Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 016 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Division 20 - Division of County Operations › Rule 016.20.99-009 - MS 99-5: Office of Child Support Enforcement Referrals

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
1205.7
Canceled
			 Visits
If a medical visit is canceled after a recipient arrives
				at a medical facility, the county may authorize for the recipient to go to a
				rescheduled visit.
If a recipient cancels a visit after transportation funds
				have been issued and uses the money for something else, funds should not be
				issued to this recipient until after the next medical visit is authorized
				(i.e., postauthorize and postissue funds for the rescheduled visit). The first
				issuance which was not utilized for transportation should be treated as an
				overpayment.
1205.8
Authorizing County
County offices may authorize transportation to recipients
				who live in adjoining counties if the issuing county is more convenient for the
				client due to distance.
1205.9
Replenishing
			 Funds
Additional bank funds may be requested by memorandum to
				the Administrator, Accounting Section, Division of Administrative Services, P.
				0. Box 1437, Slot 3205, Little Rock, AR 72203.
1205.10
Preferential
			 Treatment
When bank funds are near depletion and there is knowledge
				that it will take several days to replenish them, existing funds cannot be
				reserved for individual clients. Funds will be dispersed on a first come, first
				serve basis.
1300
GENERAL INFORMATION
1310
Child Support
			 Enforcement Services
Public Law 100-203, OBRA of 1987, mandates that the
				Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) provide services to all
				Medicaid-only persons/families who have assigned to the State their rights to
				medical support. Each applicant or recipient must cooperate with OCSE in
				establishing legal paternity and obtaining medical support for each child who
				has a parent absent from the home.
OCSE roust provide all appropriate services to
				Medicaid-only applicants/recipients without the OCSE application or fee. The
				OCSE agency is required to petition for medical support when health insurance
				is available to the absent parent at a reasonable cost. OCSE will also collect
				child support payments from the absent parent unless OCSE is notified by the
				recipient in writing that this service 1s not needed. Child support payments
				collected on behalf of Medicaid-only families are received and distributed to
				the custodial parent through the Central Office Child Support Clearinghouse.
				However, no recovery cost will be collected.
1.
Referrals
OCSE referrals will be made at each new certification
				for:
all Medicaid eligible children under the age of 18 who
				have one or both parents absent from the home, and
all Medicaid eligible children under the age of 18 who
				were born out of wedlock, including situations where both parents are living in
				the home. The father will be referred for the establishment of paternity
				only.
Act 1091 of 1995 amended by Act 1296 of 1997 requires
				that both parents sign an affidavit acknowledging paternity or obtain a court
				order before the father's name will be added to the birth
				certificate.
Note
: If the father's name is
				included on the birth certificate of a child born 4/10/95 or later, paternity
				has already been established. As paternity establishment is the only service
				the Office of Child Support Enforcement can offer to a family when both parents
				are in the home, there is no need to make a referral in these
				instances.
EXCEPTION: SOBRA pregnant women will not be required to
				cooperate with the OCSE on Medicaid certified children, until after their
				postpartum period has ended. A woman who is eligible for Family Planning Waiver
				services only is not required to cooperate with OCSE.
A parent is considered to be absent for Medicaid purposes
				when the absence is due to divorce, separation, incarceration,
				institutionalization, participation in a Rehabilitation Service Program away
				from home, or military service, regardless of support, maintenance, physical
				care, guidance, or frequency of contact.
When a referral for Newborn Coverage (Categories 52 and
				63) is received by the county, the worker will determine if there is an absent
				parent and obtain enough information to complete the DC0-115. Certification of
				the newborn in the 20-day period allowed for certification will not be delayed
				due to lack of absent parent information or due to non-cooperation by the
				newborn's mother.
Both parents of a Medicaid eligible child voluntarily
				placed in an institution or court ordered to an institution will be referred to
				the OCSE, whether or not the parent(s) were absent at the time the child was
				removed from the home.
Absent parents of all foster children will be referred to
				OCSE by the Division of Children and Family Services Eligibility
				Specialist.
2.
Guidelines
The guidelines found in FA 2245 through 2249.2 will be
				used as the guidelines for the Medicaid OCSE referrals, including the "good
				cause" policy.
The County Office Worker will explain the assignment of
				Medical Support on page four of the DCO-95 and will explain the OCSE
				requirements at each new application interview.
The form DCO-115, Absent Parent Information, will be
				completed for entry to WAPU (Absent Parent Information Screen) for each
				Medicaid eligible chiId who has an absent parent or when 1 egal paternity must
				be established. Upon receipt of the referral, OCSE will initiate steps to
				contact the custodial and noncustodial parents.
A DCO-90, Notice Concerning Good Cause For Refusal to
				Cooperate, will also be completed at each application interview.
Forms DCO-116, Client Statement Regarding Absent Parent,
				and DCO-117, Absent Parent Statement, need not be completed for Medicaid-only
				cases, with the exception of AFDC related Medicaid cases where deprivation is
				an eligibility requirement.
When Medicaid eligibility has ended, OCSE will notify the
				custodial parent that support services will continue. The custodial parent must
				advise OCSE in writing if they do not want these services to
				continue.
3.
Refusal to Cooperate-Sanction
The County Office will be notified via form OCSE-1650
				when an individual fails to cooperate with the OCSE in establishing paternity
				and medical support. Cooperation in establishing child support payments is not
				a requirement for Medicaid-only cases.
For Medicaid, a child's benefits cannot be denied or
				terminated due to the refusal of a parent or another legally responsible person
				to assign rights or cooperate with OCSE in establishing paternity or obtaining
				medical support.
In family Medicaid categories, the needs of an adult
				relative who refuses to cooperate with OCSE will continue to be included in the
				need standard along with the child, but Medicaid for this individual will end
				after the appropriate notice period has expired. The status of the individual
				will be "C" with an "M" in both the Budget Indicator and TEMO fields. It is not
				necessary to obtain a protective payee for the child when the adult relative
				has refused to cooperate.
* As the needs of an adult relative are never included in
				the need standard with an eligible child in Aid to the Blind or Disabled
				Medicaid categories, the failure of an adult relative to cooperate with OCSE
				will have no effect on the child's Medicaid
				eligibility.