II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4844 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to reauthorize the grant program 

to promote responsible fatherhood, to modernize the child support enforcement program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 22 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to reauthorize 

the grant program to promote responsible fatherhood, 

to modernize the child support enforcement program, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; DEFINI4 TION. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Strengthening Families for Success Act of 2020’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; definition. 

TITLE I—PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD AND 

STRENGTHENING LOW-INCOME FAMILIES 

Sec. 101. Reauthorization of healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood grants. 

TITLE II—IMPROVING RESOURCES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 

AND FAMILY STRENGTHENING 

Sec. 201. Best practices for coordination of policy to address domestic violence 

and family engagement. 

Sec. 202. Grants supporting healthy family partnerships for domestic violence 

intervention and prevention. 

Sec. 203. Procedures to address domestic violence. 

TITLE III—MODERNIZATION OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT 

Sec. 301. Pilot program to stay automatic child support enforcement against 

non-custodial parents participating in a healthy marriage or responsible fatherhood program. 

Sec. 302. Closure of certain child support enforcement cases. 

TITLE IV—PARENTING TIME SERVICES PILOT PROGRAM 

Sec. 401. Parenting time services pilot program. 

TITLE V—IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CHILD SUPPORT PASSTHROUGH REQUIREMENTS 

Sec. 501. Child support pass-through program improvements. 

Sec. 502. Ban on recovery of Medicaid costs for births. 

Sec. 503. Improving State documentation and reporting of child support collection data. 

TITLE VI—PROGRAM FLEXIBILITY DURING THE COVID–19 

PANDEMIC 

Sec. 601. Emergency TANF flexibility. 

Sec. 602. 2020 recovery rebates not subject to reduction or offset with respect 

to past-due support. 

Sec. 603. Protection of 2020 recovery rebates. 

TITLE VII—EFFECTIVE DATE 

Sec. 701. Effective date. 

1 (c) SECRETARY DEFINED.—In this Act, the term 

2 ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Health and Human 

3 Services. 


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1 TITLE I—PROMOTING RESPON2 SIBLE FATHERHOOD AND 

3 STRENGTHENING LOW-IN4 COME FAMILIES 

5 SEC. 101. REAUTHORIZATION OF HEALTHY MARRIAGE PRO6 MOTION AND RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD 

7 GRANTS. 

8 (a) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.— 

9 (1) ASSURANCE.—Section 403(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II) 

10 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 603(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II)) is amended— 

12 (A) in item (aa), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

13 the semicolon; 

14 (B) in item (bb), by striking the period 

15 and inserting a semicolon; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(cc) if the entity is a State 

18 or an Indian tribe or tribal orga19 nization, to not condition the re20 ceipt of assistance under the pro21 gram funded under this part, 

22 under a program funded with 

23 qualified State expenditures (as 

24 defined in section 

25 409(a)(7)(B)(i)), or under a proVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4844.IS S4844

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1 gram funded under part B or E 

2 of this title, on enrollment or 

3 participation in any such pro4 grams; and 

5 ‘‘(dd) to permit any partici6 pant in a program or activity 

7 funded under this paragraph, in8 cluding an individual whose par9 ticipation is specified in the indi10 vidual responsibility plan devel11 oped for the individual in accord12 ance with section 408(b), to 

13 transfer to another such program 

14 or activity upon notification to 

15 the entity and the State agency 

16 responsible for administering the 

17 State program funded under this 

18 part.’’. 

19 (2) PROHIBITION.—Section 408(a) of such Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 608(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(13) BAN ON CONDITIONING RECEIPT OF

23 TANF OR CERTAIN OTHER BENEFITS ON PARTICIPA24 TION IN A HEALTHY MARRIAGE OR RESPONSIBLE

25 FATHERHOOD PROGRAM.—A State to which a grant 


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1 is made under section 403 shall not condition the re2 ceipt of assistance under the State program funded 

3 under this part, under a program funded with quali4 fied State expenditures (as defined in section 

5 409(a)(7)(B)(i)), or under a program funded under 

6 part B or E of this title, on participation in a 

7 healthy marriage promotion activity (as defined in 

8 section 403(a)(2)(A)(iii)) or in an activity promoting 

9 responsible fatherhood (as defined in section 

10 403(a)(2)(C)(ii)).’’. 

11 (3) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of such Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 609(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(17) PENALTY FOR CONDITIONING RECEIPT

15 OF TANF OR CERTAIN OTHER BENEFITS ON PARTICI16 PATION IN A HEALTHY MARRIAGE OR RESPONSIBLE

17 FATHERHOOD PROGRAM.—If the Secretary deter18 mines that a State has violated section 408(a)(13) 

19 during a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reduce the 

20 grant payable to the State under section 403(a)(1) 

21 for the immediately succeeding fiscal year by an 

22 amount equal to 5 percent of the State family assist23 ance grant.’’. 


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1 (b) ALIGNMENT OF ENTITIES ELIGIBLE FOR GRANTS

2 AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 403(a)(2) of such 

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)) is further amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

5 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘territories,’’ 

6 after ‘‘States,’’; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—States, 

9 territories, Indian tribes and tribal organi10 zations, public or private entities, and non11 profit community entities, including reli12 gious organizations, are eligible to be 

13 awarded funds made available under this 

14 paragraph for the purpose of carrying out 

15 healthy marriage promotion activities, for 

16 the purpose of carrying out activities pro17 moting responsible fatherhood, or for both 

18 such purposes. 

19 ‘‘(v) TERRITORY DEFINED.—For pur20 poses of awarding funds under this para21 graph, the term ‘territory’ means the Com22 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 

23 States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

24 Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 

25 Northern Mariana Islands.’’; and 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ‘‘and 

2 public’’ and inserting ‘‘public or private entities,’’. 

3 (c) TERRITORY AND TRIBAL SET-ASIDE; ELIMI4 NATION OF PREFERENCE PROVISION.—Section 

5 403(a)(2)(E) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)(E)) is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(E) FUNDING FOR TERRITORIES AND IN8 DIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts 

10 made available under subparagraph (D) 

11 for a fiscal year, not less than 10 of the 

12 awards made by the Secretary of such 

13 funds for fiscal year 2021 or any fiscal 

14 year thereafter for the purpose of carrying 

15 out healthy marriage promotion activities, 

16 activities promoting responsible fatherhood, 

17 or both, (excluding any award under sub18 paragraph (B)(i) for any fiscal year), shall 

19 be made to a territory or an Indian tribe 

20 or tribal organization. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY

22 OF TRIBAL CONSORTIUMS.—A tribal con23 sortium of Indian tribes or tribal organiza24 tions may be awarded funds under this 

25 paragraph for the purpose of carrying out 


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1 healthy marriage promotion activities, ac2 tivities promoting responsible fatherhood, 

3 or both.’’. 

4 (d) ACTIVITIES PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE FATHER5 HOOD.—Section 403(a)(2)(C)(ii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 603(a)(2)(C)(ii)) is amended— 

7 (1) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘marriage or 

8 sustain marriage’’ and inserting ‘‘healthy relation9 ships and marriages or to sustain healthy relation10 ships or marriages’’; 

11 (2) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘educating 

12 youth who are not yet parents about the economic, 

13 social, and family consequences of early parenting, 

14 helping participants in fatherhood programs work 

15 with their own children to break the cycle of early 

16 parenthood,’’ after ‘‘child support payments,’’; and 

17 (3) in subclause (III)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘fathers’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘parents (with priority for low-income non20 custodial parents)’’; and 

21 (B) by inserting ‘‘employment training for 

22 both parents and for other family members,’’ 

23 after ‘‘referrals to local employment training 

24 initiatives,’’. 


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1 (e) ENSURING HEALTHY MARRIAGE PROMOTION

2 AND RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD ACTIVITIES CAN BE

3 OFFERED DURING PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(a)(2)(A)(ii)(I) 

5 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)(A)(ii)(I)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) in each of items (aa) and (bb), by 

8 striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(cc) how, and the extent to 

11 which, funds awarded will be 

12 used by the entity for technology 

13 and access to broadband in order 

14 to carry out healthy marriage 

15 promotion activities, activities 

16 promoting responsible father17 hood, or both, remotely during a 

18 public health emergency; and 

19 ‘‘(dd) how the entity will 

20 sustain continuity of critical serv21 ices, specifying the scope of the 

22 critical services to be maintained, 

23 and the ability of the entity to be 

24 able to resume providing such 

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1 ginning of a public health emer2 gency or other incident that com3 promises the ability of the entity 

4 to deliver such services in-person, 

5 by telephone, or virtually; and’’. 

6 (2) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY DEFINED.— 

7 Section 403(a)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 603(a)(2)(A)) is further amended— 

9 (A) by redesignating clauses (iv) and (v) 

10 (as added by subsection (b)(1)) as clauses (v) 

11 and (vi), respectively; and 

12 (B) by inserting after clause (iii) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(iv) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY

15 DEFINED.—In clause (ii), the term ‘public 

16 health emergency’ means— 

17 ‘‘(I) a national or public health 

18 emergency declared by the President 

19 or the Secretary, including— 

20 ‘‘(aa) a major disaster relat21 ing to public health declared by 

22 the President under section 401 

23 of the Robert T. Stafford Dis24 aster Relief and Emergency As25 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 


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1 ‘‘(bb) an emergency relating 

2 to public health declared by the 

3 President under section 501 of 

4 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

5 Relief and Emergency Assistance 

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 5191); or 

7 ‘‘(cc) a public health emer8 gency declared by the Secretary 

9 under section 319 of the Public 

10 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 247d); or 

12 ‘‘(II) an emergency relating to 

13 public health that has been declared 

14 by a Governor or other appropriate of15 ficial of any State, the District of Co16 lumbia, or commonwealth, territory, 

17 or locality of the United States.’’. 

18 (f) MEASURING OUTCOMES FOR ELIGIBLE FAMI19 LIES.—Section 403(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 603(a)(2)), as amended by the preceding subsections of 

21 this section, is further amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

23 (A) in clause (ii)— 

24 (i) in subclause (I)(dd), by striking 

25 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 


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1 (ii) in subclause (II)— 

2 (I) in item (cc), by striking 

3 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

4 (II) in item (dd), by striking the 

5 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

6 and’’; and 

7 (III) by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(ee) to submit the report 

10 required under clause (vi); and’’; 

11 and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(III) provides, subject to the ap15 proval of the Secretary, for evalua16 tions of the activities carried out 

17 using each grant made under this 

18 paragraph that satisfy the require19 ments of subparagraph (F).’’; and 

20 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(vii) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO

22 OUTCOMES FOR MEASURING IMPROVE23 MENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(I) REPORT ON IMPROVEMENTS

25 AFTER 3 YEARS.—Not later than 30 


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1 days after the end of the 3rd year in 

2 which an eligible entity conducts pro3 grams or activities with funds made 

4 available under this paragraph, the 

5 entity shall submit a report to the 

6 Secretary demonstrating the extent to 

7 which the programs and activities car8 ried out with such funds made quan9 tifiable, measurable improvements in 

10 the areas identified in the entity’s ap11 plication in accordance with clause 

12 (ii)(III). 

13 ‘‘(II) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

14 The Secretary shall provide technical 

15 assistance to help the eligible entity 

16 develop and implement ways to evalu17 ate and improve outcomes for eligible 

18 families. The Secretary may provide 

19 the technical assistance directly or 

20 through grants, contracts, or coopera21 tive agreements. 

22 ‘‘(III) ADVISORY PANEL.—The 

23 Secretary shall establish an advisory 

24 panel for purposes of obtaining rec25 ommendations regarding the technical 


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1 assistance provided to entities in ac2 cordance with subclause (II). 

3 ‘‘(IV) FINAL REPORT.—Not later 

4 than December 31 of the first cal5 endar year that begins after October 

6 1 of the 5th consecutive fiscal year for 

7 which an eligible entity conducts pro8 grams or activities with funds made 

9 available under this paragraph, and 

10 every 5th such fiscal year thereafter 

11 (beginning with funds awarded for fis12 cal year 2021), the eligible entity shall 

13 submit a report to the Secretary dem14 onstrating the extent to which the 

15 programs and activities carried out 

16 with such funds made quantifiable, 

17 measurable improvements in the areas 

18 identified in the entity’s application 

19 for funding for such 5 fiscal years. 

20 ‘‘(V) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

21 Not later than March 31, 2026, and 

22 annually thereafter, the Secretary 

23 shall submit a report to the Com24 mittee on Ways and Means of the 

25 House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committee on Finance of the Senate 

2 on the programs and activities carried 

3 out with funds made available under 

4 this paragraph based on the most re5 cent final reports submitted under 

6 subclause (IV). Each report submitted 

7 under this subclause shall identify the 

8 programs and activities carried out 

9 with funds made available under this 

10 paragraph which made quantifiable, 

11 measurable improvements and in 

12 which outcome areas.’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(F) EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

17 subparagraph (A)(ii)(III), an evaluation 

18 satisfies the requirements of this subpara19 graph if— 

20 ‘‘(I) the evaluation is designed 

21 to— 

22 ‘‘(aa) build evidence of the 

23 effectiveness of the activities car24 ried out using each grant made 

25 under this paragraph; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) determine the lessons 

2 learned (including barriers to 

3 success) from such activities; and 

4 ‘‘(cc) to the extent prac5 ticable, help build local evaluation 

6 capacity, including the capacity 

7 to use evaluation data to inform 

8 continuous program improve9 ment; and 

10 ‘‘(II) the evaluation includes re11 search designs that encourage innova12 tion and reflect the nature of the ac13 tivities undertaken, successful imple14 mentation efforts, and the needs of 

15 the communities, without prioritizing 

16 efficacy research over effectiveness re17 search. 

18 ‘‘(ii) RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED

19 TRIALS.—An evaluation conducted in ac20 cordance with subparagraph (A)(ii)(III) 

21 and this subparagraph may, but shall not 

22 be required to, include a randomized con23 trolled trial. 

24 ‘‘(iii) OUTCOMES.—Outcomes of inter25 est for an evaluation conducted in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4844.IS S4844

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1 ance with subparagraph (A)(ii)(III) and 

2 this subparagraph shall include, but are 

3 not limited to, the following: 

4 ‘‘(I) Relationship quality between 

5 custodial and non-custodial parents. 

6 ‘‘(II) Family economic wellbeing, 

7 including receipt of public benefits 

8 and access to employment services 

9 and education. 

10 ‘‘(III) Payment of child support 

11 by non-custodial parents, non-finan12 cial contributions, and involvement in 

13 child-related activities. 

14 ‘‘(IV) Parenting skills or par15 enting quality. 

16 ‘‘(V) Health and mental health 

17 outcomes of parents. 

18 ‘‘(VI) Quality and frequency of 

19 contact between children and non-cus20 todial parents. 

21 ‘‘(VII) Reduction in crime or do22 mestic violence. 

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1 ment, and reduction of emergency de2 partment visits. 

3 ‘‘(IX) Coordination and referrals 

4 for other community resources and 

5 supports.’’. 

6 (g) AUTHORITY FOR SUBSTITUTION GRANTEES.— 

7 Section 403(a)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 603(a)(2)(A)), as amended by subsections (b)(1), (e)(2), 

9 and (f)(2), is further amended— 

10 (1) in clause (ii), in the matter preceding sub11 clause (I), by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘Except as provided in clause (viii), the Secretary’’; 

13 and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(viii) AUTHORITY FOR SUBSTITUTE

16 ENTITIES.—If, after being awarded funds 

17 under this paragraph for a fiscal year for 

18 the purpose of carrying out healthy mar19 riage promotion activities, activities pro20 moting responsible fatherhood, or both, an 

21 entity becomes unable to continue to carry 

22 out such activities for the duration of the 

23 award period, the Secretary may select an24 other entity to carry out such activities 

25 with the funds from the initial award that 


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1 remain available for obligation, for the re2 mainder of the initial award period. The 

3 Secretary shall make any such selection 

4 from among applications submitted by 

5 other entities for funding to carry out the 

6 same activities as the activities for which 

7 the initial award was made, and may base 

8 the criteria for making such a selection on 

9 the objectives specified in the announce10 ment of the opportunity to apply for the 

11 initial award funds.’’. 

12 (h) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 403(a)(2)(D) of 

13 such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)(D)) is amended to read 

14 as follows: 

15 ‘‘(D) APPROPRIATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clauses 

17 (ii) and (iii), out of any money in the 

18 Treasury of the United States not other19 wise appropriated, there are appropriated 

20 for each of fiscal years 2021 through and 

21 2025 for expenditure in accordance with 

22 this paragraph— 

23 ‘‘(I) $75,000,000 for awarding 

24 funds for the purpose of carrying out 


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1 healthy marriage promotion activities; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(II) $75,000,000 for awarding 

4 funds for the purpose of carrying out 

5 activities promoting responsible fa6 therhood. 

7 ‘‘(ii) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS FOR

8 COORDINATION OF PROVISION OF CHILD

9 WELFARE AND TANF SERVICES TO TRIBAL

10 FAMILIES AT RISK OF CHILD ABUSE OR

11 NEGLECT.—If the Secretary makes an 

12 award under subparagraph (B)(i) for any 

13 fiscal year, the funds for such award shall 

14 be taken in equal portion from the 

15 amounts appropriated under subclauses (I) 

16 and (II) of clause (i). 

17 ‘‘(iii) RESEARCH; TECHNICAL ASSIST18 ANCE.—The Secretary may use 0.5 percent 

19 of the amounts appropriated under each of 

20 subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (i), re21 spectively, for the purpose of conducting 

22 and supporting research and demonstra23 tion projects by public or private entities, 

24 and providing technical assistance to 

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1 tions, and such other entities as the Sec2 retary may specify that are receiving a 

3 grant under another provision of this 

4 part.’’. 

5 TITLE II—IMPROVING RE6 SOURCES FOR DOMESTIC VIO7 LENCE AND FAMILY 

8 STRENGTHENING 

9 SEC. 201. BEST PRACTICES FOR COORDINATION OF POLICY 

10 TO ADDRESS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND FAM11 ILY ENGAGEMENT. 

12 The Secretary shall develop a coordinated policy to 

13 address domestic violence and family strengthening that— 

14 (1) establishes criteria and best practices for 

15 coordination and partnership between domestic vio16 lence shelter and service organizations and respon17 sible fatherhood and healthy marriage promotion 

18 programs; 

19 (2) not later than 120 days after the date of 

20 enactment of this Act, issue guidance containing 

21 such criteria and best practices; and 

22 (3) update and reissue such criteria and best 

23 practices at least once every 5 years. 


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1 SEC. 202. GRANTS SUPPORTING HEALTHY FAMILY PART2 NERSHIPS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTER3 VENTION AND PREVENTION. 

4 Section 403(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 603(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

6 new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(6) GRANTS SUPPORTING HEALTHY FAMILY

8 PARTNERSHIPS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTER9 VENTION AND PREVENTION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

11 award grants on a competitive basis to healthy 

12 family partnerships to build capacity for, and 

13 facilitate such partnerships. 

14 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made avail15 able under a grant awarded under this para16 graph may be used for staff training, the provi17 sion of domestic violence intervention and pre18 vention services, and the dissemination of best 

19 practices for— 

20 ‘‘(i) assessing and providing services 

21 to individuals and families affected by do22 mestic violence, including through case23 worker training, the provision of technical 

24 assistance to other community partners, 

25 the implementation of safe visitation and 


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1 exchange programs, and the implementa2 tion of safe child support procedures; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) preventing domestic violence, 

4 particularly as a barrier to economic secu5 rity, and fostering healthy relationships. 

6 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION.—The respective entity 

7 and organization of a healthy family partner8 ship entered into for purposes of receiving a 

9 grant under this paragraph shall submit a joint 

10 application to the Secretary, at such time and 

11 in such manner as the Secretary shall specify, 

12 containing— 

13 ‘‘(i) a description of how the partner14 ship intends to carry out the activities de15 scribed in subparagraph (B), including a 

16 detailed plan for how the entity and orga17 nization comprising the partnership will 

18 collaborate; 

19 ‘‘(ii) an assurance that funds made 

20 available under the grant shall be used to 

21 supplement, and not supplant, other funds 

22 used by the entity or organization to carry 

23 out programs, activities, or services de24 scribed in subparagraph (B); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) such other information as the 

2 Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(D) GENERAL RULES GOVERNING USE OF

4 FUNDS.—Neither the rules of section 404 

5 (other than subsection (b) of that section), nor 

6 section 417 shall apply to a grant made under 

7 this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(i) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term 

10 ‘domestic violence’ means violence between 

11 intimate partners, which involves any form 

12 of physical violence, sexual violence, stalk13 ing, or psychological aggression, by a cur14 rent or former intimate partner. 

15 ‘‘(ii) HEALTHY FAMILY PARTNER16 SHIP.—The term ‘healthy family partner17 ship’ means a partnership between— 

18 ‘‘(I) an entity receiving funds 

19 under— 

20 ‘‘(aa) a grant made under 

21 paragraph (2) to promote healthy 

22 marriage or responsible father23 hood; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the pilot program es2 tablished under section 469C; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(II) a domestic violence shelter 

5 and service organization. 

6 ‘‘(F) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money 

7 in the Treasury of the United States not other8 wise appropriated, there are appropriated for 

9 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2025, 

10 $25,000,000 to carry out this paragraph.’’. 

11 SEC. 203. PROCEDURES TO ADDRESS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(a)(2) of the Social 

13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)), as amended by sub14 sections (c) and (h) of section 101, is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and 

16 (E) as subparagraphs (F) and (G), respectively; and 

17 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS FOR RECEIPT OF

20 FUNDS.—An entity may not be awarded a grant 

21 under this paragraph unless the entity, as a 

22 condition of receiving funds under such a 

23 grant— 

24 ‘‘(i) agrees to coordinate with the 

25 State domestic violence coalition (as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4844.IS S4844

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1 fined in section 302(11) of the Family Vio2 lence Prevention and Services Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 10402(11))); 

4 ‘‘(ii) identifies in its application for 

5 the grant the domestic violence shelter and 

6 service organization at the local, State, or 

7 national level with whom the entity will 

8 partner with respect to the development 

9 and implementation of the programs and 

10 activities of the entity; 

11 ‘‘(iii) describes in such application 

12 how the programs or activities proposed in 

13 the application will address, as appro14 priate, issues of domestic violence, and 

15 contains a commitment by the entity to 

16 consult with experts in domestic violence or 

17 relevant domestic violence shelter and serv18 ice organizations in the community in de19 veloping the programs and activities; 

20 ‘‘(iv) describes in such application the 

21 roles and responsibilities of the entity and 

22 the domestic violence shelter and service 

23 organization, including with respect to 

24 training, cross-trainings for each entity, 

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1 sive and evidence-based practices and tools, 

2 and reporting, and the resources that each 

3 partner will be responsible for bringing to 

4 the program; 

5 ‘‘(v) on award of the grant, and in 

6 consultation with the domestic violence 

7 shelter and service organization, develops 

8 and submits to the Secretary for approval, 

9 a written protocol using comprehensive and 

10 evidence-based practices and tools which 

11 describes— 

12 ‘‘(I) how the entity will identify 

13 instances or risks of domestic violence 

14 among participants in the program 

15 and their families; 

16 ‘‘(II) the procedures for respond17 ing to such instances or risks, includ18 ing making service referrals, assisting 

19 with safety planning, and providing 

20 protections and other appropriate as21 sistance for identified individuals and 

22 families; 

23 ‘‘(III) how confidentiality issues 

24 will be addressed; and 


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1 ‘‘(IV) the training on domestic 

2 violence that will be provided to en3 sure effective and consistent imple4 mentation of the protocol; 

5 ‘‘(vi) describes the entity’s plan to 

6 build the capacity of program staff and 

7 other partners to address and commu8 nicate with parents about domestic vio9 lence; 

10 ‘‘(vii) provides an assurance that the 

11 program staff will include a domestic vio12 lence coordinator to serve as the lead staff 

13 person on domestic violence for the entity 

14 (which may be funded with funds made 

15 available under the grant); and 

16 ‘‘(viii) in an annual report to the Sec17 retary, includes a description of the domes18 tic violence protocols, and a description of 

19 any implementation issues identified with 

20 respect to domestic violence and how the 

21 issues were addressed. 

22 ‘‘(E) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEFINED.—In 

23 this paragraph, the term ‘domestic violence’ 

24 means violence between intimate partners, 

25 which involves any form of physical violence, 


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1 sexual violence, stalking, or psychological ag2 gression, by a current or former intimate part3 ner.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 403(a)(2) 

5 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)), is further amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘and (E)’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘(D), and (G)’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘(F)’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) in subparagraphs (B)(i) and (C)(i), by 

12 striking ‘‘(D)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

13 ‘‘(F)’’. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2021. 

16 TITLE III—MODERNIZATION OF 

17 CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT 

18 SEC. 301. PILOT PROGRAM TO STAY AUTOMATIC CHILD 

19 SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AGAINST NON-CUS20 TODIAL PARENTS PARTICIPATING IN A 

21 HEALTHY MARRIAGE OR RESPONSIBLE FA22 THERHOOD PROGRAM. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

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1 ing automatic child support enforcement and cost re2 covery efforts improves family outcomes in cases 

3 under the State program funded under part A of 

4 title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 

5 et seq.) while a non-custodial parent participates in 

6 a healthy marriage or responsible fatherhood pro7 gram carried out under section 403(a)(2) of the So8 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)), under a 

9 program funded with qualified State expenditures 

10 (as defined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i) of such Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 609(a)(7)(B)(i))), or under any other 

12 program funded with non-Federal funds. While a 

13 child’s non-custodial parent is participating in a 

14 healthy marriage or responsible fatherhood program 

15 that is part of the pilot program established under 

16 this section, an eligible entity participating in the 

17 pilot program— 

18 (A) shall not apply paragraph (3) of sec19 tion 408(a) of the Social Security Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 608(a)) to a family of a child receiving 

21 assistance under the State program funded 

22 under part A of title IV of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 601 et seq.); 

24 (B) shall not refer the child’s case to the 

25 State program funded under part D of title IV 


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1 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et 

2 seq.) or apply a penalty against the child’s fam3 ily based on the custodial parent’s noncoopera4 tion with child support activities with respect to 

5 the child under paragraph (2) of section 408(a) 

6 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)), but shall pro7 vide an exception to the custodial parent pursu8 ant to section 454(29)(A) of such Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 654(29)(A)); 

10 (C) shall not be subject to penalties under 

11 section 409(a)(5) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 609(a)(5)); 

13 (D) notwithstanding subparagraph (B), 

14 any such individual shall retain the right to 

15 apply for child support services under section 

16 454(4)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 654(4)(A)(ii)) with respect to a child of 

18 the individual; 

19 (E) if the child has an open child support 

20 case with the State agency responsible for ad21 ministering the State plan under part D of title 

22 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et 

23 seq.), such State agency, shall suspend any ac24 tivity to establish or enforce a support order 

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1 lish the paternity of the child), and monthly 

2 child support obligations shall be suspended and 

3 shall not accrue, but only if both parents of the 

4 child agree in writing to the suspension; and 

5 (F) if child support activities are sus6 pended in a case by agreement of both parents 

7 in accordance with subparagraph (E), may ex8 clude the case in determining applicable per9 centages based on State performance levels 

10 under section 458 of the Social Security Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 658a), and the Secretary shall dis12 regard the case in determining whether the 

13 State data submitted to the Secretary are com14 plete and reliable for purposes of that section 

15 and section 452 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 652). 

16 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the 

17 term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 

18 (A) a State; 

19 (B) a unit of local government; or 

20 (C) an Indian tribe or tribal organization 

21 (as defined in subsections (e) and (l) of section 

22 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu23 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) that 

24 receives direct payments from the Secretary 

25 under section 455(f) of the Social Security Act 


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1 (42 U.S.C. 655(f)) or has entered into a coop2 erative agreement with a State under section 

3 454(33) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 654(33)). 

4 (3) APPLICATION, SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE EN5 TITIES.— 

6 (A) APPLICATION.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—To participate in 

8 the pilot program, an eligible entity shall 

9 submit an application to the Secretary at 

10 such time and in such manner as the Sec11 retary may require. 

12 (ii) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—An 

13 application to participate in the pilot pro14 gram shall include— 

15 (I) an outline of the healthy mar16 riage or responsible fatherhood pro17 grams that the eligible entity will 

18 partner with for the purposes of par19 ticipating in the pilot program, includ20 ing a description of each the eligibility 

21 and participation criteria for each 

22 such program; 

23 (II) the goals, strategies, and de24 sired outcomes of the eligible entity’s 


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1 proposed participation in the pilot 

2 program; and 

3 (III) such other information as 

4 the Secretary shall require. 

5 (B) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

6 Not later than September 30, 2021, the Sec7 retary shall select at least 10 eligible entities to 

8 participate in the pilot program. 

9 (4) DURATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The Sec10 retary shall conduct the pilot program during the 4- 

11 year period that begins with fiscal year 2022 and 

12 ends with fiscal year 2025. 

13 (5) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.— 

14 Throughout the pilot period, an eligible entity par15 ticipating in the pilot program shall collect and re16 port to the Secretary such data related to the enti17 ty’s participation in the pilot program as the Sec18 retary shall require. 

19 (b) GAO REPORT.— 

20 (1) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the 

21 United States shall study the implementation and 

22 impact of the pilot program established under sub23 section (a). 

24 (2) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2026, 

25 the Comptroller General shall submit a report to 


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1 Congress on the results of the study required under 

2 paragraph (1) that includes information on the fol3 lowing: 

4 (A) How State agencies responsible for ad5 ministering the State program funded under 

6 part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and the State agency re8 sponsible for administering the State plan 

9 under part D of title IV of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 651 et seq.) designate healthy marriage or re11 sponsible fatherhood programs as eligible pro12 grams for purposes of the pilot program and 

13 what types of organizations have programs so 

14 designated, including whether such programs 

15 are funded under a grant made under section 

16 403(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)), 

17 under a program funded with qualified State 

18 expenditures (as defined in section 

19 409(a)(7)(B)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 609(a)(7)(B)(i))), or under any other program 

21 funded with non-Federal funds. 

22 (B) The types of activities and services 

23 designated programs provide, including the ex24 tent to which any such activities and services 


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1 are intended for domestic violence victims and 

2 survivors. 

3 (C) An assessment of how the designated 

4 programs compare to other entities receiving a 

5 grant under section 403(a)(2) of such Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)), under a program funded 

7 with qualified State expenditures (as defined in 

8 section 409(a)(7)(B)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 609(a)(7)(B)(i))), or under any other program 

10 funded with non-Federal funds, with respect to 

11 the information described in subparagraphs (A) 

12 and (B). 

13 (D) Recommendations for such administra14 tive or legislative action as the Comptroller 

15 General determines appropriate. 

16 SEC. 302. CLOSURE OF CERTAIN CHILD SUPPORT EN17 FORCEMENT CASES. 

18 Section 454(4)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 654(4)(A)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking clause (i) and inserting the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(i) a child living apart from 1 or 

23 both parents for whom (I) assistance is 

24 provided under the State program funded 

25 under part A of this title, (II) benefits or 


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1 services for foster care maintenance are 

2 provided under the State program funded 

3 under part E of this title, (III) medical as4 sistance is provided under the State plan 

5 approved under title XIX, or (IV) coopera6 tion is required pursuant to section 6(l)(1) 

7 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

8 U.S.C. 2015(l)(1)) unless, in accordance 

9 with paragraph (29), good cause or other 

10 exceptions exist, or in the event that the 

11 State agency becomes aware after opening 

12 a child support case upon referral from an13 other program that both parents of the 

14 child comprise an intact 2-parent house15 hold (even if a parent is temporarily living 

16 elsewhere), and neither parent has applied 

17 for child support services under clause (ii), 

18 in which case the State agency shall notify 

19 the referring program and each parent 

20 that the case will be closed within 60 days 

21 of the date of such notice unless either 

22 parent contacts the State agency and re23 quests that the case remain open; and’’; 

24 and 


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1 (2) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘living apart 

2 from 1 or both parents’’ after ‘‘any other child’’. 

3 TITLE IV—PARENTING TIME 

4 SERVICES PILOT PROGRAM 

5 SEC. 401. PARENTING TIME SERVICES PILOT PROGRAM. 

6 Part D of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 469C. PARENTING TIME SERVICES PILOT PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 30, 

12 2021, the Secretary shall establish a pilot program 

13 (referred to in this section as the ‘pilot program’) to 

14 provide payments to State, local, and tribal agencies 

15 responsible for administering the program under this 

16 part (referred to in this section as ‘eligible entities’) 

17 for carrying out the activities described in subsection 

18 (d) for the purpose of promoting the inclusion of 

19 uncontested parenting time agreements in child sup20 port orders. Expenditures for activities carried out 

21 by a State, local, or tribal agency participating in 

22 the pilot program shall be treated as expenditures 

23 authorized under the State or tribal plan approved 

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1 penditures would otherwise be a permissible use of 

2 funds under such plan. 

3 ‘‘(2) NO BUDGET NEUTRALITY REQUIRED.—No 

4 budget neutrality requirement shall apply to the 

5 pilot program. 

6 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION, SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTI7 TIES, AND DURATION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To participate in the 

10 pilot program, an eligible entity shall submit an 

11 application to the Secretary at such time and in 

12 such manner as the Secretary may require. 

13 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—An appli14 cation to participate in the pilot program shall 

15 include the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) The identity of the courts or judi17 cial or administrative agencies with which 

18 the eligible entity will coordinate activities 

19 carried out under the pilot program. 

20 ‘‘(ii) The identity of the local, State, 

21 or national level domestic violence shelter 

22 and service organization with which the eli23 gible entity will partner with to develop 

24 and implement the procedures to address 


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1 domestic violence required under sub2 section (d). 

3 ‘‘(iii) A description of the role and re4 sponsibilities of each of such partner with 

5 respect to developing and implementing the 

6 procedures required under subsection (d), 

7 and of the resources that each partner will 

8 contribute to developing and implementing 

9 such procedures. 

10 ‘‘(iv) Such other information as the 

11 Secretary shall require. 

12 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Not 

13 later than September 30, 2021, the Secretary shall 

14 select at least 12 eligible entities to participate in 

15 the pilot program, at least 2 of which shall be tribal 

16 agencies described in subsection (b). 

17 ‘‘(3) DURATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The Sec18 retary shall conduct the pilot program during the 5- 

19 year period that begins with fiscal year 2022 and 

20 ends with fiscal year 2026. 

21 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 

22 participating in the pilot program shall carry out the fol23 lowing activities: 

24 ‘‘(1) Establishing parent time plans in conjunc25 tion with the establishment of a child support order. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Coordinating with the custodial and non2 custodial parent when establishing a parent time 

3 plan. 

4 ‘‘(3) Supervising and facilitating parents’ visita5 tion and access to their children, including virtual 

6 visitation in situations where in-person visitation is 

7 not practicable. 

8 ‘‘(4) Providing parents with legal information 

9 and referrals related to parenting time. 

10 ‘‘(5) Coordinating with domestic violence shelter 

11 and service organizations. 

12 ‘‘(6) Employing a staff member to serve as a 

13 domestic violence coordinator. 

14 ‘‘(7) Such other activities related to promoting 

15 the inclusion of uncontested parenting time agree16 ments in child support orders as the Secretary may 

17 approve. 

18 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—As a condition of 

19 receiving payments under the pilot program, an eligible 

20 entity shall meet the following requirements: 

21 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURES TO ADDRESS DOMESTIC VIO22 LENCE.—Not later than 3 months after the eligible 

23 entity is selected to participate in the pilot program, 

24 the eligible entity, in consultation with the State do25 mestic violence coalition (as defined in section 


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1 302(11) of the Family Violence Prevention and 

2 Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10402(11))) and the domes3 tic violence shelter and service organization with 

4 which the entity is partnering, shall do the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) Develop, and submit to the Secretary 

6 for approval, written protocols for use by the el7 igible entity in carrying out activities under the 

8 pilot program that are based on comprehensive 

9 and evidence-based practices and tools for— 

10 ‘‘(i) identifying instances of domestic 

11 violence and situations where there is a 

12 risk of domestic violence; 

13 ‘‘(ii) responding to any instances of 

14 domestic violence and situations where 

15 there is a risk of domestic violence that are 

16 so identified, including by making referrals 

17 to domestic violence intervention and pre18 vention services, assisting with safety plan19 ning, and providing protections and other 

20 appropriate assistance to individuals and 

21 families who are victims or potential vic22 tims of domestic violence; 

23 ‘‘(iii) addressing confidentiality issues 

24 related to identifying and responding to in25 stances of domestic violence and situations 


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1 where there is a risk of domestic violence; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(iv) providing domestic violence 

4 awareness and intervention and prevention 

5 training to ensure the effective and con6 sistent implementation of the protocols de7 veloped under this subparagraph. 

8 ‘‘(B) Build the capacity of the staff of the 

9 eligible entity and the domestic violence shelter 

10 and service organization partner of the entity to 

11 communicate with parents about domestic vio12 lence. 

13 ‘‘(C) Appoint a staff member of the eligible 

14 entity or the domestic violence shelter and serv15 ice organizations to serve as the domestic vio16 lence coordinator for purposes of the activities 

17 carried out under the pilot program. 

18 ‘‘(D) Submit a final report to the Sec19 retary describing— 

20 ‘‘(i) the protocols established by the 

21 eligible entity to address domestic violence; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) any issues that the eligible entity 

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1 cols and if so, how the eligible entity ad2 dressed such issues. 

3 ‘‘(2) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.— 

4 Throughout the pilot period, an eligible entity par5 ticipating in the pilot program shall collect and re6 port to the Secretary such data related to the enti7 ty’s participation in the pilot program as the Sec8 retary shall require. 

9 ‘‘(e) PAYMENTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each quarter during 

11 the pilot period described in subsection (b)(3), the 

12 Secretary shall pay to each eligible entity partici13 pating in the pilot program an amount equal to the 

14 applicable percentage specified in paragraph (2) of 

15 the amounts expended by the entity during the quar16 ter to carry out the pilot program. Such payments 

17 shall be made in addition to, and as part of, the 

18 quarterly payment made to the eligible entity under 

19 section 455(a)(1). Amounts expended by an eligible 

20 entity participating in the pilot program shall be 

21 treated as amounts expended for a purpose for 

22 which a quarterly payment is available under section 

23 455(a)(1)(A), without regard to whether payment 

24 would otherwise be available under such section in 

25 the absence of the pilot program (and subject to the 


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1 application of the applicable percentage for such 

2 quarter under paragraph (2) in lieu of the percent3 age that would otherwise apply under such section 

4 (if any)). 

5 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—The applica6 ble percentage specified in this paragraph is— 

7 ‘‘(A) in the case of payments made for the 

8 first 8 quarters of the pilot period, 100 percent; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of payments made for 

11 each subsequent quarter of the pilot period, 66 

12 percent (80 percent in the case of an eligible 

13 entity that is a tribal agency). 

14 ‘‘(3) SUNSET FOR PAYMENTS.—In no case may 

15 payments be provided by the Secretary for amounts 

16 expended by an eligible entity to carry out the pilot 

17 program for any quarter of a fiscal year after fiscal 

18 year 2026. 

19 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con21 duct (directly or by grant, contract, or interagency 

22 agreement) a comprehensive evaluation of the pilot 

23 program that satisfies the requirements of this sub24 section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the pilot program ends, the Secretary shall submit 

3 to Congress a report containing the results of such 

4 comprehensive evaluation. 

5 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A comprehensive eval7 uation satisfies the requirements of this sub8 section if— 

9 ‘‘(i) the evaluation is designed to iden10 tify successful activities for creating oppor11 tunities for developing and sustaining par12 enting time to— 

13 ‘‘(I) build evidence of the effec14 tiveness of such activities; 

15 ‘‘(II) determine the lessons 

16 learned (including barriers to success) 

17 from such activities; and 

18 ‘‘(III) to the extent practicable, 

19 help build local evaluation capacity, 

20 including the capacity to use evalua21 tion data to inform continuous pro22 gram improvement; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the evaluation includes research 

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1 taken, successful implementation efforts, 

2 and the needs of the communities, without 

3 prioritizing efficacy research over effective4 ness research. 

5 ‘‘(B) RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED

6 TRIALS.—A comprehensive evaluation con7 ducted in accordance with this subsection may, 

8 but shall not be required to, include a random9 ized controlled trial. 

10 ‘‘(4) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—The report on 

11 the comprehensive evaluation conducted in accord12 ance with this subsection shall include the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) An assessment of the process used to 

14 assist parents in developing and establishing 

15 parenting time agreements and the number of 

16 parenting time agreements established during 

17 the pilot program. 

18 ‘‘(B) An assessment of the impact of the 

19 pilot program on child support payment out20 comes, including payment behaviors such as the 

21 amount of monthly payments, the frequency of 

22 monthly payments, and the frequency and type 

23 of non-financial assistance. 

24 ‘‘(C) An assessment of the access barriers 

25 to establishing and complying with parenting 


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1 time agreements, and the effectiveness of meth2 ods used by the pilot projects to address bar3 riers. 

4 ‘‘(D) An assessment of the impact of the 

5 pilot program on co-parenting quality. 

6 ‘‘(E) An assessment of the impact of the 

7 pilot program on relationships between custo8 dial and non-custodial parents. 

9 ‘‘(F) An assessment of the impact of the 

10 pilot program on relationships between non-cus11 todial parents and their children. 

12 ‘‘(G) Data on the incidence and prevalence 

13 of domestic violence between custodial and non14 custodial parents during the course of the pilot 

15 program. 

16 ‘‘(H) A detailed description of the proce17 dures used to address incidents of domestic vio18 lence between custodial and non-custodial par19 ents during the course of the pilot program. 

20 ‘‘(I) An assessment of the impact of the 

21 pilot program on increasing custodial and non22 custodial parents’ knowledge about domestic vi23 olence. 

24 ‘‘(5) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in 

25 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is 


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1 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sub2 section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

3 through 2026, to remain available until expended. 

4 ‘‘(g) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEFINED.—In this sec5 tion, the term ‘domestic violence’ means violence between 

6 intimate partners, which involves any form of physical vio7 lence, sexual violence, stalking, or psychological aggres8 sion, by a current or former intimate partner.’’. 

9 TITLE V—IMPROVEMENTS TO 

10 THE CHILD SUPPORT PASS11 THROUGH REQUIREMENTS 

12 SEC. 501. CHILD SUPPORT PASS-THROUGH PROGRAM IM13 PROVEMENTS. 

14 (a) PASS-THROUGH OF ALL CURRENT SUPPORT

15 AMOUNTS AND ARREARAGES COLLECTED FOR CURRENT

16 AND FORMER TANF FAMILIES.—Section 457 of the So17 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 657) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

19 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and (e)’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘, (e), (f), and (g)’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(f) DISTRIBUTION OF CURRENT SUPPORT AMOUNT

23 AND ARREARAGES COLLECTED FOR TANF FAMILIES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) TANF FAMILIES.—Subject to subsections 

25 (d), (e), and (g), beginning October 1, 2023— 


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1 ‘‘(A) paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall 

2 no longer apply to the distribution of amounts 

3 collected on behalf of a TANF family as sup4 port by a State pursuant to a plan approved 

5 under this part; 

6 ‘‘(B) the State shall pay to a TANF family 

7 all of the current support amount collected by 

8 the State on behalf of the family and all of any 

9 excess amount collected on behalf of the family 

10 to the extent necessary to satisfy support ar11 rearages; and 

12 ‘‘(C) for purposes of determining eligibility 

13 for, and the amount and type of, assistance 

14 from the State under the State program funded 

15 under part A, the State shall disregard the cur16 rent support amount paid to a TANF family 

17 and shall disregard the current support amount 

18 paid to any family that is an applicant for as19 sistance under the State program funded under 

20 part A. 

21 ‘‘(2) FORMER TANF FAMILIES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections 

23 (e) and (g), beginning October 1, 2025— 

24 ‘‘(i) subsection (a)(2) shall no longer 

25 apply to the distribution of amounts colVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4844.IS S4844

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1 lected on behalf of a former TANF family 

2 as support by a State pursuant to a plan 

3 approved under this part or to support ob4 ligations assigned by the family; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the State shall pay to a former 

6 TANF family all of the current support 

7 amount collected by the State on behalf of 

8 the family and all of any excess amount 

9 collected on behalf of the family to the ex10 tent necessary to satisfy support arrear11 ages (and the State shall treat amounts 

12 collected pursuant to an assignment by the 

13 family as if the amounts had never been 

14 assigned and shall distribute the amounts 

15 to the family in accordance with subsection 

16 (a)(4)). 

17 ‘‘(B) STATE OPTION FOR EARLIER IMPLE18 MENTATION.—A State may elect to apply sub19 paragraph (A) to the distribution of amounts 

20 collected on behalf of a former TANF family as 

21 support by a State pursuant to a plan approved 

22 under this part beginning on the first day of 

23 any quarter of fiscal year 2024 or 2025. 

24 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(A) TANF FAMILY.—The term ‘TANF 

2 family’ means a family receiving assistance 

3 from the State under the State program funded 

4 under part A. 

5 ‘‘(B) FORMER TANF FAMILY.—The term 

6 ‘former TANF family’ means a family that for7 merly received assistance from the State under 

8 the State program funded under part A. 

9 ‘‘(C) EXCESS AMOUNT.—The term ‘excess 

10 amount’ means, with respect to amounts col11 lected by a State as support on behalf of a fam12 ily, the amount by which such amount collected 

13 exceeds the current support amount.’’. 

14 (b) TEMPORARY INCREASE IN MATCHING RATE.— 

15 Section 455(a)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 655(a)(3)) is 

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary shall pay to each State, for 

18 each quarter of fiscal years 2022 and 2023, 90 percent 

19 of so much of the State expenditures described in para20 graph (1)(B) for the quarter as the Secretary finds are 

21 for a system meeting the requirements specified in sec22 tions 454(16) and 454A. 

23 ‘‘(B) In the case of a State which elects the option 

24 under subparagraph (B) of section 457(f)(2) to apply sub25 paragraph (A) of that section to the distribution of 


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1 amounts collected on behalf of a former TANF family (as 

2 defined in subparagraph (B) of section 457(f)(3)) as sup3 port by a State pursuant to a plan approved under this 

4 part beginning on the first day of any quarter of fiscal 

5 year 2024 or 2025, the Secretary shall pay to the State 

6 for each quarter of fiscal year 2024 and 2025 for which 

7 such an election has been made, 90 percent of so much 

8 of the State expenditures described in paragraph (1)(B) 

9 for the quarter as the Secretary finds are for a system 

10 meeting the requirements specified in sections 454(16) 

11 and 454A. 

12 ‘‘(C) This paragraph shall not apply to State expendi13 tures described in paragraph (1)(B) for any quarter begin14 ning on or after September 30, 2024 (September 30, 

15 2023, in the case of a State that does not elect the option 

16 described in subparagraph (B)).’’. 

17 (c) TRANSITION TO ELIMINATION OF EXCEPTED

18 PORTION FOR PASS-THROUGH DISREGARD OPTION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

20 457(a)(6) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 657(a)(6)) is 

21 amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(B) FAMILIES THAT CURRENTLY RE23 CEIVE ASSISTANCE UNDER PART A.—During 

24 each of fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023, in 

25 the case of a family that receives assistance 


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1 from the State under the State program funded 

2 under part A, a State shall not be required to 

3 pay to the Federal Government the Federal 

4 share of an amount collected on behalf of a 

5 family receiving assistance from the State 

6 under the State program funded under part A 

7 to the extent that the State— 

8 ‘‘(i) pays the amount to the family; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) disregards all of the amount col11 lected that does not exceed the current 

12 support amount for purposes of deter13 mining the family’s eligibility for, and the 

14 amount and type of, assistance from the 

15 State under the State program funded 

16 under part A.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

18 457(a)(6) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 657(a)(6)) is 

19 amended in the heading, by inserting ‘‘; TRANSITION

20 TO ELIMINATION OF EXCEPTED PORTION’’ after 

21 ‘‘PARTICIPATION’’. 

22 (d) AMOUNTS COLLECTED ON BEHALF OF FAMILIES

23 RECEIVING FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 457 of such Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 657) as amended by subsection (a), is fur3 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(g) DISTRIBUTION OF AMOUNTS COLLECTED ON

5 BEHALF OF A CHILD FOR WHOM FOSTER CARE MAINTE6 NANCE PAYMENTS ARE BEING MADE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning October 1, 

8 2023— 

9 ‘‘(A) subsection (e) shall no longer apply to 

10 the distribution of amounts collected by a State 

11 as child support for months in any period on 

12 behalf of a child for whom a public agency is 

13 making foster care maintenance payments 

14 under part E; 

15 ‘‘(B) with respect to the current support 

16 amount collected by the State on behalf of the 

17 child, the State shall elect to— 

18 ‘‘(i) pay such amount to a foster par19 ent of the child or a kinship caregiver for 

20 the child whenever practicable, or to the 

21 person responsible for meeting the child’s 

22 day-to-day needs; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) deposit such amount in a savings 

24 account to be used for the child’s future 

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1 tion with family from which the child was 

2 removed (including for reunification serv3 ices for the child and family); 

4 ‘‘(C) to the extent any amount collected 

5 exceeds the current support amount and, after 

6 the beginning of the period in which a public 

7 agency began making foster care maintenance 

8 payments under part E on behalf of the child, 

9 support arrearages have accrued with respect to 

10 the child, the State shall deposit such excess 

11 amount into a savings account to be used for 

12 the child’s future needs; and 

13 ‘‘(D) when the child is returned to the 

14 family from which the child was removed, or 

15 placed for adoption, with a legal guardian, or, 

16 if adoption or legal guardianship is determined 

17 not to be safe and appropriate for a child, in 

18 some other planned, permanent living arrange19 ment, any amount in such savings account 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) if the child has attained age 18, 

22 be transferred to the child; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) if the child has not attained age 

24 18, be maintained in such account until 

25 the child attains such age, and shall be 


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1 transferred to the child when the child at2 tains such age. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—The State agency re4 sponsible for administering the program under this 

5 part shall be responsible for the distribution under 

6 this subsection of amounts collected on behalf of a 

7 child for whom a public agency is making foster care 

8 maintenance payments under part E.’’. 

9 (2) GAO REPORT.— 

10 (A) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of 

11 the United States shall study the implementa12 tion and impact of the requirements for dis13 tribution of amounts collected on behalf of a 

14 child for whom foster care maintenance pay15 ments are being made under subsection (g) of 

16 section 457 of the Social Security Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 657) as added by paragraph (1). 

18 (B) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 

19 2027, the Comptroller General shall submit a 

20 report to Congress on the results of the study 

21 required under paragraph (1) that includes in22 formation on the following: 

23 (i) A description of how States have 

24 elected to implement the distribution re25 quirements of such subsection, including 


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1 with respect to the choices States make re2 garding how much of current support 

3 amounts are paid to foster families, saved 

4 in the event of a child’s reunification with 

5 the family from which the child was re6 moved, or saved for the child’s future 

7 needs. 

8 (ii) A description of how States dis9 tribute or use amounts saved in the event 

10 of a child’s reunification with the family 

11 from which the child was removed, includ12 ing the extent to which such amounts are 

13 used to provide reunification services for 

14 the child and family or distributed in full 

15 to the family. 

16 (iii) Recommendations regarding best 

17 practices regarding distributions made 

18 under such subsection, along with rec19 ommendations for such administrative or 

20 legislative action as the Comptroller Gen21 eral determines appropriate. 

22 (e) DISCONTINUATION OF SUPPORT ASSIGN23 MENTS.— 

24 (1) TERMINATION OF TANF REQUIREMENT TO

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1 graph (3) of section 408(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 608(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(3) NO ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILIES NOT AS4 SIGNING CERTAIN SUPPORT RIGHTS TO THE

5 STATE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each 

7 of fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023, subject to 

8 section 457(b)(3), a State to which a grant is 

9 made under section 403 shall require, as a con10 dition of paying assistance to a family under 

11 the State program funded under this part, that 

12 a member of the family assign to the State any 

13 right the family member may have (on behalf of 

14 the family member or of any other person for 

15 whom the family member has applied for or is 

16 receiving such assistance) to support from any 

17 other person, not exceeding the total amount of 

18 assistance so paid to the family, which accrues 

19 during the period that the family receives as20 sistance under the program. 

21 ‘‘(B) SUNSET.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

22 not apply to any State or family after Sep23 tember 30, 2023.’’. 

24 (2) STATE OPTION TO DISCONTINUE SUPPORT

25 ASSIGNMENTS UNDER TANF BEFORE FISCAL YEAR


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1 2023.—Section 457(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 657(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(3) STATE OPTION TO DISCONTINUE SUPPORT

5 ASSIGNMENTS UNDER PART A BEFORE TERMINATION

6 OF REQUIREMENT.—A State may elect for any or all 

7 of fiscal years 2021 through 2023, to— 

8 ‘‘(A) not require the assignment of support 

9 obligations under section 408(a)(3)(A) as a con10 dition of paying assistance to a family under 

11 the State program funded under part A; and 

12 ‘‘(B) discontinue the assignment of a sup13 port obligation described in such section, and 

14 treat amounts collected pursuant to the assign15 ment as if the amounts had never been assigned 

16 and distribute the amounts to the family.’’. 

17 (f) ELIMINATION OF OPTION TO APPLY FORMER

18 DISTRIBUTION RULES FOR FAMILIES FORMERLY RECEIV19 ING ASSISTANCE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 454 of such Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 654) is amended— 

22 (A) in paragraph (32)(C), by adding 

23 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

24 (B) in paragraph (33), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

25 and inserting a period; and 


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1 (C) by striking paragraph (34). 

2 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

3 by paragraph (1) take effect on October 1, 2023. 

4 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) Section 454B(c)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 654b(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘457(a)’’ and in7 serting ‘‘457’’. 

8 (2) Section 457 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 657), 

9 as amended by subsections (a) and (d), is further 

10 amended— 

11 (A) in subsection (c), in the matter pre12 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection 

13 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a), (f), and 

14 (g)’’; and 

15 (B) in subsection (e), in the matter pre16 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Notwith17 standing the preceding provisions of this sec18 tion, amounts’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to sub19 section (g), amounts’’. 

20 SEC. 502. BAN ON RECOVERY OF MEDICAID COSTS FOR 

21 BIRTHS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 454 of the Social Security 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

25 (33); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (34) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (34) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(35) provide that the State shall not use the 

6 State program operated under this part to collect 

7 any amount owed to the State by reason of costs in8 curred under the State plan approved under title 

9 XIX for the birth of a child for whom support rights 

10 have been assigned pursuant to section 1912.’’. 

11 (b) CLARIFICATION THAT BAN ON RECOVERY DOES

12 NOT APPLY WITH RESPECT TO INSURANCE OF A PARENT

13 WITH AN OBLIGATION TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT.—Sec14 tion 1902(a)(25)(F) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 1396a(a)(25)(F)) is amended— 

16 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘care.;’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘care; and’’; and 

18 (2) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘only if such 

19 third-party liability is derived through insurance,’’ 

20 before ‘‘seek’’. 

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

24 take effect on October 1, 2025. 


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1 (2) STATE OPTION FOR EARLIER APPLICA2 TION.—A State may elect for the amendments made 

3 by this section to take effect with respect to the 

4 State plans under part D of title IV and title XIX 

5 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671 et seq.; 

6 1396 et seq.) on the first day of any quarter of fis7 cal years 2021 through 2025. 

8 SEC. 503. IMPROVING STATE DOCUMENTATION AND RE9 PORTING OF CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION 

10 DATA. 

11 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Paragraph (10) of 

12 section 454(10) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 654(10)) is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(10) provide that the State will— 

15 ‘‘(A) maintain a full record of collections 

16 and disbursements made under the plan and 

17 have an adequate reporting system; and 

18 ‘‘(B) document outcomes with respect to 

19 each child support obligation that is enforced by 

20 the State, including monthly support payment 

21 amounts (distinguishing between full monthly 

22 payments and partial monthly payments) and 

23 the frequency of monthly support payments for 

24 each such case and include information on such 


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1 outcomes in the annual report required under 

2 paragraph (15);’’. 

3 (b) INCLUSION IN ANNUAL REPORT BY THE SEC4 RETARY.—Section 452(a)(10)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 652(a)(10)(A)) is amended— 

6 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

7 semicolon; 

8 (2) in clause (iii)(II), by adding ‘‘and’’ after the 

9 semicolon; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(iv) information on the documented 

12 outcomes with respect to each child sup13 port obligation that was enforced under a 

14 State plan approved under this part during 

15 the fiscal year, as required under para16 graph (10) of section 454 and included in 

17 the annual report required under para18 graph (15) of that section;’’. 

19 TITLE VI—PROGRAM FLEXI20 BILITY DURING THE COVID–19 

21 PANDEMIC 

22 SEC. 601. EMERGENCY TANF FLEXIBILITY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the period that 

24 begins on March 1, 2020, and ends September 30, 2021: 


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1 (1) Sections 408(a)(2), 409(a)(5), and 

2 409(a)(8) of the Social Security Act shall have no 

3 force or effect. 

4 (2) Notwithstanding section 466(d) of such Act, 

5 the Secretary may exempt a State from any require6 ment of section 466 of such Act to respond to the 

7 COVID–19 pandemic, except that the Secretary may 

8 not exempt a State from any requirement to— 

9 (A) provide a parent with notice of a right 

10 to request a review and, if appropriate, adjust11 ment of a support order; or 

12 (B) afford a parent the opportunity to 

13 make such a request. 

14 (3) The Secretary may not impose a penalty or 

15 take any other adverse action against a State pursu16 ant to section 452(g)(1) of such Act for failure to 

17 achieve a paternity establishment percentage of less 

18 than 90 percent. 

19 (4) The Secretary may not find that the pater20 nity establishment percentage for a State is not 

21 based on reliable data for purposes of section 

22 452(g)(1) of such Act, and the Secretary may not 

23 determine that the data which a State submitted 

24 pursuant to section 452(a)(4)(C)(i) of such Act and 

25 which is used in determining a performance level is 


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1 not complete or reliable for purposes of section 

2 458(b)(5)(B) of such Act, on the basis of the failure 

3 of the State to submit OCSE Form 396 or 34 in a 

4 timely manner. 

5 (5) The Secretary may not impose a penalty or 

6 take any other adverse action against a State for 

7 failure to comply with section 454B(c)(1) or 

8 454A(g)(1)(A)(i) of such Act. 

9 (6) The Secretary may not disapprove a State 

10 plan submitted pursuant to part D of title IV of 

11 such Act for failure of the plan to meet the require12 ment of section 454(1) of such Act, and may not im13 pose a penalty or take any other adverse action 

14 against a State with such a plan that meets that re15 quirement for failure to comply with that require16 ment. 

17 (7) To the extent that a preceding provision of 

18 this section applies with respect to a provision of law 

19 applicable to a program operated by an Indian tribe 

20 or tribal organization (as defined in subsections (e) 

21 and (l) of section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

22 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)), 

23 that preceding provision shall apply with respect to 

24 the Indian tribe or tribal organization. 


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1 (8) Any increase in the Federal medical assist2 ance percentage for a State resulting from the appli3 cation of this subsection shall not be taken into ac4 count for purposes of calculating the Federal share 

5 of assigned collections paid by the State to the Fed6 eral Government under section 457 of the Social Se7 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 657). 

8 (b) STATE DEFINED.—In subsection (a), the term 

9 ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

10 1101(a) of the Social Security Act for purposes of title 

11 IV of such Act. 

12 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 6008 of the 

13 Families First Coronavirus Response Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 1396d note) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(e) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—An increase in the 

17 Federal medical assistance percentage for a State under 

18 this section shall not be taken into account for purposes 

19 of calculating the Federal share of assigned collections 

20 paid by the State to the Federal Government under sec21 tion 457 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 657).’’. 

22 (d) STATE PERFORMANCE YEAR FOR INCENTIVE

23 PAYMENTS.—Notwithstanding section 458 of the Social 

24 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 658a), the data which a State 

25 submitted pursuant to section 454(15)(B) of such Act (42 


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•S 4844 IS

1 U.S.C. 654(15)(B)) for fiscal year 2019 and which the 

2 Secretary has determined is complete and reliable shall be 

3 used to determine the performance level for each measure 

4 of State performance specified in section 458(b)(4) of such 

5 Act for each of fiscal years 2020 and 2021. 

6 SEC. 602. 2020 RECOVERY REBATES NOT SUBJECT TO RE7 DUCTION OR OFFSET WITH RESPECT TO 

8 PAST-DUE SUPPORT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2201(d)(2) of the CARES 

10 Act is amended by inserting ‘‘(c),’’ before ‘‘(d)’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

12 this section shall apply to credits and refunds allowed or 

13 made after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 603. PROTECTION OF 2020 RECOVERY REBATES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 2201 of 

16 the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and 

18 (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), and by mov19 ing such subparagraphs 2 ems to the right, 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘REDUCTION OR OFFSET.—Any 

21 credit’’ and inserting ‘‘REDUCTION, OFFSET, GAR22 NISHMENT, ETC.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any credit’’, and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(2) ASSIGNMENT OF BENEFITS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The right of any per3 son to any applicable payment shall not be 

4 transferable or assignable, at law or in equity, 

5 and no applicable payment shall be subject to, 

6 execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or 

7 other legal process, or the operation of any 

8 bankruptcy or insolvency law. 

9 ‘‘(B) ENCODING OF PAYMENTS.—As soon 

10 as practicable, but not earlier than 10 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this para12 graph, in the case of an applicable payment 

13 that is paid electronically by direct deposit 

14 through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) 

15 network, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the 

16 Secretary’s delegate) shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) issue the payment using a unique 

18 identifier that is reasonably sufficient to 

19 allow a financial institution to identify the 

20 payment as an applicable payment, and 

21 ‘‘(ii) further encode the payment pur22 suant to the same specifications as re23 quired for a benefit payment defined in 

24 section 212.3 of title 31, Code of Federal 

25 Regulations. 


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1 ‘‘(C) GARNISHMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(i) ENCODED PAYMENTS.—In the 

3 case of a garnishment order received after 

4 the date that is 10 days after the date of 

5 the enactment of this paragraph and that 

6 applies to an account that has received an 

7 applicable payment that is encoded as pro8 vided in subparagraph (B), a financial in9 stitution shall follow the requirements and 

10 procedures set forth in part 212 of title 

11 31, Code of Federal Regulations, except a 

12 financial institution shall not, with regard 

13 to any applicable payment, be required to 

14 provide the notice referenced in sections 

15 212.6 and 212.7 of title 31, Code of Fed16 eral Regulations. This paragraph shall not 

17 alter the status of applicable payments as 

18 tax refunds or other nonbenefit payments 

19 for purpose of any reclamation rights of 

20 the Department of the Treasury or the In21 ternal Revenue Service as per part 210 of 

22 title 31 of the Code of Federal Regula23 tions. 

24 ‘‘(ii) OTHER PAYMENTS.—If a finan25 cial institution receives a garnishment 


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•S 4844 IS

1 order, other than an order that has been 

2 served by the United States or an order 

3 that has been served by a Federal, State, 

4 or local child support enforcement agency, 

5 that has been received by a financial insti6 tution after the date that is 10 days after 

7 the date of the enactment of this para8 graph and that applies to an account into 

9 which an applicable payment that has not 

10 been encoded as provided in subparagraph 

11 (B) has been deposited electronically or by 

12 an applicable payment that has been de13 posited by check on any date in the 

14 lookback period, the financial institution, 

15 upon the request of the account holder, 

16 shall treat the amount of the funds in the 

17 account at the time of the request, up to 

18 the amount of the applicable payment (in 

19 addition to any amounts otherwise pro20 tected under part 212 of title 31, Code of 

21 Federal Regulations), as exempt from a 

22 garnishment order without requiring the 

23 consent of the party serving the garnish24 ment order or the judgment creditor. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) LIABILITY.—A financial institu2 tion that acts in good faith in reliance on 

3 clauses (i) or (ii) shall not be subject to li4 ability or regulatory action under any Fed5 eral or State law, regulation, court or other 

6 order, or regulatory interpretation for ac7 tions concerning any applicable payments. 

8 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

9 paragraph— 

10 ‘‘(i) ACCOUNT HOLDER.—The term 

11 ‘account holder’ means a natural person 

12 whose name appears in a financial institu13 tion’s records as the direct or beneficial 

14 owner of an account. 

15 ‘‘(ii) ACCOUNT REVIEW.—The term 

16 ‘account review’ means the process of ex17 amining deposits in an account to deter18 mine if an applicable payment has been de19 posited into the account during the 

20 lookback period. The financial institution 

21 shall perform the account review following 

22 the procedures outlined in section 212.5 of 

23 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations and 

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1 tion 212.6 of title 31, Code of Federal 

2 Regulations. 

3 ‘‘(iii) APPLICABLE PAYMENT.—The 

4 term ‘applicable payment’ means any pay5 ment of credit or refund by reason of sec6 tion 6428 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986 (as so added) or by reason of sub8 section (c) of this section. 

9 ‘‘(iv) GARNISHMENT.—The term ‘gar10 nishment’ means execution, levy, attach11 ment, garnishment, or other legal process. 

12 ‘‘(v) GARNISHMENT ORDER.—The 

13 term ‘garnishment order’ means a writ, 

14 order, notice, summons, judgment, levy, or 

15 similar written instruction issued by a 

16 court, a State or State agency, a munici17 pality or municipal corporation, or a State 

18 child support enforcement agency, includ19 ing a lien arising by operation of law for 

20 overdue child support or an order to freeze 

21 the assets in an account, to effect a gar22 nishment against a debtor. 

23 ‘‘(vi) LOOKBACK PERIOD.—The term 

24 ‘lookback period’ means the two month pe25 riod that begins on the date preceding the 


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1 date of account review and ends on the 

2 corresponding date of the month two 

3 months earlier, or on the last date of the 

4 month two months earlier if the cor5 responding date does not exist.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act. 

9 TITLE VII—EFFECTIVE DATE 

10 SEC. 701. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

12 this Act, the amendments made by this Act shall take ef13 fect on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply 

14 to payments under parts A and D of title IV of the Social 

15 Security Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after 

16 such date, and without regard to whether regulations to 

17 implement the amendments (in the case of State programs 

18 operated under such part D) are promulgated by such 

19 date. 

20 (b) EXCEPTION FOR STATE PLANS REQUIRING

21 STATE LAW AMENDMENTS.—In the case of a State plan 

22 under part A or D of title IV of the Social Security Act 

23 which the Secretary determines requires State legislation 

24 in order for the plan to meet the additional requirements 

25 imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the effecVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4844.IS S4844

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1 tive date of the amendments imposing the additional re2 quirements shall be 3 months after the first day of the 

3 first calendar quarter beginning after the close of the first 

4 regular session of the State legislature that begins after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of 

6 the preceding sentence, in the case of a State that has 

7 a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session shall 

8 be considered to be a separate regular session of the State 

9 legislature. 

Æ 


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