Child Support Assurance Act of 1997

Summary: Child Support Assurance Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to between three and five States for demonstration projects to implement or improve a system of assured minimum child support payments. 
Sets forth program requirements.  Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of such projects. 
Amends the Social Security Act to mandate State-prescribed procedures for the triennial review and adjustment of child support orders.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Support Assurance Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Increasingly, children are raised in families with only 
        1 parent present, usually the mother, and these single-parent 
        families are 5 times as likely to be poor as 2-parent families.
            (2) The failure of noncustodial parents to pay their fair 
        share of child support is a significant contributor to poverty 
        among single-parent families.
            (3) In 1990, there was a $33,700,000,000 gap between the 
        amount of child support that was received and the amount that 
        could have been collected.
            (4) In 1991, the aggregate child support income deficit was 
        $5,800,000,000.
            (5) As of spring 1992, only 54 percent, or 6,200,000, of 
        custodial parents received awards of child support. Of the 
        6,200,000 custodial parents awarded child support, 5,300,000 
        were supposed to receive child support payments in 1991. 
        Approximately \1/2\ of the parents due child support received 
        full payment; the remaining \1/2\ were divided equally between 
        those receiving partial payment (24 percent) and those 
        receiving nothing (25 percent).
            (6) Custodial parents who are poor are much more likely to 
        receive no child support. Of the 3,700,000 custodial parents 
        who were poor in 1991, over \3/4\ received no child support. 
        Only 34 percent of poor custodial parents had child support 
        awards and were supposed to receive child support payments in 
        1991. Of those parents, only 40 percent received full payment, 
        29 percent received partial payment, and 32 percent received 
        nothing.
            (7) The percentage of poor women who were awarded child 
        support in 1991, 39 percent, was significantly lower than the 
        65 percent award rate for nonpoor women.
            (8) Families fare better with child support than without 
        that support. In 1991, 43 percent of custodial parents who did 
        not have child support orders were poor.
            (9) In 1991, the average total money income of custodial 
        parents receiving child support due was 21 percent higher than 
        that received by parents who did not receive child support due 
        and was 45 percent higher than that received by custodial 
        parents with no child support award at all.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to enable participating 
States to establish child support assurance systems in order to improve 
the economic circumstances of children who do not receive a minimum 
level of child support in a given month from the noncustodial parents 
of such children, to strengthen the establishment and enforcement of 
child support awards, and to promote work by custodial and noncustodial 
parents.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Child.--The term ``child'' means an individual who is 
        of such an age, disability, or educational status as to be 
        eligible for child support as provided for by law.
            (2) Eligible child.--The term ``eligible child'' means a 
        child--
                    (A) who is not currently receiving cash assistance 
                under the State program funded under part A of title IV 
                of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
                    (B) who meets the eligibility requirements 
                established by the State for participation in a project 
                administered under this section; and
                    (C) who is the subject of a support order, as 
                defined in section 453(p) of the Social Security Act 
                (42 U.S.C. 653(p)), or for which good cause exists, as 
                determined by the appropriate State agency under 
                section 454(29)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 654(29)(A)), 
                for not having or pursuing a support order.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ASSURANCE DEMONSTRATION 
              PROJECTS.

    (a) Demonstrations Authorized.--The Secretary shall make grants to 
not less than 3 and not more than 5 States to conduct demonstration 
projects for the purpose of establishing or improving a system of an 
assured minimum child support payment to an eligible child in 
accordance with this section.
    (b) Application and Selection.--
            (1) Application requirements.--An application for a grant 
        under this section shall be submitted by the Chief Executive 
        Officer of a State and shall--
                    (A) contain a description of the proposed child 
                support assurance project to be established, 
                implemented, or improved using amounts provided under 
                this section, including the level of the assured 
                minimum child support payment to be provided and the 
                agencies that will be involved;
                    (B) specify whether the project will be carried out 
                throughout the State or in limited areas of the State;
                    (C) specify the level of income, if any, at which a 
                recipient or applicant will be ineligible for an 
                assured minimum child support payment under the 
                project;
                    (D) estimate the number of children who will be 
                eligible for assured minimum child support payments 
                under the project;
                    (E) contain a description of the work requirements, 
                if any, for noncustodial parents whose children are 
                participating in the project;
                    (F) contain a commitment by the State to carry out 
                the project during a period of not less than 3 and not 
                more than 5 consecutive fiscal years beginning with 
                fiscal year 1998; and
                    (G) contain such other information as the Secretary 
                may require by regulation.
            (2) Selection criteria.--The Secretary shall consider 
        geographic diversity in the selection of States to conduct a 
        demonstration project under this section, and any other 
        criteria that the Secretary determines will contribute to the 
        achievement of the purposes of this Act.
    (c) Use of Funds.--A State shall use amounts provided under a grant 
awarded under this section to carry out a child support assurance 
project that is designed to provide a minimum monthly child support 
payment for each eligible child participating in the project to the 
extent that such minimum child support is not paid in a month by the 
noncustodial parent.
    (d) Treatment of Child Support Payment.--Any assured minimum child 
support payment received by an individual under this Act shall be 
considered child support for purposes of determining the treatment of 
such payment under--
            (1) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
            (2) any eligibility requirements for any means-tested 
        program of assistance.
    (e) Duration.--A demonstration project conducted under this section 
shall commence on October 1, 1997, and shall be conducted for not less 
than 3 and not more than 5 consecutive fiscal years, except that the 
Secretary may terminate a project before the end of such period if the 
Secretary determines that the State conducting the project is not in 
compliance with the terms of the application approved by the Secretary 
under this section.
    (f) Evaluations and Reports.--
            (1) State evaluations.--
                    (A) In general.--Each State administering a 
                demonstration project under this section shall--
                            (i) provide for evaluation of the project, 
                        meeting such conditions and standards as the 
Secretary may require; and
                            (ii) submit to the Secretary reports, at 
                        the times and in the formats as the Secretary 
                        may require, and containing any information (in 
                        addition to the information required under 
                        subparagraph (B)) as the Secretary may require.
                    (B) Required information.--A report submitted under 
                subparagraph (A)(ii) shall include information on and 
                analysis of the effect of the project with respect to--
                            (i) the amount of child support collected 
                        for project recipients;
                            (ii) the economic circumstances and work 
                        efforts of custodial parents;
                            (iii) the work efforts of noncustodial 
                        parents;
                            (iv) the rate of compliance by noncustodial 
                        parents with support orders;
                            (v) project recipients' need for assistance 
                        under means-tested assistance programs other 
                        than the project administered under this 
                        section; and
                            (vi) any other matters that the Secretary 
                        may specify.
                    (C) Methodology.--Information required under this 
                paragraph shall be collected through the use of 
                scientifically acceptable sampling methods.
            (2) Reports to congress.--The Secretary shall, on the basis 
        of reports received from States administering projects under 
        this section, submit interim reports, and, not later than 6 
        months after the conclusion of all projects administered under 
        this section, a final report to Congress. A report submitted 
        under this paragraph shall contain an assessment of the 
        effectiveness of the State projects administered under this 
        section and any recommendations for legislative action that the 
        Secretary considers appropriate.
    (g) Funding Limits; Pro Rata Reductions of State Matching.--
            (1) Funds available.--There shall be available to the 
        Secretary, from amounts made available to carry out part D of 
        title IV of the Social Security Act, for purposes of carrying 
        out demonstration projects under this section, amounts not to 
        exceed--
                    (A) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;
                    (B) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 1999; and
                    (C) $70,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 
                through 2003.
            (2) Pro rata reductions.--The Secretary shall make pro rata 
        reductions in the amounts otherwise payable to States under 
        this section as necessary to comply with the funding limitation 
        specified in paragraph (1).

SEC. 5. MANDATORY REVIEW AND ADJUSTMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS FOR 
              TANF RECIPIENTS.

    Section 466(a)(10) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
666(a)(10)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ``or, if there is 
        an assignment under part A, upon the request of the State 
        agency under the State plan or of either parent,''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Mandatory 3-year review for part a 
                assignments.--Procedures under which the State shall 
                conduct the review under subparagraph (A) and make any 
                appropriate adjustments under such subparagraph not 
                less than every 3 years in the case of an assignment 
                under part A.''.