II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 642

To provide for demonstration projects in six States to establish or improve

a system of assured minimum child support payments, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 28 (legislative day, MARCH 27), 1995

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To provide for demonstration projects in six States to establish or improve a system of assured minimum child support payments, 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Support Assur5 ance Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the number of single-parent households has

9 increased significantly;
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1 (2) there is a high correlation between child2 hood poverty and growing up in a single-parent

3 household;

4 (3) family dissolution often brings the economic

5 consequence of a lower standard of living for the

6 custodian and children;

7 (4) children are nearly twice as likely to be in

8 poverty after a family dissolution as before a family

9 dissolution;

10 (5) one-fourth of the single mothers who are

11 owed child support receive none and another one12 fourth of such mothers receive only partial child sup13 port payments;

14 (6) single mothers above and below the poverty

15 line are equally likely to receive none of the child

16 support they are owed; and

17 (7) the failure of children to receive an ade18 quate level of child support limits the ability of such

19 children to thrive and to develop their potential and

20 leads to long-term societal costs in terms of health

21 care, welfare, and loss in labor force productivity.

22 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to enable

23 participating States to establish child support assurance

24 systems in order to improve the economic circumstances

25 of children who do not receive a minimum level of child
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1 support from the noncustodial parents of such children

2 and to strengthen the establishment and enforcement of

3 child support awards. The child support assurance ap4 proach is structured on a demonstration basis in order to

5 implement and evaluate different options with respect to

6 the provision of intensive support services and mechanisms

7 for administering the program on a national basis.

8 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ASSURANCE

9 DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to encourage States to

11 provide a guaranteed minimum level of child support for

12 every eligible child not receiving such support, the Sec13 retary of Health and Human Services (hereafter in this

14 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall make grants

15 to not more than 6 States to conduct demonstration

16 projects for the purpose of establishing or improving a sys17 tem of assured minimum child support payments in ac18 cordance with this section.

19 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—An application for

20 a grant under this section shall be submitted by the Chief

21 Executive Officer of a State and shall—

22 (1) contain a description of the proposed child

23 support assurance project to be established, imple24 mented, or improved using amounts provided under

25 this section, including the level of the assured bene-
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1 fit to be provided, the specific activities to be under2 taken, and the agencies that will be involved;

3 (2) specify whether the project will be carried

4 out throughout the State or in limited areas of the

5 State;

6 (3) estimate the number of children who will be

7 eligible for assured minimum child support payments

8 under the project, and the amounts to which they

9 will be entitled on average as individuals and in the

10 aggregate;

11 (4) describe the child support guidelines and re12 view procedures which are in use in the State and

13 any expected modifications;

14 (5) contain a commitment by the State to carry

15 out the project during a period of not less than 3

16 and not more than 5 consecutive fiscal years begin17 ning with fiscal year 1997;

18 (6) contain assurances that the State—

19 (A) is currently at or above the national

20 median paternity establishment percentage (as

21 defined in section 452(g)(2) of the Social Secu22 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 652(g)(2));

23 (B) will improve the performance of the

24 agency designated by the State to carry out the

25 requirements under part D of title IV of the
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1 Social Security Act by at least 4 percent each

2 year in which the State operates a child support

3 assurance project under this section in—

4 (i) the number of cases in which pa5 ternity is established when required;

6 (ii) the number of cases in which child

7 support orders are obtained; and

8 (iii) the number of cases with child

9 support orders in which collections are

10 made; and

11 (C) to the maximum extent possible under

12 current law, will use Federal, State, and local

13 job training assistance to assist individuals who

14 have been determined to be unable to meet such

15 individuals’ child support obligations;

16 (7) describe the extent to which multiple agen17 cies, including those responsible for administering

18 the Aid to Families With Dependent Children Pro19 gram under part A of title IV of the Social Security

20 Act and child support collection, enforcement, and

21 payment under part D of such title, will be involved

22 in the design and operation of the child support as23 surance project; and

24 (8) contain such other information as the Sec25 retary may require by regulation.
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1 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use amounts pro2 vided under a grant awarded under this section to carry

3 out a child support assurance project designed to provide

4 a minimum monthly child support benefit for each eligible

5 child in the State to the extent that such minimum child

6 support is not paid in a month by the noncustodial parent.

7 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A child support assurance

9 project funded under this section shall provide

10 that—

11 (A) any child (as defined in paragraph (2))

12 with a living noncustodial parent for whom a

13 child support order has been sought (as defined

14 in paragraph (3)) or obtained and any child

15 who meets ‘‘good cause’’ criteria for not seeking

16 or enforcing a support order is eligible for the

17 assured child support benefit;

18 (B) the assured child support benefit shall

19 be paid promptly to the custodial parent at

20 least once a month and shall be—

21 (i) an amount determined by the

22 State which is—

23 (I) not less than $1,500 per year

24 for the first child, $1,000 per year for

25 the second child, and $500 per year
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1 for the third and each subsequent

2 child; and

3 (II) not more than $3,000 per

4 year for the first child and $1,000 per

5 year for the second and each subse6 quent child;

7 (ii) offset and reduced to the extent

8 that the custodial parent receives child

9 support in a month from the noncustodial

10 parent;

11 (iii) indexed and adjusted for infla12 tion; and

13 (iv) in the case of a family of children

14 with multiple noncustodial parents, cal15 culated in the same manner as if all such

16 children were full siblings, but any child

17 support payment from a particular

18 noncustodial parent shall only be applied

19 against the assured child support benefit

20 for the child or children of that particular

21 noncustodial parent;

22 (C) for purposes of determining the need

23 of a child or relative and the level of assistance,

24 one-half of the amount received as a child sup25 port payment shall be disregarded from income
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1 until the total amount of child support and Aid

2 to Families With Dependent Children benefit

3 received under part A of title IV of the Social

4 Security Act equals the income official poverty

5 line (as defined by the Office of Management

6 and Budget, and revised annually in accordance

7 with section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget

8 Reconciliation Act of 1981) that is applicable to

9 a family of the size involved;

10 (D) in the event that the family as a whole

11 becomes ineligible for aid to families with de12 pendent children under part A of title IV of the

13 Social Security Act due to consideration of as14 sured child support benefits, the continuing eli15 gibility of the caretaker for aid to families with

16 dependent children under such title shall be cal17 culated without consideration of the assured

18 child support benefit; and

19 (E) in order to participate in the child sup20 port assurance project, the child’s caretaker

21 shall apply for services of the State’s child sup22 port enforcement program under part D of title

23 IV of the Social Security Act.

24 (2) DEFINITION OF CHILD.—For purposes of

25 this section, the term ‘‘child’’ means an individual
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1 who is of such an age, disability, or educational sta2 tus as to be eligible for child support as provided

3 for by the law of the State in which such individual

4 resides.

5 (3) DETERMINATION OF SEEKING A CHILD SUP6 PORT ORDER.—For purposes of this section, a child

7 support order shall be deemed to have been

8 ‘‘sought’’ where an individual has applied for serv9 ices from the State agency designated by the State

10 to carry out the requirements of part D of title IV

11 of the Social Security Act or has sought a child sup12 port order through representation by private or pub13 lic counsel or pro se.

14 (e) CONSIDERATION AND PRIORITY OF APPLICA15 TIONS.—

16 (1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall

17 consider all applications received from States desir18 ing to conduct demonstration projects under this

19 section and shall approve not more than 6 applica20 tions which appear likely to contribute significantly

21 to the achievement of the purpose of this section. In

22 selecting States to conduct demonstration projects

23 under this section, the Secretary shall—

24 (A) ensure that the applications selected

25 represent a diversity of minimum benefits dis-
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1 tributed throughout the range specified in sub2 section (d)(1)(B)(i);

3 (B) consider the geographic dispersion and

4 variation in population of the applicants;

5 (C) give priority to States with applica6 tions that demonstrate—

7 (i) significant recent improvements

8 in—

9 (I) establishing paternity and

10 child support awards;

11 (II) enforcement of child support

12 awards; and

13 (III) collection of child support

14 payments;

15 (ii) a record of effective automation;

16 and

17 (iii) that efforts will be made to link

18 child support systems with other service

19 delivery systems;

20 (D) ensure that the proposed projects will

21 be of a size sufficient to obtain a meaningful

22 measure of the effects of child support assur23 ance;

24 (E) give priority, first, to States intending

25 to operate a child support assurance project on
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1 a statewide basis, and, second, to States that

2 are committed to phasing in an expansion of

3 such project to the entire State, if interim eval4 uations suggest such expansion is warranted;

5 and

6 (F) ensure that, if feasible, the States se7 lected use a variety of approaches for child sup8 port guidelines.

9 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTEES.—Of the

10 States selected to participate in the demonstration

11 projects conducted under this section, the Secretary

12 shall require, if feasible—

13 (A) that at least 2 provide intensive inte14 grated social services for low-income partici15 pants in the child support assurance project, for

16 the purpose of assisting such participants in

17 improving their employment, housing, health,

18 and educational status; and

19 (B) that at least 2 have adopted the Uni20 form Interstate Family Support Act.

21 (f) DURATION.—During fiscal year 1996, the Sec22 retary shall develop criteria, select the States to partici23 pate in the demonstration, and plan for the evaluation re24 quired under subsection (h). The demonstration projects

25 conducted under this section shall commence on October
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1 1, 1996, and shall be conducted for not less than 3 and

2 not more than 5 consecutive fiscal years, except that the

3 Secretary may terminate a project before the end of such

4 period if the Secretary determines that the State conduct5 ing the project is not in substantial compliance with the

6 terms of the application approved by the Secretary under

7 this section.

8 (g) COST SAVINGS RECOVERY.—The Secretary shall

9 develop a methodology to identify any State cost savings

10 realized in connection with the implementation of a child

11 support assurance project conducted under this Act. Any

12 such savings realized as a result of the implementation

13 of a child support assurance project shall be utilized for

14 child support enforcement improvements or expansions

15 and improvements in the Aid to Families With Dependent

16 Children Program conducted under part A of title IV of

17 the Social Security Act within the participating State.

18 (h) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

19 (1) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall conduct

20 an evaluation of the effectiveness of the demonstra21 tion projects funded under this section. The evalua22 tion shall include an assessment of the effect of an

23 assured benefit on—

24 (A) income from nongovernment sources

25 and the number of hours worked;
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1 (B) the use and amount of government

2 supports;

3 (C) the ability to accumulate resources;

4 (D) the well-being of the children, includ5 ing educational attainment and school behavior;

6 and

7 (E) the State’s rates of establishing pater8 nity and support orders and of collecting sup9 port.

10 (2) REPORTS.—Three and five years after com11 mencement of the demonstration projects, the Sec12 retary shall submit an interim and final report based

13 on the evaluation to the Committee on Finance and

14 the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of

15 the Senate, and the Committee on Ways and Means

16 and the Committee on Economic and Educational

17 Opportunities of the House of Representatives con18 cerning the effectiveness of the child support assur19 ance projects funded under this section.

20 (i) STATE REPORTS.—The Secretary shall require

21 each State that conducts a demonstration project under

22 this section to annually report such information on the

23 project’s operation as the Secretary may require, except

24 that all such information shall be reported according to

25 a uniform format prescribed by the Secretary.
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1 (j) RESTRICTIONS ON MATCHING AND USE OF

2 FUNDS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State conducting a dem4 onstration project under this section shall be re5 quired—

6 (A) except as provided in paragraph (2), to

7 provide not less than 20 percent of the total

8 amounts expended in each calendar year of the

9 project to pay the costs associated with the

10 project funded under this section;

11 (B) to maintain its level of expenditures

12 for child support collection, enforcement, and

13 payment at the same level, or at a higher level,

14 than such expenditures were prior to such

15 State’s participation in a demonstration project

16 provided by this section; and

17 (C) to maintain the Aid to Families With

18 Dependent Children benefits provided under

19 part A of title IV of the Social Security Act at

20 the same level, or at a higher level, as the level

21 of such benefits on the date of the enactment

22 of this Act.

23 (2) EXCEPTION.—A State participating in a

24 demonstration project under this section may pro25 vide not less than 10 percent of the total amounts
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1 expended to pay the costs associated with the project

2 funded under this section in years after the first

3 year such project is conducted in a State if the State

4 meets the improvements specified in subsection

5 (b)(6)(B).

6 (k) COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN MEANS-TESTED

7 PROGRAMS.—For purposes of—

8 (1) the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42

9 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);

10 (2) title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42

11 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.);

12 (3) section 101 of the Housing and Urban De13 velopment Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s);

14 (4) sections 221(d)(3), 235, and 236 of the Na15 tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715l(d)(3), 1715z,

16 1715z–1);

17 (5) the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C.

18 2011 et seq.);

19 (6) title XIX of the Social Security Act (42

20 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); and

21 (7) child care assistance provided through—

22 (A) part A of title IV of the Social Secu23 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);

24 (B) the Child Care and Development Block

25 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); or
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1 (C) title XX of the Social Security Act (42

2 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.),

3 any payment made to an individual within the demonstra4 tion project area for child support up to the amount which

5 an assured child support benefit would provide shall not

6 be treated as income and shall not be taken into account

7 in determining resources for the month of its receipt and

8 the following month.

9 (l) TREATMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT BENEFIT.—Any

10 assured child support benefit received by an individual

11 under this Act shall be considered child support for pur12 poses of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

13 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

14 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

15 necessary in each of fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,

16 2000, and 2001 to carry out the purposes of this Act.

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