II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1882

To expand child support enforcement through means other than programs

financed at Federal expense.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 8, 1999

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To expand child support enforcement through means other

than programs financed at Federal expense.

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 Enforce5 ment Options Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) nearly 28 percent of the Nation’s children

9 live in families headed by a single parent and these
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1 families are 5 times more likely to be poor than 2-

2 parent families;

3 (2) children make up 40 percent of the Nation’s

4 poor population and 1 out of every 5 children in the

5 Nation live in poverty;

6 (3) the regular and full collection of child sup7 port from an absent parent can make a significant

8 difference in the financial well-being of single-parent

9 families, particularly families which have left the

10 public welfare rolls;

11 (4) only 50 percent of the single-parent families

12 which are owed child support receive the full amount

13 due them during any year and 25 percent of such

14 families received none of the support due them;

15 (5) because of their need for effective child sup16 port enforcement millions of families have turned to

17 the Government child support program established

18 in 1975 under part D of title IV of the Social Secu19 rity Act (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘title IV–D

20 program’’) causing the caseload of that program to

21 increase over the past 20 years from just under

22 4,000,000 cases to well over 19,000,000;

23 (6) in fiscal year 1979 the collection rate in

24 title IV–D program cases was 17.1 percent and in

25 fiscal year 1996 the rate was 20.5 percent, rep-
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1 resenting only a 3.4 percent increase over a 17-year

2 period despite greatly improved enforcement re3 sources and remedies;

4 (7) in fiscal year 1996 the title IV–D program

5 collected nearly $12,000,000,000 in child support,

6 representing, only about 52 percent of all current

7 support owed in title IV–D program cases that year

8 and only about 8 percent of past-due support owed

9 that year, leaving $44,600,000,000 still uncollected

10 in title IV–D program cases in fiscal year 1996;

11 (8) in fiscal year 1996 the operation of the title

12 IV–D program cost the taxpayer $3,100,000,000, of

13 which $2,000,000,000 is Federal funding;

14 (9) in fiscal year 1996 there were about 52,000

15 staff employed in the title IV–D program who are

16 dedicated to their work but unable to keep up with

17 the enforcement needs of the millions of families

18 served by the program;

19 (10) millions of families needing child support

20 services turn to private attorneys and local govern21 ment agencies which not part of the title IV–D pro22 gram, but these attorneys and non-title IV–D public

23 agencies do not have access to all the enforcement

24 tools Congress has provided to the title IV–D pro25 gram;
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1 (11) to the extent that enforcement tools now

2 available to only the title IV–D program are not also

3 available to private attorneys and non-title IV–D

4 public agencies, such tools are being underutilized

5 and non-title IV–D entities are limited in their abil6 ity to contribute to the national child support en7 forcement effort; and

8 (12) if private attorneys and non-title IV–D

9 public agencies have access to the enforcement rem10 edies and information now available to only title IV–

11 D program agencies, they could significantly aug12 ment the resources of the title IV–D program with13 out using any Federal taxpayer dollars.

14 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to—

15 (1) allow resources outside the title IV–D pro16 gram to more effectively fight the growing problem

17 of nonsupport in this country, without any financial

18 cost to the Federal taxpayer, by providing private

19 attorneys and public non-title IV–D agencies con20 trolled access to certain enforcement tools now lim21 ited in use to the title IV–D program; and

22 (2) provide families seeking child support en23 forcement services the benefit of a choice in the use

24 of available resources, thereby enabling more Amer25 ican families to receive the child support which they
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1 are owed and need for their financial self-sufficiency

2 without being forced to turn to the already overbur3 dened, taxpayer-funded title IV–D program.

4 SEC. 3. EQUAL USE OF INCOME WITHHOLDING FOR UNEM5 PLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS.

6 (a) DISCLOSURE OF WAGE INFORMATION TO PER7 SONS OTHER THAN TITLE IV–D AGENCY.—Section

8 303(e)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 503(e)(1))

9 is amended—

10 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or to

11 any other individual or person enforcing child sup12 port obligations,’’ after ‘‘enforcement agency’’; and

13 (2) in the second sentence—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘only’’; and

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘and which are being en16 forced by an individual or person other than the

17 State or local child support enforcement agen18 cy’’ before the period.

19 (b) AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD IN THE CASE OF

20 NON-TITLE IV–D ENFORCEMENT.—Section 303(e)(2)(A)

21 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 503(e)(2)(A)) is

22 amended—

23 (1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and the identity

24 and location of the agency, individual, or person en-
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1 forcing the obligations, to the extent known’’ before

2 the comma;

3 (2) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, or the indi4 vidual or person,’’ after ‘‘agency’’;

5 (3) in clause (iii)(III), by striking ‘‘462(e)’’ and

6 inserting ‘‘459(i)(5)’’;

7 (4) in clause (iv), by inserting ‘‘or individual or

8 person disclosed under clause (i)’’ before the period;

9 and

10 (5) in the matter following clause (iv)—

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘or to the individual or

12 person disclosed under clause (i) through legal

13 process (as defined in section 459(i)(5))’’ after

14 ‘‘agency’’; and

15 (B) by striking ‘‘his’’ and inserting ‘‘the

16 individual’s’’.

17 (c) FEES.—Section 303(e)(2) of the Social Security

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 503(e)(2)) is amended by adding at the

19 end the following:

20 ‘‘(D) The State agency charged with the administra21 tion of the State law may require payment, not to exceed

22 $5.00 per calendar month, for the administrative costs in23 curred by the agency under this paragraph for any child

24 support obligations enforced pursuant to subparagraph

25 (A) which are attributable to child support obligations that
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1 are enforced by an individual or person other than a State

2 or local child support enforcement agency.’’.

3 SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE COORDINATION WITH OTHER EN4 FORCEMENT EFFORTS.

5 (a) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 452 of the Social

7 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 652) is amended by adding

8 at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(m) COORDINATION WITH OTHER ENFORCEMENT

10 ACTIVITIES.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek

12 and promote, to the extent consistent with this part,

13 the enforcement of child support obligations through

14 activities conducted by a private attorney or a public

15 entity not providing services pursuant to a State

16 plan under this part in order to ensure the fullest

17 practicable utilization of available enforcement re18 sources not requiring Federal financial support.

19 ‘‘(2) ACCESS TO ENFORCEMENT REMEDIES AND

20 RESOURCES.—The Secretary shall provide, to the

21 maximum extent feasible and for the sole purpose of

22 establishing paternity and establishing, modifying,

23 and enforcing support obligations, access to the fol24 lowing procedures, remedies, and information to a

25 State or local governmental enforcement agency not
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1 providing enforcement services under a plan ap2 proved under this part and to any private attorney

3 that is registered with the Secretary under this sec4 tion, and without the requirement of an application

5 for services pursuant to section 454(4)(A)(ii) and

6 subject to such reasonable fees as the Secretary may

7 prescribe:

8 ‘‘(A) The collection of past-due child sup9 port from Federal income tax refunds pursuant

10 to section 464, subject to such procedures gov11 erning the time, content, and form of requests

12 for such collection as are established by the

13 Secretary of the Treasury, and approved by the

14 Secretary.

15 ‘‘(B) The collection of overdue child sup16 port from State income tax refunds pursuant to

17 section 466(a)(3).

18 ‘‘(C) The denial, revocation, or limitation

19 of passports for overdue child support pursuant

20 to section 452(k).

21 ‘‘(D) The reporting to consumer credit bu22 reaus of noncustodial parents who are delin23 quent in the payment of child support and the

24 amount of overdue support pursuant to section

25 466(a)(7).
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1 ‘‘(E) Financial institution data matches

2 and the enforcement of past-due support pursu3 ant to section 466(a)(17).

4 ‘‘(F) In addition to all information author5 ized to be disclosed to an authorized person

6 under sections 453(a)(2) and 454(8), pertinent

7 case information, including information com8 parisons under section 453(j), maintained in

9 components of the Federal Parent Locator

10 Service under section 453 and information re11 ported by employers pursuant to section

12 453A(b), subject to section 6103 of the Internal

13 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to the confiden14 tiality of Federal income tax returns and return

15 information) and other Federal requirements

16 applicable to the confidentiality of information

17 and the protection of privacy rights, including

18 section 454(26) of this title.

19 ‘‘(3) REGISTRATION WITH THE SECRETARY OF

20 A PUBLIC ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OR A PRIVATE AT21 TORNEY.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this

23 subsection, the Secretary shall develop a form

24 and procedures, including the charging of a rea25 sonable fee, for the registration of a private at-
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1 torney or public child support enforcement

2 agency not providing services under this part.

3 The form established under this subparagraph

4 shall require—

5 ‘‘(i) the disclosure of the legal name

6 and address of the public agency or of the

7 law offices of the attorney or other entity

8 for which the attorney provides legal serv9 ices, that provides enforcement of child

10 support obligations;

11 ‘‘(ii) the length of time the public

12 agency or the attorney or the entity for

13 which the attorney provides legal services

14 in the enforcement of child support, has

15 provided such enforcement services;

16 ‘‘(iii) the nature of the child support

17 enforcement services provided by the public

18 agency or by the attorney or entity for

19 which the attorney provides legal services

20 in the enforcement of child support;

21 ‘‘(iv) the amount of fees and other

22 costs charged a client for such services and

23 a copy of the standard contract or other

24 agreement between the public agency or

25 the attorney or entity for which the attor-
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1 ney provides legal services in the enforce2 ment of child support and an individual re3 ceiving child support enforcement services

4 from the public agency or attorney; and

5 ‘‘(v) evidence of any bond or other as6 surance of client funds security.

7 ‘‘(B) REGISTRATION NUMBERS.—Upon re8 ceiving a completed and sworn registration form

9 under this paragraph, the Secretary shall assign

10 a registration number to the registering agency

11 or attorney. The Secretary shall provide reg12 istration information, including the assigned

13 registration number for a public agency or pri14 vate attorney, to each State agency operating

15 an enforcement program under an approved

16 plan under this part and, upon request and

17 payment of a reasonable fee, to any other entity

18 or individual.

19 ‘‘(C) UPDATE OF REGISTRATION INFORMA20 TION.—If the information provided on a reg21 istration form by a public agency or private at22 torney changes, the registered agency or attor23 ney shall notify the Secretary of the new or

24 amended information not later than 90 days
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1 after the date of such change, subject to the

2 revocation of the registration by the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(D) TERM OF REGISTRATION; RE4 NEWAL.—A registration under this paragraph

5 expires on the second anniversary of the date of

6 issuance of the registration and must be re7 newed not later than 60 days after such expira8 tion date by filing a new registration form with

9 the Secretary.

10 ‘‘(4) PENALTIES.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any

12 other penalties provided under Federal or State

13 law, with respect to any public agency or pri14 vate attorney registered with the Secretary

15 under this paragraph (3) that knowingly and

16 intentionally or with gross negligence uses, for

17 purposes other than establishing paternity, or

18 establishing, modifying, or enforcing child sup19 port obligations, any enforcement remedies or

20 information made available under this sub21 section to such agency or attorney, the Sec22 retary may impose either or both of the fol23 lowing penalties:

24 ‘‘(i) An administrative fine not to ex25 ceed $10,000.
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1 ‘‘(ii) The revocation of the agency’s or

2 the attorney’s registration under para3 graph (3), with appropriate notice to State

4 enforcement agencies providing services

5 under this part and, in the case of an at6 torney, to disciplinary bodies of the State

7 in which the attorney is licensed to prac8 tice law.

9 ‘‘(B) INVESTIGATION.—The Secretary

10 shall develop procedures for the investigation of

11 any allegation of inappropriate use of enforce12 ment remedies or information provided a public

13 entity or private attorney registered under

14 paragraph (3). If the Secretary determines that

15 an enforcement remedy or information provided

16 to a registered entity or attorney has knowingly

17 and intentionally or with gross negligence been

18 used for purposes other than those authorized

19 under this subsection, the Secretary may im20 pose 1 or both of the penalties described in sub21 paragraph (A). An entity or attorney against

22 whom an allegation has been brought shall be

23 afforded the opportunity to respond to such al24 legation and to produce any pertinent evidence

25 in defense.
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1 ‘‘(5) NONLIABILITY FOR STATE TITLE IV–D

2 PROGRAMS.—Notwithstanding any other provisions

3 of Federal or State law, any State program pro4 viding services under this part that, in accordance

5 with procedures developed by the Secretary, provides

6 information or enables the use of an enforcement

7 remedy to a public agency or private attorney reg8 istered under paragraph (3) shall not be liable under

9 any Federal or State law to any person.

10 ‘‘(6) REQUIRED REPORTS.—

11 ‘‘(A) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Each pub12 lic agency or private attorney registered with

13 the Secretary under paragraph (3) shall report

14 to the Secretary on an annual basis data relat15 ing to the use of enforcement remedies and in16 formation made available to the agency or at17 torney under this subsection, including the

18 number and type of enforcement actions taken,

19 the results of such actions, and the amounts of

20 any collections made and distributed.

21 ‘‘(B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Sec22 retary shall include the data provided by reg23 istered agencies and attorneys under subpara24 graph (A) in the annual report of the Secretary

25 under subsection (a)(10).
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1 ‘‘(7) MONITORING BY THE SECRETARY.—The

2 Secretary shall develop a procedure to monitor on a

3 regular basis the use of any enforcement procedures,

4 remedies, and information provided to a registered

5 entity or person under this subsection to ensure that

6 such procedures, remedies, and information are used

7 for the sole purpose of establishing paternity and es8 tablishing, modifying, and enforcing support obliga9 tions.

10 ‘‘(8) SAFEGUARDS ON USE OF INFORMATION

11 AND ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES.—An agency or

12 private attorney registered under paragraph (3)

13 shall have in effect safeguards on access to, and the

14 appropriate use of, any information or procedures

15 provided to the agency or attorney under this sub16 section. Such safeguards shall include written poli17 cies, controls on access to information available

18 through automated systems, and training of all per19 sonnel who may have access to the information or

20 procedures authorized for use by the registered

21 agency or private attorney.’’.

22 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF PROCEDURES.—The Sec23 retary, in consultation with representatives of public agen24 cies and the private bar eligible for registration under sec25 tion 452(m)(3) of the Social Security Act, as added by
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1 this Act, shall develop procedures for the implementation,

2 in a revenue neutral manner, of the provisions of this sec3 tion for the access of such registered agencies and individ4 uals to the enforcement remedies and resources identified

5 in this section. Not later than 9 months after the date

6 of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall report on

7 such procedures to the Committee on Ways and Means

8 of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on

9 Finance of the Senate.

10 (c) STATE OPTION.—In developing the procedures re11 quired under subsection (b), the Secretary shall provide

12 that, at the option of the State, a State program approved

13 under part D of title IV of the Social Security Act may

14 participate in a plan of cooperation under which the State

15 program enables a registered public agency or private at16 torney to have access to, and utilize the enforcement infor17 mation and remedies authorized under section 452(m), as

18 added by this Act. Any State program participating in a

19 plan of cooperation shall be entitled to such reasonable

20 fees from a registered agency or attorney as the Secretary

21 may determine to reimburse the State program for its par22 ticipation in the plan.

23 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

24 (a) CONTROL BY SECRETARY OF INFORMATION IN

25 FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE.—
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1 (1) Section 453(c)(1) of the Social Security Act

2 (42 U.S.C. 653(c)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and

3 any agent or attorney of any public child support

4 enforcement agency not providing services under a

5 plan approved under this part or of a private attor6 ney registered with the Secretary under section

7 452(m)(3)’’ before the semicolon.

8 (2) Section 453(j) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

9 653(j)) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘(6) RESTRICTIONS ON DISCLOSURE OF INFOR12 MATION COMPARISONS.—Except as provided in this

13 subsection and section 452(m)(2)(F), the Secretary

14 shall not disclose any information comparisons au15 thorized by this subsection.’’.

16 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON DISCLOSURE OF NEW HIRE

17 INFORMATION COMPARISONS.—Section 453A of the Social

18 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (f)(2), by striking ‘‘provide the

20 agency’’ and inserting ‘‘provide only the agency’’;

21 and

22 (2) in subsection (h)(1)—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘may disclose’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘may only disclose’’; and
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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘or, upon payment of a

2 reasonable fee not to exceed actual administra3 tive costs, to any person or entity authorized to

4 receive such information under section

5 452(m)(3)’’ before the period.

6 (c) COLLECTION OF PAST-DUE SUPPORT FROM TAX

7 REFUNDS TO DELINQUENT OBLIGORS.—

8 (1) OFF-SET.—Section 464(a) of the Social Se9 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 664(a)) is amended—

10 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)—

11 (i) in the first sentence—

12 (I) by inserting ‘‘ or from an en13 tity registered with the Secretary

14 under section 452(m)(3) regarding an

15 obligation for which such State agency

16 is not providing enforcement services’’

17 after ‘‘454(4)(A)(ii)’’; and

18 (II) by inserting ‘‘or such reg19 istered entity (as applicable)’’ after

20 ‘‘State agency’’; and

21 (ii) in the second sentence—

22 (I) by inserting ‘‘or to the reg23 istered entity for distribution’’ after

24 ‘‘State agency’’; and
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1 (II) by striking ‘‘State shall’’ and

2 inserting ‘‘State or registered entity

3 shall’’; and

4 (B) in paragraph (3)—

5 (i) in subparagraph (A)—

6 (I) by inserting ‘‘agency or an

7 entity registered under section

8 452(m)(3)’’ after ‘‘State’’; and

9 (II) by striking ‘‘the State’s de10 termination’’ and inserting ‘‘the deter11 mination of the State agency or the

12 registered entity’’;

13 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting

14 ‘‘agency or registered entity’’ after ‘‘State’’

15 each place it appears;

16 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by adding

17 at the end the following flush sentence:

18 ‘‘A registered entity shall directly reimburse the Sec19 retary of the Treasury the amount of such payment

20 upon receiving notice from the Secretary of such

21 payment.’’; and

22 (iv) in subparagraph (D), by inserting

23 ‘‘agency or registered entity’’ after ‘‘State’’

24 each place it appears.
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1 (2) NOTICES OF PAST-DUE SUPPORT.—Section

2 464(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 664(b))

3 is amended—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘agency’’ after ‘‘State’’

5 each place it appears;

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘agencies’’ after ‘‘States’’

7 each place it appears; and

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

9 ‘‘(3) In the case of withholding requests from

10 entities registered under section 452(m)(3), the Sec11 retary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Sec12 retary of Health and Human Services, shall develop

13 procedures for receiving such requests, including the

14 manner in which withholding requests must be sub15 mitted, the necessary information that must be in16 cluded in or accompany such requests, and the min17 imum amount of past-due support to which the off18 set procedures may be applied.’’.

19 (3) STATE INCOME TAX OFF-SET.—Section

20 466(a)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

21 666(a)(3)) is amended—

22 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph

23 (A)—
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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘or an entity reg2 istered under section 452(m)(3)’’ after

3 ‘‘agency’’; and

4 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or being enforced by

5 such entity’’ after ‘‘part’’; and

6 (B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or

7 the registered entity’’ after ‘‘agency’’ each place

8 it appears.

9 (d) REPORTING ARREARAGES TO CREDIT BU10 REAUS.—Section 466(7) of the Social Security Act (42

11 U.S.C. 666(7)) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing:

13 ‘‘(C) REPORTING BY STATE AGENCY OR

14 REGISTERED ENTITY.—The State agency ad15 ministering the State program under this part

16 or a child support enforcement entity registered

17 with the Secretary under section 452(m)(3)

18 may make a report under this paragraph, sub19 ject to safeguards under subparagraph (B).’’.

20 (e) USE OF PASSPORT SANCTIONS FOR FAILURE TO

21 PROVIDE SUPPORT.—Section 452(k) of the Social Secu22 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 652(k)) is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or by an en24 tity registered under section 452(m)(3)’’ after ‘‘sec25 tion 454(31)’’; and
22

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1 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or reg2 istered entity’’ after ‘‘agency’’.

3 (f) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DATA MATCHES FOR

4 SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.—Section 466(a)(17) of the So5 cial Security Act is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(E) REQUESTS OF REGISTERED ENTI8 TIES.—The State agency shall, upon payment

9 of a fee to cover actual administrative costs and

10 in accordance with such procedures as the Sec11 retary may establish, accept a request from an

12 agency or private attorney registered under sec13 tion 452(m)(3) for a data match under this sec14 tion with respect to a noncustodial parent sub15 ject to an order not being enforced under this

16 part. A State agency accepting a request from

17 such registered agency or attorney shall not be

18 liable under any Federal or State law to any

19 person as a result of incomplete or inaccurate

20 information provided by the registered entity

21 making the request.’’.

22 (g) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 454 of

23 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

24 (1) in paragraph (32), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

25 end;
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1 (2) in paragraph (33), by striking the period at

2 the end and inserting a semicolon; and

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (33) the fol4 lowing:

5 ‘‘(34) provide that the State agency cooperate

6 with a public agency or private attorney registered

7 with the Secretary under section 452(m) by pro8 viding to such agency or attorney upon request and

9 subject to the privacy protections of paragraph (26)

10 case information available to the State agency pur11 suant to its administrative authority under section

12 466(c)(1)(D) or otherwise available to the State

13 agency from the records of the State case registry

14 required under section 454A; and

15 ‘‘(35) provide that the State agency close a case

16 in which enforcement services are being provided by

17 an agency or attorney registered under section

18 453(m) upon notification by such registered agency

19 or attorney, except that the State agency may not

20 close a case in which support payments are collected

21 for an individual with respect to whom an assign22 ment under section 402(a)(26) of this title is effec23 tive.’’.

24 (h) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN

25 STATUTORILY PRESCRIBED PROCEDURES FOR CHILD
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1 SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.—Section 466(a) of the Social

2 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (4)(A), by inserting ‘‘without

4 regard to whether the support order is being en5 forced pursuant to this part’’ before the semicolon;

6 and

7 (2) in paragraph (16), by inserting ‘‘without re8 gard to whether services are being provided pursu9 ant to this part’’ after ‘‘appropriate cases’’.

10 SEC. 3. EXPEDITIOUS PAYMENT OF SUPPORT COLLEC11 TIONS.

12 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section

13 454(11)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

14 654(11)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘at the address (in15 cluding a financial institution for electronic transfer or di16 rect deposit of funds) and in care of the individual or enti17 ty last specified for receipt of such payment by any indi18 vidual legally able to so specify’’ before the semicolon.

19 (b) STATE LAW REQUIREMENTS.—Section 466(a) of

20 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)) is amended

21 by inserting after paragraph (19) the following:

22 ‘‘(20) PAYMENT OF SUPPORT COLLECTIONS.—

23 Procedures under which any payment of child sup24 port due a family which is received by an instrumen25 tality of or a political subdivision of the State, or by
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1 an entity acting under authority of such an instru2 mentality or political subdivision, shall be paid on

3 behalf of the individual entitled to such support at

4 the address (including a financial institution for

5 electronic transfer or direct deposit of funds) and in

6 care of the individual or entity last specified for re7 ceipt of such payment by any individual legally able

8 to so specify, without regard to whether the child

9 support obligation is being enforced under a State

10 plan approved under this part and without the ne11 cessity of obtaining an order from any judicial or ad12 ministrative tribunal.’’.

13 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 454B of

14 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 654B) is amended by

15 adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(e) REDIRECTION OF DISBURSEMENTS.—The State

17 disbursement unit shall redirect and forward any portion

18 of a support payment due a family to any address (includ19 ing a financial institution for the electronic transfer or di20 rect deposit of funds) and in care of any person or entity

21 last specified for receipt of such payment by any individual

22 legally able to so specify on behalf of the person entitled

23 to such support.’’.

Æ