2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 17b - Social Services › Chapter 319s - Financial Assistance › Section 17b-179. (Formerly Sec. 17-578). - Office of Child Support Services. Duties. Determination of parents' financial liability. Use of unemployment compensation for child support obligations. Recovery of costs. Fees. Electronic funds transfer and debit card access for support payments. Regulations. Annual report to General Assembly re child support enforcement program.

(a) There is created within the Department of Social Services the Office of Child Support Services. The office shall be administered by a director and shall act as the single and separate organizational unit to coordinate, plan and publish the state child support enforcement plan for the implementation of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, as amended, as required by federal law and regulations. The office shall provide for the development and implementation of all child support services, including the administration of withholding of earnings, in accordance with the provisions of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, as amended.
(b) (1) The Commissioner of Social Services shall investigate the financial condition of the parent or parents of: (A) Any child applying for or receiving assistance under (i) the temporary family assistance program pursuant to section 17b-112, which may be referred to as “TFA” for the purposes of this section, or (ii) the Medicaid program pursuant to section 17b-261, (B) any child seeking IV-D child support enforcement services pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (h) of this section, and (C) any child committed to the care of the Commissioner of Children and Families who is receiving payments in the foster care program and for whom a referral to the Office of Child Support Services is made under section 46b-130, and shall determine the financial liability of such parent or parents for the child.
(2) The Office of Child Support Services may, upon notice to the obligor and obligee, redirect payments for the support of all such children to either the state of Connecticut or the present custodial party, as their interests may appear, provided neither the obligor nor the obligee objects in writing within ten business days from the mailing date of such notice. Any such notice shall be sent by first class mail to the most recent address of such obligor and obligee, as recorded in the state case registry pursuant to section 46b-218, and a copy of such notice shall be filed with the court or family support magistrate if both the obligor and obligee fail to object to the redirected payments within ten business days from the mailing date of such notice. All payments shall be distributed as required by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.
(3) Notwithstanding subdivision (2) of this subsection or subparagraph (F) of subdivision (1) of subsection (u) of section 46b-231, the Office of Child Support Services or a support enforcement agency under cooperative agreement with the Office of Child Support Services shall redirect payments for the support of children described in subparagraphs (A)(i) and (C) of subdivision (1) of this subsection to the state of Connecticut effective on the date of the assistance grant. Upon such redirection, the Office of Child Support Services or support enforcement agency shall notify the obligor and obligee as described in subdivision (2) of this subsection if assistance is being received by a new custodial party on behalf of such child and, if an objection to redirection is received in accordance with said subdivision (2), shall refund to the obligee of the support order any money retained by the state during the period of redirection that is due such obligee.
(c) The Office of Child Support Services shall enter into cooperative agreements with appropriate officials of the Judicial Branch and law enforcement officials to assist in administering the child support enforcement plan and with respect to other matters of common concern in the area of child support enforcement. Officers of the Judicial Branch and law enforcement officials authorized and required to enter into cooperative agreements with the Office of Child Support Services include, but are not limited to, officials of the Superior Court and the office of the Attorney General. Such cooperative agreements shall contain performance standards to address the mandatory provisions of both state and federal laws and federal regulations concerning child support.
(d) The Office of Child Support Services shall have authority to determine on a periodic basis whether any individuals who owe child support obligations are receiving unemployment compensation. In IV-D cases, the office may authorize the collection of any such obligations owed by an individual receiving unemployment compensation through an agreement with the individual or a court order pursuant to section 52-362, under which a portion of the individual's unemployment compensation is withheld and forwarded to the state acting by and through the IV-D agency. As used in this section, “unemployment compensation” means any compensation payable under chapter 567, including amounts payable by the administrator of the unemployment compensation law pursuant to an agreement under any federal law providing for compensation, assistance or allowances with respect to unemployment.
(e) The Office of Child Support Services shall enter into purchase of service agreements with other state officials, departments and agencies which do not have judicial or law enforcement authority, including, but not limited to, the Commissioner of Administrative Services, to assist in administering the child support enforcement plan. The Office of Child Support Services shall have authority to enter into such agreements with the Labor Commissioner and to withhold unemployment compensation pursuant to subsection (d) of this section and section 31-227.
(f) The Office of Child Support Services shall have the sole responsibility to make referrals to the federal Parent Locator Service established pursuant to 88 Stat. 2353 (1975), 42 USC 653, as amended, for the purpose of locating deserting parents.
(g) The Office of Child Support Services shall have the sole responsibility to make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly for needed program legislation to ensure implementation of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, as amended.
(h) (1) The Office of Child Support Services shall provide, or arrange to provide through one or more of the state officials, departments and agencies, the same services for obtaining and enforcing child support orders in cases in which children are not beneficiaries of TFA, Medicaid or foster care as in cases where children are the beneficiaries of TFA, Medicaid or foster care. Such services shall also be made available to residents of other states on the same terms as to residents of this state. Support services in cases other than TFA, Medicaid or foster care will be provided upon application to the Office of Child Support Services by the person seeking to enforce a child support obligation and the payment of an application fee, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (i) of this section.
(2) In addition to the application fee, the Office of Child Support Services may assess costs incurred for the establishment, enforcement or modification of a support order in cases other than TFA, Medicaid or foster care. Such assessment shall be based on a fee schedule adopted by the Department of Social Services pursuant to chapter 54. The fee schedule to be charged in such cases shall be made available to any individual upon request. The Office of Child Support Services shall adopt procedures for the notification of Superior Court judges and family support magistrates when a fee has been assessed upon an obligee for support services and a Superior Court judge or a family support magistrate shall order the obligor to pay any such assessment to the Office of Child Support Services. In cases where such order is not entered, the obligee shall pay an amount based on a sliding scale not to exceed the obligee's ability to pay. The Department of Social Services shall adopt such sliding scale pursuant to chapter 54.
(3) The Office of Child Support Services shall also, in the case of an individual who never received temporary assistance for needy families and for whom the state has collected at least five hundred fifty dollars of support in a one-year period, impose an annual fee of thirty-five dollars for each case in which services are furnished. The annual fee shall be (A) retained by the state from the support collected on behalf of the individual, but not from the first five hundred fifty dollars collected, (B) paid by the individual applying for the services, (C) recovered from the noncustodial parent, or (D) paid by the state.
(i) In child support cases other than TFA, Medicaid or foster care, the state shall impose an application fee in an amount necessary to comply with federal law and regulations under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, which fee shall be paid by the state. The amount of such fee shall be established by regulations adopted, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, by the Commissioner of Social Services and shall not exceed twenty-five dollars or such higher or lower amount as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services may determine to be appropriate for any fiscal year to reflect increases or decreases in administrative costs. The court in which a child support obligation is sought to be enforced may order the obligor to reimburse the state for such application fee. Recipients of TFA, Medicaid or foster care whose eligibility for aid is terminated shall be entitled to continuation of child support enforcement services without requiring an application or the payment of an application fee.
(j) (1) The Commissioner of Social Services may accept for deposit in the General Fund all allotments of federal funds, and shall conform to federal requirements necessary for the receipt of federal matching grants that are not prohibited by the general statutes, including, but not limited to, distribution of collected support and operation of an automated centralized collection and disbursement unit, which shall be known as the “State Disbursement Unit”.
(2) The commissioner may implement electronic funds transfer for all support payments processed through the State Disbursement Unit. The commissioner may establish a debit account at a financial institution, as defined in section 469A(d)(1) of the Social Security Act, for any recipient of support payments whose support payments are processed through the State Disbursement Unit and who does not establish and designate an account for the receipt of such payments by electronic funds transfer. Deposits to such account shall be limited to such support payments and accessible solely by means of a debit card that may be used to make purchases at participating retail outlets and obtain cash at automated teller machines. Any fees incurred for the use of such debit card, other than fees prohibited by this subsection or by agreement between the commissioner and the financial institution implementing the debit account, shall be the sole responsibility of the recipient of support payments for whom such account was established.
(3) No debit card system authorized under subdivision (2) of this subsection shall be implemented, and no contract to implement such system may be entered into by the commissioner, unless such system or contract provides that the financial institution holding the debit account: (A) Imposes no charges to recipients of support payments for use of the debit card at (i) a point of sale terminal, or (ii) an automated teller machine, including an automated teller machine outside of the financial institution's network, for withdrawals from the account up to the maximum number of withdrawals specified in such contract; (B) assures the availability of a substantial number of in-network automated teller machines in all regions of the state in accordance with subparagraph (A) of this subdivision; (C) provides the recipient, without fee: (i) An adequate mechanism for promptly determining on and after the date a deposit is made that a deposit has been received and credited to the recipient's account, and (ii) account balance information by telephone or on the financial institution's Internet web site; (D) provides the recipient, without fee, regular written monthly account transaction statements which, at the recipient's option, may be received by mail or on the financial institution's Internet web site; (E) provides to recipient accounts the full protections of Regulation E of the Federal Reserve Board, 12 CFR Part 205, as from time to time amended; (F) to the extent that fees are permitted, prohibits the assessment of fees against recipients that are not assessed by the financial institution against other users of debit cards; and (G) provides customer service to recipients in languages other than English.
(4) The commissioner, or the financial institution if such contract so requires, shall provide the recipient with a notice at the initial issuance of the debit card and at least annually thereafter that conforms to the requirements specified in this subdivision and is limited to the type of debit card account authorized by subdivision (2) of this subsection. The notice shall be in plain language and in an easily readable and understandable format and shall identify (A) all service and penalty fees and their amounts; (B) the procedure for reporting and replacing a lost or stolen debit card and the allocation of liability for its unauthorized use; (C) the procedure for reporting account errors and the allocation of liability for such errors; (D) the procedure for obtaining funds when a debit card is lost or stolen; (E) the possibility, if any, of overdrafts; and (F) other similar consumer information.
(k) Investigators employed by the Department of Social Services shall, pursuant to authority granted to such investigators by the commissioner, make service of any summons, subpoena or citation in IV-D support cases in the Superior Court or in the Family Support Magistrate Division. Investigators at the time of service shall coordinate with the clerk of the Superior Court and the assistant clerk of the Family Support Magistrate Division in setting a date for appearance before the court. When serving process issued by such court, the date for such appearance before the court shall be not less than twelve days from the date of service.
(l) The Office of Child Support Services shall arrange to provide a single centralized automated system for the reporting of collections on all accounts established for the collection of all IV-D support orders. Such reporting shall be made available to the Family Support Magistrate Division and to all state agencies which have a cooperative agreement with the IV-D agency. Such automated system shall include a state case registry which complies with federal law and regulations. The state case registry shall contain information on each support order established or modified in this state.
(m) The Commissioner of Social Services shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, which shall establish performance standards to address the mandatory provisions of both state and federal laws and federal regulations concerning child support as well as establish additional standards that may be deemed necessary in order to enhance child support enforcement.
(n) Each year, on or before April first, the IV-D agency, in accordance with section 11-4a, shall submit to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary and human services an assessment report on the administration and performance of the child support enforcement program during the preceding federal fiscal year. Such report may be submitted in electronic form.
(P.A. 76-334, S. 1, 12; P.A. 77-452, S. 53, 72; 77-614, S. 70, 521, 610; P.A. 79-190; 79-374, S. 2; 79-439, S. 1, 2; P.A. 80-70, S. 1; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-6, S. 1, 4; P.A. 82-325, S. 4, 6, 7; 82-433, S. 1; P.A. 85-548, S. 2; P.A. 86-359, S. 25, 44; P.A. 88-34; P.A. 89-302, S. 2, 7; P.A. 90-213, S. 17, 56; P.A. 91-391, S. 2; P.A. 92-253, S. 8; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-2, S. 2, 6; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-6, S. 85, 117; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2; 93-262, S. 1, 87; 93-329, S. 4, 14; 93-396, S. 2; 93-435, S. 59, 95; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, S. 62, 165; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-7, S. 10, 38; P.A. 99-193, S. 5; P.A. 03-89, S. 2; P.A. 03-268, S. 6; P.A. 06-149, S. 2, 3; P.A. 07-247, S. 2; P.A. 11-214, S. 2–4; 11-219, S. 1; P.A. 14-177, S. 1; P.A. 16-13, S. 4, 5; P.A. 18-98, S. 1; P.A. 21-148, S. 10.)
History: P.A. 77-452 deleted reference to court of common pleas in Subsec. (b); P.A. 77-614 replaced commissioner of finance and control with commissioner of administrative services and, effective January 1, 1979, replaced commissioner and department of social services with commissioner and department of human resources; Sec. 17-2j transferred to Sec. 17-31i in 1979; P.A. 79-190 added new Subsec. re commissioner's investigation of parents' financial status and determination of their financial liability; P.A. 79-374 inserted new Subsec. re referrals to federal parent location service and deleted reference to deposit of federal funds in special identification account in Subsec. (a); P.A. 79-439 inserted new Subsec. re service agreements with other agencies, Subsecs. were presumably designated on basis of date of passage; P.A. 80-70 added Subsec. (b)(2) re children in care of children and youth services commissioner; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-6 added Subsecs. (g) and (h) re acceptance of federal funds and re collection fee; P.A. 82-325 deleted Subsec. (h) which had authorized the state to impose a collection fee upon the child and support obligation in non-AFDC cases in an amount necessary to comply with federal law and regulations; P.A. 82-433 added provisions re withholding of unemployment compensation to fulfill child support obligations in new Subsec. (d) and in Subsec. (e), formerly (d), relettering remaining Subsecs. accordingly and deleting references to human resources department as parent agency of child support enforcement unit; P.A. 85-548 amended Subsec. (a) by including administration of garnishment of earnings as function of the Connecticut child enforcement unit and inserted new Subsec. (h) re provision of child support enforcement services in non-AFDC cases by Connecticut child support enforcement unit, relettering former Subsec. (h) accordingly; P.A. 86-359 created bureau of child support enforcement within the department of human resources to be administered by a director, amended Subsec. (h) to provide for recovery of costs, in addition to application fee, in non-AFDC cases and added Subsecs. (j) and (k) re powers of investigators and provision of centralized automated system for reporting of collections on all accounts for IV-D support orders; P.A. 88-34 amended Subsec. (j) by changing date of appearance from not less than 14 days to 12 days from date of service; P.A. 89-302 amended Subsec. (a) by changing “garnishment” to “withholding”; P.A. 90-213 added provision in Subsec. (c) requiring cooperative agreements to contain performance standards, in Subsec. (d) provided the child support enforcement bureau with responsibility for IV-D cases and deleted the provision providing them with responsibility for non-aid-to-families-with-dependent-children cases, in Subsecs. (h) and (j) made technical changes, added a new Subsec. (l) allowing the commissioner of human services to adopt regulations establishing performance standards, added a new Subsec. (m) requiring the IV-D agency to submit a report detailing its activities as they relate to performance standards and a new Subsec. (n) requiring the legislative program review and investigations committee to review the components of the IV-D system; Sec. 17-31i transferred to Sec. 17-578 in 1991; P.A. 91-391 added new Subsec. (o) re review of support order in AFDC support case by Connecticut child support enforcement bureau and initiation of modification action before family support magistrate if substantial deviation from guidelines; P.A. 92-253 amended Subsec. (h) by changing “recover” to “assess”, adding provision that assessment shall be based on sliding fee schedule adopted by department of human resources, replacing “may order” with “shall order” and “reimburse the obligee for charges paid” with “pay such assessment”, and adding provision that where order is not entered, obligee shall pay amount based on sliding scale not to exceed obligor's ability to pay; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-2 added Subsec. (p) re late payment fees; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-6 amended Subsec. (h) to change reference to Subsec. (c) from (b) of Sec. 52-259; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-262 and 93-435 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department of human resources, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-329 deleted former Subsec. (p) re late payment fees, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 93-396 added a Subdiv. in Subsec. (b) requiring the commissioner to investigate the parent or parents of any child seeking IV-D child support enforcement services and added a provision giving the bureau of child support enforcement authority to redirect payments to the state of Connecticut in certain circumstances, inserted new Subsec. (i) requiring the state to impose an application fee in non-AFDC child support cases, relettering former Subsecs. (i) to (l) as (j) to (m), respectively, deleted former Subsecs. (m) and (n) re duties of program review and investigations committee and former Subsec. (o) concerning a request by a parent for the Connecticut child support enforcement bureau to review the support order and initiate an action before a family support magistrate to modify such order and inserted new Subsec. (n) requiring the IV-D agency to submit report to judiciary and human services committees of the general assembly, relettering former Subsec. (p) as (o); Sec. 17-578 transferred to Sec. 17b-179 in 1995; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2 required the commissioner to investigate the parents of any child applying for or receiving assistance under the temporary assistance for needy families program, replaced “AFDC” with “TANF”, effective July 1, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-7 amended Subsec. (h) by making services available to residents of other states, amended Subsec. (j) by including distribution of collected support and operation of automated centralized collection and disbursement unit and amended Subsec. (l) by adding provision re state case registry of orders and modification which complies with federal law to be included in automated system on or before October 1, 1998, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 99-193 amended Subsec. (j) by adding reference to the State Disbursement Unit; P.A. 03-89 amended Subsec. (h) by deleting “by such person” re payment of application fee for support services in non-TANF support cases and amended Subsec. (i) by requiring the state to pay application fee for support services in non-TANF support cases and providing that the court may order child support obligor to reimburse the state for application fee; P.A. 03-268 amended Subsec. (n) to redefine content of annual assessment report submitted by IV-D agency, change due date of report from January first to April first, add reference to Sec. 11-4a and add “federal” re preceding fiscal year; P.A. 06-149 amended Subsec. (b) to make technical changes, insert new Subdiv. designators (1) and (2) and substitute Subpara. designators (A) to (C), inclusive, for existing Subdiv. designators (1) to (3), inclusive, amended Subsec. (b)(2) to reference the present custodial party, objection by the obligor or obligee and notice to the obligor and obligee, and to require that all payments be distributed as required by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, and amended Subsec. (j) to designate existing provisions as Subdiv. (1) and make technical changes therein and add Subdivs. (2), (3) and (4) re electronic funds transfer, debit card systems and contracts with financial institutions, effective June 6, 2006; P.A. 07-247 amended Subsec. (h) by dividing existing provisions into Subdivs. (1) and (2) and adding Subdiv. (3) re annual fee of $25 for services provided to individual who never received temporary assistance for needy families and for whom the state has collected at least $500 of support in a one-year period; P.A. 11-214 amended Subsec. (b)(1) to delete “for needy families” re temporary family assistance program and substitute “TFA” for “TANF”, amended Subsecs. (c) to (h) and (l) to substitute “Bureau of Child Support Enforcement” for “Connecticut Child Support Enforcement Bureau”, amended Subsecs. (h) and (i) to reference “TFA, Medicaid or foster care”, amended Subsec. (n) to provide that report may be submitted in electronic form, and made technical and conforming changes; P.A. 11-219 amended Subsec. (b)(1) to delete references to Secs. 17b-81, 17b-807 and 17b-808, to substitute “TFA” for “TANF”, delete “for needy families” re temporary family assistance program, add reference to Sec. 17b-112 and add reference to the Medicaid program in Subpara.(A), to add reference to Subsec. (h)(1) in Subpara. (B) and to add provision re referral made under Sec. 46b-130 in Subpara. (C), and added Subsec. (b)(3) re redirection of payments, objections and refunds; P.A. 14-177 amended Subsec. (l) by adding provisions re Bureau of Child Support Enforcement to establish, maintain and update a list of delinquent child support obligors and publish on Department of Social Services' web site the names, addresses and amounts owing of the 100 individuals having the highest delinquent child support obligations, and by defining “delinquent child support obligor”; P.A. 16-13 changed “Bureau of Child Support Enforcement” to “Office of Child Support Services” in Subsecs. (a) to (h) and (l), and made conforming changes, effective May 6, 2016; P.A. 18-98 amended Subsec. (h)(3) by increasing annual fee from $25 to $35 and amount exempted from fee from $500 to $550, effective April 1, 2019; P.A. 21-148 amended Subsec. (l) by eliminating requirement the office keep and publish a list of delinquent obligors, effective July 1, 2021.