 2-28

**Notes:**
32
Another feature of conditionally assigned arrears is that they can never co-exist with temporarily assigned arrears on the same case.

-Temporarily Assigned Arrears Only Exist in Current Assistance Cases
-Conditionally Assigned Arrears Only Exist in Former Assistance Cases

All collections applied to temporarily assigned arrears are retained by the State, up to the amount of URA.

All collections applied to conditionally assigned arrears are disbursed to the family, unless the collection was made by way of an IRS tax offset.

## Features of Conditionally Assigned Arrears, continued

- Conditionally Assigned Arrears Become Temporarily Assigned During Subsequent Periods of Assistance.

- H/T 2-29

**Notes:**
33
Finally, conditionally assigned arrears are reassigned to the State as temporarily assigned arrears, each time the family receives assistance.

In fact, every time a family goes back on assistance, the family must  temporarily assign to the State all accrued and unpaid unassigned, never-assigned, and conditionally assigned arrears.

Since we talked about the IRS tax offset exception, let’s briefly venture into distribution and discuss how Federal tax offset monies will be distributed effective October 1, 1997 and later under the new law.

## Federal Tax Refund Offset10/1/97 - 9/30/2000

- Federal Tax Refund Offset10/1/97 - 9/30/2000

- Apply Tax Offset Monies
- First, to
- permanently assigned arrears, and/or
- temporarily assigned arrears.
- Second, to
- Never-Assigned  and Unassigned arrears.

- H/T 2-30

**Notes:**
34
Effective October 1, 1997, States must first apply IRS tax offset monies to either permanently assigned arrears and/or temporarily assigned arrears.  

Once these arrears are paid in full, IRS tax offset monies must be applied to never-assigned and unassigned arrears.

States will have the option to determine in which order tax offset monies will be applied to permanently assigned and temporarily assigned arrears.   

For example:  States may choose to first distribute IRS intercept monies to permanently assigned arrears, and then to temporarily assigned arrears; or the reverse; or a State may choose to prorate the application of IRS collections to both arrearages.

As it was before PRWORA, States may only apply monies against assigned arrearages up to the amount of unreimbursed assistance.

## Federal Tax Refund OffsetOn and After October 1, 2000

- Federal Tax Refund OffsetOn and After October 1, 2000

- Apply Tax Offset Monies
- First, to
- Permanently Assigned Arrears and/or Temporarily Assigned Arrears (in Current Assistance Cases)
- Permanently Assigned Arrears and/or Conditionally Assigned Arrears (in Former Assistance Cases)
- Second, to
- Never-Assigned and Unassigned arrears.

- H/T 2-31

**Notes:**
35
Effective October 1, 2000, States must first apply IRS tax offset monies to either permanently assigned arrears and/or temporarily assigned arrears in current assistance cases.  

In former assistance cases, IRS tax offset monies must be applied to either permanently assigned arrears and/or conditionally assigned arrears.  

Once all assigned arrears are paid in full, IRS tax offset monies must be applied to never-assigned and unassigned arrears.  Also, if all unreimbursed assistance has been paid in full, all IRS offset collections must be disbursed to the family.

States may choose in which order to distribute IRS tax offset monies between permanently assigned arrears and conditionally assigned or temporarily assigned arrears.

Now let’s take our three-family example further to see how conditionally assigned arrears will work.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders      10/1/97                                  10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  On Assistance
- Family B
-  On Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- = N = Never-Assigned Arrears
- = C = Conditionally Assigned Arrears

- = P = Permanently Assigned Arrears
- = T = Temporarily Assigned Arrears

- P           P         T          P            T            P

- T                                       P

- N

- H/T 2-32

**Notes:**
36
Looking back at our last slide for the example, you can see how the arrears were characterized while Families A and B were on assistance.  What would happen if Family A and Family B were to go off assistance now?  How would you characterize the arrears blocks for these families?

Use laser pointer to go through arrears blocks for Families A and B to name each type of arrearage if both families were to leave assistance.  Answers are on the next slide.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders        10/1/97                                      10/1/2000
- Begins

- Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Family A
-  Off Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- P          P          C         P             C           P            N

- C                                            P               N

- N

- H/T 2-33

**Notes:**
37
26
As you can see, now that the families have left assistance, all of the arrears which were temporarily assigned now become Conditionally Assigned.  

This occurs because two conditions have been met.  What are they?

Answer:  1.  the date is after September 30, 2000, and 2. the families have left assistance.  

The families will receive all NON-IRS collections which are applied to conditionally assigned arrears.  Also, any collections applied to Never-Assigned arrears will be disbursed to the family.

Now what would happen if all three families were to go on assistance now?  How would you characterize the arrears?

Go through all blocks of arrearages for all three families, using laser pointer.  Answers are on next slide.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders       10/1/97                                     10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  On Assistance
- Family B
-  On Assistance
- Family C
-  On Assistance

- P           P           T         P            T            P           T          P

- T                                        P         T           P

- T                                                    P

- H/T 2-34

**Notes:**
38
27
Answer:  All arrears which were unassigned or conditionally assigned become temporarily assigned.

And as always, all arrears which accrue while the families receive assistance are permanently assigned.

What would happen if the families were to now go off of assistance?

Use laser pointer and ask the class to identify each block of arrears.  Answers are on next slide.

## Comparison of Assignments as Families Go on and off Assistance

- Court Orders       10/1/97                                      10/1/2000
- Begins

- Family A
-  Off Assistance
- Family B
-  Off Assistance
- Family C
-  Off Assistance

- P           P          C         P            C            P            C        P         N

- C                                        P          C         P        N

- C                                                    P        N

- H/T 2-35

**Notes:**
39
28
Answer:   all temporarily assigned arrears become conditionally assigned.
All arrears which were permanently assigned remain permanently assigned.  All arrears which accrue after the assistance period are never-assigned arrears.

Are there any questions about this three-family example?

Entertain questions and go back to previous example slides if necessary to illustrate a point.

Now let’s take a look at one family’s arrears history as the family goes on and off of assistance during the three time periods.

## Following a Family’s Assignment History through Time

- Court      10/1/97                                                                                 10/1/2000
- Order Begins

-    N

- P

- P                           N

- P                           T                   P

- P                           T                   P                          N

- P                           T                   P                          T                                    P

- P                           C                   P                           C                                    P                           N

- P                           T                   P                           T                                    P                           T     P

- I.
- II.
- III.
- IV.
- V.
- VI.
- VII.
- VIII.

- H/T 2-36

**Notes:**
40
34
1
This is an example of how one family’s arrears would change over time.  We’ll go through it briefly to review how assignments will work.  This example is also displayed in a full-color, full sized copy at the beginning of your Appendix.  You may want to laminate the copy in the appendix to refer to when you get back to your offices.  

You’ll also find the narrative corresponding to this example in your appendix under example number 1 in the case scenarios.

Use narrative from original case scenario here, or go through this example briefly, indicating how the example is set up and where the family goes on and off assistance:  odd numbered bars are periods of non-assistance, even numbered bars are periods of assistance.

Transition:  Now we will briefly review how assignments will work if a State elects to select Option B rather than Option A.

## Review “Plan B”:Collapse Assignments

- Review “Plan B”:Collapse Assignments

- H/T 2-37

**Notes:**
41
Technical amendments to PRWORA, which were contained under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and signed into law on August 5, 1997, allow States the option of collapsing the 1997 and 2000 requirements into one date:  October 1, 1998.  

This amendment allows States more time to program their systems to track temporarily assigned arrears.  Also, States that choose this option can obtain permanent assignments of pre-assistance arrears up through September 30, 1998.  

However, the amendment also requires States who exercise this option to forego retaining temporarily assigned arrears once the family leaves assistance after 10/1/98.  

Thus, Plan B States will gain permanently assigned arrears for an additional year (October 1, 1997 - September 30, 1998), but will lose two years of temporarily assigned arrears collections in former assistance cases (October 1, 1998 - September 30, 2000).

## Plan B:  Two Key Time Periods

- Assignments Executed ...
- Prior to October 1, 1998
- On and after October 1, 1998

- H/T 2-38

**Notes:**
42
Again, the date the assignment is executed is the first of three critical dates we need to know in order to determine the ownership of an arrearage.  In Plan B States, it is only necessary to track those assignments executed prior to October 1, 1998 and those assignments executed October 1, 1998 and later.

You will find that  pre-October 1997 assignments and  pre-October 1998 assignments are virtually the same.  Likewise, the Post-September, 2000 and Post-September 1998 assignments are the same.

NOTE:  THIS IS THE LAST SLIDE FOR THE ASSIGNMENT MODULE.  DO NOT ADVANCE THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION.

Now let’s take some time to see how well we understand the changes to assignments.  In your notebooks you will find a self-test.  Work through the test now and, when you’re finished, you may take a break (or go to lunch) and when we return, we will discuss the answers.  

Administer self-test, allow time for break or lunch, work through answers with participants, and then allow time for questions and answers.