Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 28, 1995 / Presidential Documents 11013

Executive Order 12953 of February 27, 1995

Actions Required of all Executive Agencies To Facilitate Payment of

Child Support

Children need and deserve the emotional and financial support of both

their parents.

The Federal Government requires States and, through them, public and

private employers to take actions necessary to ensure that monies in payment

of child support obligations are withheld and transferred to the child’s

caretaker in an efficient and expeditious manner.

The Federal Government, through its civilian employees and Uniformed

Services members, is the Nation’s largest single employer and as such should

set an example of leadership and encouragement in ensuring that all children

are properly supported.

NOW, THEREFORE, by the authority vested in me as President by the

Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section

301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:

PART I—PURPOSE

Section 101. This executive order: (a) Establishes the executive branch of

the Federal Government, through its civilian employees and Uniformed Services members, as a model employer in promoting and facilitating the establishment and enforcement of child support.

(b) Requires all Federal agencies, including the Uniformed Services, to

cooperate fully in efforts to establish paternity and child support orders

and to enforce the collection of child and medical support in all situations

where such actions may be required.

(c) Requires each Federal agency, including the Uniformed Services, to

provide information to its employees and members about actions that they

should take and services that are available to ensure that their children

are provided the support to which they are legally entitled.

PART 2—DEFINITIONS

For purposes of this order:

Sec. 201. ‘‘Federal agency’’ means any authority as defined at 5 U.S.C.

105, including the Uniformed Services, as defined in section 202 of this

order.

Sec. 202. ‘‘Uniformed Services’’ means the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air

Force, Coast Guard, and the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health Service.

Sec. 203. ‘‘Child support enforcement’’ means any administrative or judicial

action by a court or administrative entity of a State necessary to establish

paternity or establish a child support order, including a medical support

order, and any actions necessary to enforce a child support or medical

support order. Child support actions may be brought under the civil or

criminal laws of a State and are not limited to actions brought on behalf

of the State or individual by State agencies providing services under title

IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.

Sec. 204. ‘‘State’’ means any of the fifty States, the District of Columbia,

the territories, the possessions, and the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico

and of the Mariana Islands.
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PART 3—IMMEDIATE ACTIONS TO ENSURE CHILDREN ARE SUPPORTED BY THEIR PARENTS

Sec. 301. Wage Withholding. (a) Within 60 days from the date of this

order, every Federal agency shall review its procedures for wage withholding

under 42 U.S.C. 659 and implementing regulations to ensure that it is

in full compliance with the requirements of that section, and shall endeavor,

to the extent feasible, to process wage withholding actions consistent with

the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 666(b).

(b) Beginning no later than July 1, 1995, the Director of the Office of

Personnel Management (OPM) shall publish annually in the Federal Register

the list of agents (and their addresses) designated to receive service of

withholding notices for Federal employees.

Sec. 302. Service of Legal Process. Every Federal agency shall assist in

the service of legal process in civil actions pursuant to orders of courts

of States to establish paternity and establish or enforce a support obligation

by making Federal employees and members of the Uniformed Services stationed outside the United States available for the service of process. Each

agency shall designate an official who shall be responsible for facilitating

a Federal employee’s or member’s availability for service of process, regardless of the location of the employee’s workplace or member’s duty station.

The OPM shall publish a list of these officials annually in the Federal

Register, beginning no later than July 1, 1995.

Sec. 303. Federal Parent Locator. Every Federal agency shall cooperate with

the Federal Parent Locator Service, established under 42 U.S.C. 653, by

providing complete, timely and accurate information that will assist in locating noncustodial parents and their employers.

Sec. 304. Crossmatch for Delinquent Obligors. (a) The master file of delinquent obligors that each State child support enforcement agency submits

to the Internal Revenue Service for Federal income tax refund offset purposes

shall be matched at least annually with the payroll or personnel files of

Federal agencies in order to determine if there are any Federal employees

with child support delinquencies. The list of matches shall be forwarded

to the appropriate State child support enforcement agency to determine,

in each instance, whether wage withholding or other enforcement actions

should be commenced. All matches will be performed in accordance with

5 U.S.C. 552a(o)-(u).

(b) All Federal agencies shall inform current and prospective employees

that crossmatches are routinely made between Federal personnel records

and State records on individuals who owe child support, and inform employees how to initiate voluntary wage withholding requests.

Sec. 305. Availability of Service. All Federal agencies shall advise current

and prospective employees of services authorized under title IV-D of the

Social Security Act that are available through the States. At a minimum,

information shall be provided annually to current employees through the

Employee Assistance Program, or similar programs, and to new employees

during routine orientation.

Sec. 306. Report on Actions Taken. Within 90 days of the date of this

order, all Federal agencies shall report to the Director of the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) on the actions they have taken to comply

with this order and any statutory, regulatory, and administrative barriers

that hinder them from complying with the requirements of part 3 of this

order.

PART 4—ADDITIONAL ACTIONS

Sec. 401. Additional Review for the Uniformed Services. (a) In addition

to the requirements outlined above, the Secretary of the Department of

Defense (DOD) will chair a task force, with participation by the Department

of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Commerce, and

the Department of Transportation, that shall conduct a full review of current

policies and practices within the Uniformed Services to ensure that children
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 28, 1995 / Presidential Documents 11015

of Uniformed Services personnel are provided financial and medical support

in the same manner and within the same time frames as is mandated

for all other children due such support. This review shall include, but

not be limited to, issues related to withholding non-custodial parents’ wages,

service of legal process, activities to locate parents and their income and

assets, release time to attend civil paternity and support proceedings, and

health insurance coverage under the Civilian Health and Medical Program

of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). All relevant existing statutes, including the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1940, the Uniformed Services

Former Spouses Protection Act, and the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility

Act of 1982, shall be reviewed and appropriate legislative modifications

shall be identified.

(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, DOD shall submit to OMB

a report based on this review. The report shall recommend additional policy,

regulatory and legislative changes that would improve and enhance the

Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring parental support for all children.

Sec. 402. Additional Federal Agency Actions. (a) OPM and HHS shall jointly

study and prepare recommendations concerning additional administrative,

regulatory, and legislative improvements in the policies and procedures

of Federal agencies affecting child support enforcement. Other agencies shall

be included in the development of recommendations for specific items as

appropriate. The recommendations shall address, among other things:

(i) any changes that would be needed to ensure that Federal employees

comply with child support orders that require them to provide health insurance coverage for their children;

(ii) changes needed to ensure that more accurate and up-to-date data

about civilian and uniformed personnel who are being sought in conjunction

with State paternity or child support actions can be obtained from Federal

agencies and their payroll and personnel records, to improve efforts to

locate noncustodial parents and their income and assets;

(iii) changes needed for selecting Federal agencies to test and evaluate

new approaches to the establishment and enforcement of child support

obligations;

(iv) proposals to improve service of process for civilian employees and

members of the Uniformed Services stationed outside the United States,

including the possibility of serving process by certified mail in establishment

and enforcement cases or of designating an agent for service of process

that would have the same effect and bind employees to the same extent

as actual service upon the employees;

(v) strategies to facilitate compliance with Federal and State child support

requirements by quasi-governmental agencies, advisory groups, and commissions; and

(vi) analysis of whether compliance with support orders should be a

factor used in defining suitability for Federal employment.

(b) The recommendations are due within 180 days of the date of this

order. The recommendations are to be submitted in writing to the Office

of Management and Budget.

Sec. 501. Internal Management. This order is intended only to improve

the internal management of the executive branch with regard to child support

enforcement and shall not be interpreted to create any right or benefit,

substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United

States, its officers, or any other person.

Sec. 502. Sovereignty of the United States Government. This order is intended

only to provide that the Federal Government has elected to require Federal

agencies to adhere to the same standards as are applicable to all other

employers in the Nation and shall not be interpreted as subjecting the

Federal Government to any State law or requirement. This order should

not be construed as a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the United
11016 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 28, 1995 / Presidential Documents

States Government or of any existing statutory or regulatory provisions,

including 42 U.S.C. 659, 662, and 665; 5 CFR Part 581; 42 CFR Part 21,

Subpart C; 32 CFR Part 54; and 32 CFR Part 81.

Sec. 503. Defense and Security.

This order is not intended to require any action that would compromise

[FR Doc. 95–5146

the defense or national security interest of the United States.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

February 27, 1995.

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Filed 2–27–95; 11:23 am]

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