472
amount necessary to reimburse the State
for amounts paid to the family as assist-
ance by the State. The State shall pay to
the Federal Government the Federal share
of the amounts so retained. To the extent
the amount collected pursuant to section
464 exceeds the amount so retained, the
State shall distribute the excess to the
family.
‘‘(v) ORDERING RULES FOR DISTRIBU-
TIONS.—For purposes of this subpara-
graph, unless an earlier effective date is re-
quired by this section, effective October 1,
2000, the State shall treat any support ar-
rearages collected, except for amounts col-
lected pursuant to section 464, as accruing
in the following order:
‘‘(I) To the period after the fam-
ily ceased to receive assistance.
‘‘(II) To the period before the
family received assistance.
‘‘(III) To the period while the
family was receiving assistance.
‘‘(3) FAMILIES THAT NEVER RECEIVED ASSIST-
ANCE.—In the case of any other family, the State
473
shall distribute the amount so collected to the fam-
ily.
‘‘(4) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than Oc-
tober 1, 1998, the Secretary shall report to the Con-
gress the Secretary’s findings with respect to—
‘‘(A) whether the distribution of post-as-
sistance arrearages to families has been effec-
tive in moving people off of welfare and keeping
them off of welfare;
‘‘(B) whether early implementation of a
pre-assistance arrearage program by some
States has been effective in moving people off
of welfare and keeping them off of welfare;
‘‘(C) what the overall impact has been of
the amendments made by the Personal Respon-
sibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 with
respect to child support enforcement in moving
people off of welfare and keeping them off of
welfare; and
‘‘(D) based on the information and data
the Secretary has obtained, what changes, if
any, should be made in the policies related to
the distribution of child support arrearages.
‘‘(b) CONTINUATION OF ASSIGNMENTS.—Any rights
to support obligations, which were assigned to a State as
474
a condition of receiving assistance from the State under
part A and which were in effect on the day before the
date of the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Act of 1996, shall remain assigned
after such date.
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in subsection (a):
‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘assistance from
the State’ means—
‘‘(A) assistance under the State program
funded under part A or under the State plan
approved under part A of this title (as in effect
on the day before the date of the enactment of
the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor-
tunity Act of 1996); and
‘‘(B) foster care maintenance payments
under the State plan approved under part E of
this title.
‘‘(2) FEDERAL
SHARE.—The term ‘Federal
share’ means that portion of the amount collected
resulting from the application of the Federal medical
assistance percentage in effect for the fiscal year in
which the amount is collected.
‘‘(3) FEDERAL MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PERCENT-
AGE.—The term ‘Federal medical assistance per-
centage’ means—
475
‘‘(A) the Federal medical assistance per-
centage (as defined in section 1118), in the case
of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and
American Samoa; or
‘‘(B) the Federal medical assistance per-
centage (as defined in section 1905(b), as in ef-
fect on September 30, 1996) in the case of any
other State.
‘‘(4) STATE
SHARE.—The term ‘State share’
means 100 percent minus the Federal share.
‘‘(d) HOLD HARMLESS PROVISION.—If the amounts
collected which could be retained by the State in the fiscal
year (to the extent necessary to reimburse the State for
amounts paid to families as assistance by the State) are
less than the State share of the amounts collected in fiscal
year 1995 (determined in accordance with section 457 as
in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of
the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of
1996), the State share for the fiscal year shall be an
amount equal to the State share in fiscal year 1995.
‘‘(e) GAP PAYMENTS NOT SUBJECT TO DISTRIBU-
TION UNDER THIS SECTION.—At State option, this sec-
tion shall not apply to any amount collected on behalf of
a family as support by the State (and paid to the family
in addition to the amount of assistance otherwise payable
476
to the family) pursuant to a plan approved under this part
if such amount would have been paid to the family by the
State under section 402(a)(28), as in effect and applied
on the day before the date of the enactment of section
4302 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor-
tunity Act of 1996. For purposes of subsection (d), the
State share of such amount paid to the family shall be
considered amounts which could be retained by the State
if such payments were reported by the State as part of
the State share of amounts collected in fiscal year 1995.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 464(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 664(a)(1)) is
amended by striking ‘‘section 457(b)(4) or (d)(3)’’
and inserting ‘‘section 457’’.
(2) Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended—
(A) in paragraph (11)—
(i) by striking ‘‘(11)’’ and inserting
‘‘(11)(A)’’; and
(ii) by inserting after the semicolon
‘‘and’’; and
(B) by redesignating paragraph (12) as
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (11).
(c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendments made by this section
477
shall be effective on October 1, 1996, or earlier at
the State’s option.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The amend-
ments made by subsection (b)(2) shall become effec-
tive on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4303. PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS.
(a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454 (42
U.S.C. 654), as amended by section 4301(b) of this Act,
is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(24);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (25) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding after paragraph (25) the follow-
ing new paragraph:
‘‘(26) will have in effect safeguards, applicable
to all confidential information handled by the State
agency, that are designed to protect the privacy
rights of the parties, including—
‘‘(A) safeguards against unauthorized use
or disclosure of information relating to proceed-
ings or actions to establish paternity, or to es-
tablish or enforce support;
‘‘(B) prohibitions against the release of in-
formation on the whereabouts of 1 party to an-
479
‘‘(B) with a copy of any order establishing
or modifying a child support obligation, or (in
the case of a petition for modification) a notice
of determination that there should be no change
in the amount of the child support award, with-
in 14 days after issuance of such order or de-
termination;’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) shall become effective on October 1, 1997.
CHAPTER 2—LOCATE AND CASE
TRACKING
SEC. 4311. STATE CASE REGISTRY.
Section 454A, as added by section 4344(a)(2) of this
Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsections:
‘‘(e) STATE CASE REGISTRY.—
‘‘(1) CONTENTS.—The automated system re-
quired by this section shall include a registry (which
shall be known as the ‘State case registry’) that con-
tains records with respect to—
‘‘(A) each case in which services are being
provided by the State agency under the State
plan approved under this part; and
480
‘‘(B) each support order established or
modified in the State on or after October 1,
1998.
‘‘(2) LINKING
OF
LOCAL
REGISTRIES.—The
State case registry may be established by linking
local case registries of support orders through an
automated information network, subject to this sec-
tion.
‘‘(3) USE
OF
STANDARDIZED
DATA
ELE-
MENTS.—Such records shall use standardized data
elements for both parents (such as names, social se-
curity numbers and other uniform identification
numbers, dates of birth, and case identification
numbers), and contain such other information (such
as on case status) as the Secretary may require.
‘‘(4) PAYMENT RECORDS.—Each case record in
the State case registry with respect to which services
are being provided under the State plan approved
under this part and with respect to which a support
order has been established shall include a record
of—
‘‘(A) the amount of monthly (or other peri-
odic) support owed under the order, and other
amounts (including arrearages, interest or late
481
payment penalties, and fees) due or overdue
under the order;
‘‘(B) any amount described in subpara-
graph (A) that has been collected;
‘‘(C) the distribution of such collected
amounts;
‘‘(D) the birth date of any child for whom
the order requires the provision of support; and
‘‘(E) the amount of any lien imposed with
respect to the order pursuant to section
466(a)(4).
‘‘(5) UPDATING AND MONITORING.—The State
agency operating the automated system required by
this section shall promptly establish and update,
maintain, and regularly monitor, case records in the
State case registry with respect to which services are
being provided under the State plan approved under
this part, on the basis of—
‘‘(A) information on administrative actions
and administrative and judicial proceedings and
orders relating to paternity and support;
‘‘(B) information obtained from compari-
son with Federal, State, or local sources of in-
formation;
482
‘‘(C) information on support collections
and distributions; and
‘‘(D) any other relevant information.
‘‘(f) INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND OTHER DIS-
CLOSURES OF INFORMATION.—The State shall use the
automated system required by this section to extract infor-
mation from (at such times, and in such standardized for-
mat or formats, as may be required by the Secretary), to
share and compare information with, and to receive infor-
mation from, other data bases and information compari-
son services, in order to obtain (or provide) information
necessary to enable the State agency (or the Secretary or
other State or Federal agencies) to carry out this part,
subject to section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986. Such information comparison activities shall include
the following:
‘‘(1) FEDERAL CASE REGISTRY OF CHILD SUP-
PORT
ORDERS.—Furnishing to the Federal Case
Registry of Child Support Orders established under
section 453(h) (and update as necessary, with infor-
mation including notice of expiration of orders) the
minimum amount of information on child support
cases recorded in the State case registry that is nec-
essary to operate the registry (as specified by the
Secretary in regulations).
483
‘‘(2) FEDERAL
PARENT
LOCATOR
SERVICE.—
Exchanging information with the Federal Parent
Locator Service for the purposes specified in section
453.
‘‘(3) TEMPORARY
FAMILY
ASSISTANCE
AND
MEDICAID AGENCIES.—Exchanging information with
State agencies (of the State and of other States) ad-
ministering programs funded under part A, pro-
grams operated under a State plan approved under
title XIX, and other programs designated by the
Secretary, as necessary to perform State agency re-
sponsibilities under this part and under such pro-
grams.
‘‘(4) INTRASTATE AND INTERSTATE INFORMA-
TION COMPARISONS.—Exchanging information with
other agencies of the State, agencies of other States,
and interstate information networks, as necessary
and appropriate to carry out (or assist other States
to carry out) the purposes of this part.’’.
SEC. 4312. COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF SUPPORT
PAYMENTS.
(a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454 (42
U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections 4301(b) and 4303(a)
of this Act, is amended—
484
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(25);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (26) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding after paragraph (26) the follow-
ing new paragraph:
‘‘(27) provide that, on and after October 1,
1998, the State agency will—
‘‘(A) operate a State disbursement unit in
accordance with section 454B; and
‘‘(B) have sufficient State staff (consisting
of State employees) and (at State option) con-
tractors reporting directly to the State agency
to—
‘‘(i) monitor and enforce support col-
lections through the unit in cases being en-
forced by the State pursuant to section
454(4) (including carrying out the auto-
mated data processing responsibilities de-
scribed in section 454A(g)); and
‘‘(ii) take the actions described in sec-
tion 466(c)(1) in appropriate cases.’’.
(b) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
STATE
DISBURSEMENT
UNIT.—Part D of title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669), as