Washington Administrative Code › Title 388 - Social and Health Services, Department of › CHILD SUPPORT › Chapter 388-14A - Division of child support rules › Part A - GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT › Section 388-14A-1020 - What definitions apply to the rules regarding child support enforcement?

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
					 apply:
"Abatement"
means the temporary reduction of
					 child support obligations of an incarcerated person who is required to pay
					 support.
"Absence of a court order"
means that there is
					 no court order either setting a support obligation for the noncustodial parent
					 (NCP), or specifically relieving the NCP of a support obligation, for a
					 particular child.
"Absent parent"
is a term used for a
					 noncustodial parent.
"Accessible coverage"
means health care
					 coverage which provides primary care services to the children with reasonable
					 effort by the custodial parent.
"Accrued debt"
means past-due child support
					 which has not been paid.
"Acknowledged father"
means a man who has
					 established a father-child relationship by:
(1) Signing a valid acknowledgment of paternity under RCW
					  26.26.300 through 26.26.375 prior to January 1, 2019;
(2) Signing a valid acknowledgment of parentage under
					 RCW
					  26.26A.200 through
					 26.26A.265 on or after January 1, 2019; or
(3) Signing a valid acknowledgment of paternity or
					 parentage under another jurisdiction's laws.
"Acknowledged parent"
means an individual who,
					 after January 1, 2019, has established a parent-child relationship by signing a
					 valid acknowledgment of parentage under
					 RCW
					  26.26A.200 through
					 26.26A.265.
"Adjudicated parent"
means a person who has
					 been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to be the parent of a
					 child.
"Administrative order"
means a determination,
					 finding, decree or order for support issued under
					 RCW
					  74.20A.055,
					 74.20A.056,
					 or
					 74.20A.059 or by the agency of an Indian tribe or another state or country's agency under
					 an administrative process, establishing the existence of a support obligation
					 (including medical support) and ordering the payment of a set or determinable
					 amount of money for current support and/or a support debt. Administrative
					 orders include:
(1) An order entered under chapter 34.05 RCW;
(2) An agreed settlement or consent order entered under WAC
					 388-14A-3600;
					 and
(3) A support establishment notice which has become final
					 by operation of law.
"Agency"
means the Title IV-D provider of a
					 state or tribe, or the central authority of another country. For the state of
					 Washington, the Title IV-D provider is the division of child support (DCS)
					 within the department of social and health services (DSHS).
"Agreed settlement"
is an administrative order
					 that reflects the agreement of the noncustodial parent, the custodial parent
					 and the division of child support. An agreed settlement does not require the
					 approval of an administrative law judge.
"Aid"
or
"public assistance"
means cash assistance under the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF)
					 program, the aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) program, federally
					 funded or state-funded foster care, and includes day care benefits and medical
					 benefits provided to families as an alternative or supplement to TANF.
"Alternate recipient"
means a child of the
					 employee or retiree named within a support order as being entitled to coverage
					 under an employer's group health plan.
"Annual fee"
means the fee charged on
					 never-assistance cases based on the amount of collections between October 1 and
					 September 30 each year, required by the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
					 and
					 RCW
					  74.20.040.
"Applicant/custodian"
means a person who
					 applies for nonassistance support enforcement services on behalf of a child or
					 children residing in their household.
"Applicant/recipient," "applicant,"
and
"recipient"
means a person who receives public assistance on
					 behalf of a child or children residing in their household.
"Arrears"
means the debt amount owed for a
					 period of time before the current month.
"Assistance"
means cash assistance under the
					 state program funded under Title IV-A of the federal Social Security
					 Act.
"Assistance unit"
means a cash assistance unit
					 as defined in WAC
					 388-408-0005.
					 An assistance unit is the group of people who live together and whose income or
					 resources the department counts to decide eligibility for benefits and the
					 amount of benefits.
"Birth costs"
means medical expenses incurred
					 by the custodial parent or the state, tribe, or country for the birth of a
					 child.
"Cash medical support"
means a combination
					 of:
(1) A parent's monthly payment toward the premium paid for
					 coverage provided by a public entity or by another parent, which represents the
					 obligated parent's proportionate share of the premium paid, but this amount is
					 limited to no more than twenty-five percent of the obligated parent's basic
					 support obligation; and
(2) A parent's proportionate share of uninsured medical
					 expenses.
"Central authority"
means the agency designated by a
					 government to facilitate support enforcement with a foreign reciprocating
					 country (FRC) pursuant to section 459A of the federal Social Security Act.
"Child,"
for the purposes of this chapter, means:
(a) An individual for whom a child support obligation is
					 being established or enforced; or
(b) A dependent child as defined in
					 RCW
					  74.20A.020(3); and
(c) Unless the context or the facts of a particular case
					 clearly requires otherwise, "child" may be used interchangeably with the term
					 "children."
"Children,"
for the purpose of this chapter,
					 means more than one child, unless the context or the facts of a particular case
					 clearly requires the term to refer to only one child.
"Conditionally assigned arrears"
means those
					 temporarily assigned arrears remaining on a case after the period of public
					 assistance ends.
"Conference board"
means a method used by the
					 division of child support for resolving complaints regarding DCS cases and for
					 granting exceptional or extraordinary relief from debt.
"Consent order"
means a support order that
					 reflects the agreement of the noncustodial parent, the custodial parent and the
					 division of child support. A consent order requires the approval of an
					 administrative law judge.
"Controlling order"
means the only order
					 issued or, where multiple orders exist, the order determined by a tribunal to
					 control prospective current support pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Family
					 Support Act (UIFSA), chapter 26.21A RCW.
"Controlling order state"
means the state in
					 which the only order was issued or, where multiple orders exist, the state in
					 which the order determined by a tribunal to control prospective current support
					 pursuant to the UIFSA was issued.
"Country"
means a foreign country (or a
					 political subdivision thereof) declared to be a Foreign Reciprocating Country
					 (FRC) under
					 42 U.S.C.
					 659A and any foreign country (or political
					 subdivision thereof) with which the state has entered into a reciprocal
					 arrangement for the establishment and enforcement of support obligations to the
					 extent consistent with federal law pursuant to
					 42 U.S.C.
					 659A.
"Court order"
means a judgment, decree or
					 order of a Washington state superior court, or a court of comparable
					 jurisdiction of an Indian tribe or another state or country.
"Current support"
or
"current and future
					 support"
means the amount of child support which is owed for each
					 month.
"Custodial parent or CP"
means the person,
					 whether a parent or not, with whom a dependent child resides the majority of
					 the time period for which the division of child support seeks to establish or
					 enforce a support obligation.
"Date the state assumes responsibility for the
					 support of a dependent child on whose behalf support is sought"
means
					 the date that the TANF or AFDC program grant is effective. For purposes of this
					 chapter, the state remains responsible for the support of a dependent child
					 until public assistance terminates, or support enforcement services end,
					 whichever occurs later.
"Delinquency"
means failure to pay current
					 child support when due.
"Department"
means the Washington state
					 department of social and health services (DSHS).
"Dependent child"
means a person:
(1) Seventeen years of age or younger who is not
					 self-supporting, married, or a member of the United States armed forces;
(2) Eighteen years of age or older for whom a court order
					 requires support payments past age eighteen;
(3) Eighteen years of age or older, but under nineteen
					 years of age, for whom an administrative support order exists if the child is
					 participating full-time in a secondary school program or the same level of
					 vocational or technical training.
"Determination of parentage"
means the
					 establishment of the parent-child relationship by:
(1) A judicial proceeding;
(2) The signing of a valid acknowledgment of paternity
					 under:
(a) RCW  26.26.300 through 26.26.375 prior to January 1,
					 2019; or
(b) Another jurisdiction's laws dealing with the
					 acknowledgment or affidavit of paternity or the acknowledgment of parentage;
					 or
(3) The signing of a valid acknowledgment of parentage
					 under
					 RCW
					  26.26A.200 through
					 26.26A.265 on or after January 1, 2019.
"Differentiated support amount"
means an
					 amount of child support that represents a parent's support obligation for more
					 than one child and may justifiably be divided into "per child" amounts for each
					 child covered by the support order, based on information contained in the
					 support order.
"Differentiated support order"
means a child
					 support order which provides a monthly amount of child support for two or more
					 children, and either provides a specific support obligation for each child or
					 provides enough information in the order so that the monthly amount may
					 justifiably be divided into a "per child" amount for each child covered by the
					 support order.
"Disbursement"
means the amount of child
					 support distributed to a case that is paid to the family, state, other child
					 support enforcement agency in another state or foreign country, Indian tribe,
					 or person or entity making the payment.
"Disposable earnings"
means the amount of
					 earnings remaining after the deduction of amounts required by law to be
					 withheld.
"Distribution"
means how a collection is
					 allocated or split within a case or among multiple cases.
"Domestic partner"
means a state registered
					 domestic partner as defined in chapter 26.60 RCW.
"Earnings"
means compensation paid or payable
					 for personal service. Earnings include:
(1) Wages or salary;
(2) Commissions and bonuses;
(3) Periodic payments under pension plans, retirement
					 programs, and insurance policies of any type;
(4) Disability payments under Title 51 RCW;
(5) Unemployment compensation under
					 RCW
					  50.40.020,
					 50.40.050 and Title 74 RCW;
(6) Benefits under the family and medical leave insurance
					 program under Title 50A RCW;
(7) Gains from capital, labor, or a combination of the two;
					 and
(8) The fair value of nonmonetary compensation received in
					 exchange for personal services.
"Employee"
means a person to whom an employer
					 is paying, owes, or anticipates paying earnings in exchange for services
					 performed for the employer.
"Employer"
means any person or organization
					 having an employment relationship with any person. This includes:
(1) Partnerships and associations;
(2) Trusts and estates;
(3) Joint stock companies and insurance companies;
(4) Domestic and foreign corporations;
(5) The receiver or trustee in bankruptcy; and
(6) The trustee or legal representative of a deceased
					 person.
"Employment"
means personal services of
					 whatever nature, including service in interstate commerce, performed for
					 earnings or under any contract for personal services. Such a contract may be
					 written or oral, express or implied.
"Family"
means the person or persons on whose
					 behalf support is sought, which may include a custodial parent and one or more
					 children, or one or more children in foster care placement. The family is
					 sometimes called the assistance unit.
"Family arrears"
means the amount of past-due
					 support owed to the family, which has not been conditionally, temporarily or
					 permanently assigned to a state. Also called "nonassistance arrears."
"Family member"
means the caretaker relative,
					 the child or children, and any other person whose needs are considered in
					 determining eligibility for assistance.
"Foreign order"
means a court or
					 administrative order entered by a tribunal other than one in the state of
					 Washington, including an order entered by a tribunal in an Indian tribe or
					 another state or country.
"Foreign reciprocating country"
or FRC means a
					 country which the federal government has declared to be a foreign reciprocating
					 country, which means that the foreign country has established, or undertakes to
					 establish, procedures for the establishment and enforcement of duties of
					 support owed to custodial parents who are residents of the United States, and
					 that such procedures are substantially in conformity with the standards
					 prescribed under title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act.
"Foster care case"
means a case referred to
					 the Title IV-D agency by the Title IV-E agency, which is the department of
					 children, youth, and families (DCYF).
"Fraud,"
for the purposes of vacating an
					 agreed settlement or consent order, means:
(1) The representation of the existence or the nonexistence
					 of a fact;
(2) The representation's materiality;
(3) The representation's falsity;
(4) The speaker's knowledge that the representation is
					 false;
(5) The speaker's intent that the representation should be
					 acted on by the person to whom it is made;
(6) Ignorance of the falsity on the part of the person to
					 whom it is made;
(7) The latter's:
(a) Reliance on the truth of the representation;
(b) Right to rely on it; and
(c) Subsequent damage.
"Full support enforcement services"
means the
					 entire range of services available in a Title IV-D case.
"Good cause"
for the purposes of late hearing
					 requests and petitions to vacate orders on default means a substantial reason
					 or legal justification for delay, including but not limited to the grounds
					 listed in civil rule 60. The time periods used in civil rule 60 apply to good
					 cause determinations in this chapter.
"Head of household"
means the parent or
					 parents with whom the dependent child or children were residing at the time of
					 placement in foster care.
"Health care costs"
means medical expenses.
					 Certain statutes in chapter 26.19 RCW refer to medical expenses as health care
					 costs.
"Health care coverage"
means fee for service,
					 health maintenance organization, preferred provider organization, and other
					 types of private health insurance and public health care coverage under which
					 medical services could be provided to a dependent child or children. These
					 services include, but are not limited to: Medical/surgical (in-patient,
					 outpatient, physician) care, medical equipment (crutches, wheel chairs,
					 prosthesis, etc.), pharmacy products, optometric care, dental care, orthodontic
					 care, preventive care, mental health care, and physical therapy. The term
					 "health care coverage" includes, but is not limited to, health insurance
					 coverage.
"Health insurance"
or
"health insurance
					 coverage"
is included in the definition of "health care coverage."
					 Health insurance coverage includes any coverage under which medical services
					 are provided by an employer or a union whether that coverage is provided
					 through a self-insurance program, under the employee retirement income security
					 act of 1974, a commercial insurer pursuant to chapters 48.20 and 48.21 RCW, a
					 health care service contractor pursuant to chapter 48.44 RCW, or a health
					 maintenance organization pursuant to chapter 48.46 RCW, and the state through
					 chapter 41.05 RCW.
"Hearing"
means an adjudicative proceeding
					 authorized by this chapter, or chapters 26.23, 74.20 and 74.20A RCW, conducted
					 under chapter 388-02 WAC and chapter 34.05 RCW.
"I/me"
means the person asking the question
					 which appears as the title of a rule.
"Incarcerated person"
for purposes of
					 abatement means a person who is totally or partially confined in a jail,
					 prison, or correctional facility for at least six months or is serving a
					 sentence of at least six months in a jail, prison, or correctional
					 facility.
"Income"
includes:
(1) All gains in real or personal property;
(2) Net proceeds from the sale or exchange of real or
					 personal property;
(3) Earnings;
(4) Interest and dividends;
(5) Proceeds of insurance policies;
(6) Other periodic entitlement to money from any source;
					 and
(7) Any other property subject to withholding for support
					 under the laws of this state.
"Income withholding action"
includes all
					 withholding actions which DCS is authorized to take, and includes but is not
					 limited to the following actions:
(1) Asserting liens under
					 RCW
					  74.20A.060;
(2) Serving and enforcing liens under chapter 74.20A
					 RCW;
(3) Issuing orders to withhold and deliver under chapter
					 74.20A RCW;
(4) Issuing notices of payroll deduction under chapter
					 26.23 RCW; and
(5) Obtaining wage assignment orders under
					 RCW
					  26.18.080.
"Initiating agency"
or
"initiating jurisdiction"
means a state or Tribal IV-D agency
					 or the central authority of another country, as defined in this rule, in which
					 an individual has applied for or is receiving services.
"Intergovernmental IV-D case"
means a IV-D
					 case in which the noncustodial parent lives and/or works in a different
					 jurisdiction than the custodial parent and children that has been referred by
					 an initiating agency to a responding agency for services. An intergovernmental
					 IV-D case may include any combination of referrals between states, tribes, and
					 countries. An intergovernmental IV-D case also may include cases in which a
					 state agency is seeking only to collect support arrearages, whether owed to the
					 family or assigned to the state.
"Locate"
can mean efforts to obtain service of
					 a support establishment notice in the manner prescribed by WAC
					 388-14A-3105.
"Medical assistance"
means medical benefits
					 under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act provided to families as an
					 alternative or supplement to TANF. This term includes public health care
					 coverage, which is called apple health in Washington state.
"Medical expenses,"
for the purpose of
					 establishing support obligations under
					 RCW
					  26.09.105,
					 74.20A.055 and
					 74.20A.056,
					 or for the purpose of enforcement action under chapters 26.18, 26.23, 74.20 and
					 74.20A RCW, including the notice of support debt and the notice of support
					 owed, means medical costs incurred on behalf of a child, which include:
* Medical services related to an individual's general
					 health and well-being, including but not limited to, medical/surgical care,
					 preventive care, mental health care and physical therapy; and
* Prescribed medical equipment and prescribed pharmacy
					 products;
* Health care coverage, such as coverage under a health
					 insurance plan, including the cost of premiums for coverage of a child;
* Dental, orthodontic, and optometrical costs incurred on
					 behalf of a child; and
* Copayments and/or deductibles incurred on behalf of a
					 child. Medical expenses are sometimes also called health care costs or medical
					 costs.
"Medical support"
consists of:
(1) Health care coverage, which may be health insurance
					 coverage or public health care coverage; and
(2) Cash medical support, which consists of:
(a) A parent's monthly payment toward the premium paid for
					 coverage provided by a public entity or by another parent, which represents the
					 obligated parent's proportionate share of the premium paid, but no more than
					 twenty-five percent of the obligated parent's basic support obligation;
					 and
(b) A parent's proportionate share of uninsured medical
					 expenses.
"Monthly payment toward the premium"
means a
					 parent's contribution toward premiums paid for coverage provided by a public
					 entity or by another parent, which is based on the obligated parent's
					 proportionate share of the premium paid, but is limited to no more than
					 twenty-five percent of the obligated parent's basic support obligation.
"National Medical Support Notice"
or
"NMSN"
is a federally mandated form that DCS uses to enforce a
					 health insurance support obligation; the NMSN is a notice of enrollment as
					 described in
					 RCW
					  26.18.170.
"Noncustodial parent or NCP"
means the natural
					 or biological parent, adoptive parent, adjudicated parent, presumed parent,
					 responsible stepparent or person who signed and filed an affidavit
					 acknowledging paternity or parentage, from whom the state seeks support for a
					 dependent child. A parent is considered to be an NCP when for the majority of
					 the time during the period for which support is sought, the dependent child
					 resided somewhere other than with that parent.
"Nonmedical expenses"
means amounts incurred
					 on behalf of a child which are not medical expenses as defined in this chapter.
					 Nonmedical expenses include, but are not limited to, day care or other special
					 childrearing expenses such as tuition and long-distance transportation costs to
					 and from the parents for visitation purposes.
"Obligated parent"
means a parent who is
					 required under a child support order to provide medical support, which could
					 include health care coverage or to reimburse the other parent for his or her
					 share of uninsured medical expenses for a dependent child. The obligated parent
					 could be either the NCP or the CP.
"Other ordinary expense"
means an expense
					 incurred by a parent which:
(1) Directly benefits the dependent child; and
(2) Relates to the parent's residential time or visitation
					 with the child.
"Parent"
means an individual who has
					 established a parent-child relationship under:
(1) RCW  26.26.101 prior to January 1, 2019;
(2)
					 RCW
					  26.26A.100 on or after January 1, 2019;
					 or
(3) Under the laws of another jurisdiction.
"Parent-child relationship"
means the legal
					 relationship between a child and a parent of the child. The term includes the
					 mother-child relationship and the father-child relationship.
"Participant"
means an employee or retiree who
					 is eligible for coverage under an employer group health plan.
"Pass-through"
means the portion of a support
					 collection distributed to assigned support that the state pays to a family
					 currently receiving TANF.
"Past support"
means support arrears.
"Paternity testing"
means blood testing or
					 genetic tests of blood, tissue or bodily fluids. This is also called genetic
					 testing.
"Payment services only"
or
"PSO"
means a case on which the division of child support's activities are limited to
					 recording and distributing child support payments, and maintaining case
					 records. A PSO case is not a IV-D case.
"Permanently assigned arrears"
means those
					 arrears which the state may collect and retain up to the amount of unreimbursed
					 assistance.
"Physical custodian"
means custodial parent
					 (CP).
"Plan administrator"
means the person or
					 entity which performs those duties specified under
					 29
					 U.S.C. 1002(16)(A) for a
					 health plan. If no plan administrator is specifically so designated by the
					 plan's organizational documents, the plan's sponsor is the administrator of the
					 plan. Sometimes an employer acts as its own plan administrator.
"Premium"
means the amount paid for coverage
					 provided by a public entity or by another parent for a child covered by a child
					 support order. This term may also mean "cost of coverage."
"Presumed parent"
means a person who, by
					 operation of law under RCW  26.26.116, is recognized as the parent of a child
					 until that status is rebutted or confirmed in a judicial proceeding.
"Private insurance"
is a term used in this
					 chapter to refer to accessible health insurance for a child provided by a
					 parent without the need for service of a national medical support notice, and
					 does not include public health care coverage provided by the state.
"Proportionate share"
or
"proportional
					 share"
means an amount equal to a parent's percentage share of the
					 combined monthly net income of both parents as computed on the worksheets when
					 determining a parent's child support obligation under chapter 26.19 RCW.
"Public health care coverage,"
sometimes
					 called "state purchased health care," means state-financed or federally
					 financed medical coverage, whether or not there is an assignment of rights. For
					 children residing in Washington state, public health care coverage is called
					 apple health; this includes coverage through the department of social and
					 health services or the health care authority, except for coverage under chapter
					 41.05 RCW. For children residing outside of Washington, this includes coverage
					 through another state's agencies that administer state purchased health care
					 programs.
"Putative father"
includes all men who may
					 possibly be the father of the child or children on whose behalf the application
					 for assistance or support enforcement services is made.
"Reasonable efforts to locate"
means any of
					 the following actions performed by the division of child support:
(1) Mailing a support establishment notice to the
					 noncustodial parent in the manner described in WAC
					 388-14A-3105;
(2) Referral to a sheriff or other server of process, or to
					 a locate service or department employee for locate activities;
(3) Tracing activity such as:
(a) Checking local telephone directories and attempts by
					 telephone or mail to contact the custodial parent, relatives of the
					 noncustodial parent, past or present employers, or the post office;
(b) Contacting state agencies, unions, financial
					 institutions or fraternal organizations;
(c) Searching periodically for identification information
					 recorded by other state agencies, federal agencies, credit bureaus, or other
					 record-keeping agencies or entities; or
(d) Maintaining a case in the division of child support's
					 automated locate program, which is a continuous search process.
(4) Referral to the state or federal parent locator
					 service;
(5) Referral to the attorney general, prosecuting attorney,
					 the IV-D agency of another state, or the Department of the Treasury for
					 specific legal or collection action;
(6) Attempting to confirm the existence of and to obtain a
					 copy of a paternity acknowledgment; or
(7) Conducting other actions reasonably calculated to
					 produce information regarding the NCP's whereabouts.
"Required support obligation for the current
					 month"
means the amount set by a superior court order, tribal court
					 order, or administrative order for support which is due in the month in
					 question.
"Resident"
means a person physically present
					 in the state of Washington who intends to make their home in this state. A
					 temporary absence from the state does not destroy residency once it is
					 established.
"Residential care"
means foster care, either
					 state or federally funded.
"Residential parent"
means the custodial
					 parent (CP), or the person with whom the child resides that majority of the
					 time.
"Responding agency"
or
"responding
					 jurisdiction"
means the agency that is providing services in response to
					 a referral from an initiating agency in an intergovernmental IV-D case.
"Responsible parent"
is a term sometimes used
					 for a noncustodial parent.
"Responsible stepparent"
means a stepparent
					 who has established an in loco parentis relationship with the dependent
					 child.
"Retained support,"
depending on the context
					 in which it is used, can mean one of the following:
(1) An amount paid directly to the custodial parent by the
					 noncustodial parent during a time when there is an open TANF grant, which the
					 custodial parent does not immediately report or turn over to the
					 department;
(2) A debt owed to the division of child support by anyone
					 other than a noncustodial parent; or
(3) Amounts collected and retained by the division of child
					 support which are applied to current or past due child support obligations
					 which have been assigned to the state.
"Satisfaction of judgment"
means payment in
					 full of a court-ordered support obligation, or a determination that such an
					 obligation is no longer enforceable.
"Secretary"
means the secretary of the
					 department of social and health services or the secretary's designee.
"Self-support reserve"
or
"self support
					 reserve"
means an amount equal to one hundred twenty-five percent of the
					 federal poverty guideline for a one-person family.
"State"
means a state or political
					 subdivision, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of
					 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a federally recognized Indian tribe
					 or a foreign country.
"Superior court order"
means a judgment,
					 decree or order of a Washington state superior court, or of a court of
					 comparable jurisdiction in an Indian tribe or another state or country.
"Support debt"
means support which was due
					 under a support order but has not been paid. This includes:
(1) Delinquent support;
(2) A debt for the payment of expenses for the reasonable
					 or necessary care, support and maintenance including uninsured medical
					 expenses, birth costs, child care costs, and special child rearing expenses of
					 a dependent child or other person;
(3) A debt under
					 RCW
					  74.20A.100 or
					 74.20A.270;
					 or
(4) Accrued interest, fees, or penalties charged on a
					 support debt, and attorney's fees and other litigation costs awarded in an
					 action under Title IV-D to establish or enforce a support obligation.
"Support enforcement services"
means all
					 actions the Title IV-D agency is required to perform under Title IV-D of the
					 Social Security Act and state law.
"Support establishment notice"
means a notice
					 and finding of financial responsibility under WAC
					 388-14A-3115,
					 a notice and finding of parental responsibility under WAC
					 388-14A-3120,
					 or a notice and finding of medical responsibility under WAC
					 388-14A-3125.
"Support money"
means money paid to satisfy a
					 support obligation, whether it is called child support, spousal support,
					 alimony, maintenance, reimbursement for uninsured medical expenses, health care
					 coverage, or birth costs.
"Support obligation"
means the obligation to
					 provide for the necessary care, support and maintenance of a dependent child or
					 other person as required by law, including health care coverage, uninsured
					 medical expenses, birth costs, and child care or special child rearing
					 expenses.
"Support order"
means a court order,
					 administrative order or tribal court order which contains a determination,
					 finding, decree or order that sets a child support obligation (including
					 medical support) and orders either the payment of a set or determinable amount
					 of money for current support and/or a support debt, or the provision of medical
					 support, or both. For purposes of abatement under this chapter, a support order
					 includes the child support obligation and the obligations based on the terms of
					 the basic child support order, such as those determined by notices of support
					 owed.
"Temporarily assigned arrears"
means those
					 arrears which accrue prior to the family receiving assistance, for assistance
					 applications dated on or after October 1, 1997, but before October 1, 2008.
					 After the family terminates assistance, temporarily assigned arrears become
					 conditionally assigned arrears.
"Temporary assistance for needy families,"
or
					 "TANF" means cash assistance under the temporary assistance for needy families
					 (TANF) program under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act.
"Title IV-A"
means Title IV-A of the Social
					 Security Act established under Title XX of the Social Security amendments and
					 as incorporated in Title 42 U.S.C.
"Title IV-A agency"
means the part of the
					 department of social and health services which carries out the state's
					 responsibilities under the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF)
					 program (and the aid for dependent children (AFDC) program when it
					 existed).
"Title IV-D"
means Title IV-D of the Social
					 Security Act established under Title XX of the Social Security amendments and
					 as incorporated in Title 42 U.S.C.
"Title IV-D agency"
or
"IV-D
					 agency"
means the agency responsible for carrying out the Title IV-D
					 plan in a state or tribe. For the state of Washington, this is the division of
					 child support (DCS) within the department of social and health services
					 (DSHS).
"Title IV-D case"
is a case in which the
					 division of child support provides services which qualifies for funding under
					 the Title IV-D plan.
"Title IV-D plan"
means the plan established
					 under the conditions of Title IV-D and approved by the secretary, Department of
					 Health and Human Services.
"Title IV-E"
means Title IV-E of the Social
					 Security Act established under Title XX of the Social Security amendments and
					 as incorporated in Title 42 U.S.C.
"Title IV-E case"
means a foster care
					 case.
"Tribal TANF"
means a temporary assistance for
					 needy families (TANF) program run by a tribe.
"Tribunal"
means a state court, tribal court,
					 administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish,
					 enforce or modify support orders or to determine parentage, and includes such
					 courts, agencies or entities in other states or countries.
"Underlying order"
means an existing child
					 support order for which DCS serves a notice of support owed under
					 RCW
					  26.23.110 to determine a sum certain support
					 obligation.
"Undifferentiated support amount"
means an
					 amount of child support that represents a parent's support obligation for more
					 than one child which cannot justifiably be divided into "per child" amounts for
					 each child covered by the support order.
"Undifferentiated support order"
means a child
					 support order which provides a monthly amount of child support for two or more
					 children, but does not provide a specific support obligation for each child or
					 does not contain enough information in either the order or the worksheets
					 associated with the order to justify dividing the monthly amount into "per
					 child" amounts for each child covered by the support order.
"Uninsured medical expenses,"
for the purpose
					 of establishing or enforcing support obligations, means:
(1) Medical expenses not paid by insurance for medical,
					 dental, orthodontic, prescription, and optometrical costs incurred on behalf of
					 a child; and
(2) Premiums, copayments, or deductibles incurred on behalf
					 of a child.
"Unreimbursed assistance"
means the cumulative
					 amount of assistance which was paid to the family and which has not been
					 reimbursed by assigned support collections.
"Unreimbursed medical expenses"
means any
					 amounts paid by one parent for uninsured medical expenses, which that parent
					 claims the obligated parent owes under a child support order, which percentage
					 share is stated in the child support order itself, not just in the
					 worksheets.
"Washington State Support Registry"
or
"WSSR"
is the entity created under
					 RCW
					  26.23.030 within the division of child
					 support (DCS) which, among other duties, contains a central unit for the
					 collection, accounting and disbursement of support payments.
"We"
means the division of child support, part
					 of the department of social and health services of the state of
					 Washington.
"You"
means the reader of the rules, a member
					 of the public, or a recipient of support enforcement
					 services.
Statutory Authority:
						RCW
						 26.23.120,
						34.05.350(1)(b),
						43.20A.550,
						74.04.055,
						74.08.090,
						74.20.040(9),
						74.20A.310 and 45 C.F.R. Parts
						301.1, 302.36, 303.7, 303.11, 305.63, and 308.2. 13-01-075, §
						388-14A-1020, filed 12/18/12, effective 1/18/13. Statutory Authority:
						2011 c
						283,
						RCW
						 34.05.220,
						43.20A.550,
						74.04.055,
						74.04.057,
						74.08.090,
						74.20A.055,
						74.20A.056, and
						74.20A.310. 12-01-002, §
						388-14A-1020, filed 12/7/11, effective 1/7/12. Statutory Authority:
						RCW
						 26.09.105(17),
						26.18.170(19),
						26.23.050(8),
						26.23.110(14),
						34.05.020,
						34.05.060,
						34.05.220,
						74.08.090,
						74.20.040,
						74.20A.055(9),
						and 74.20A.056(11).
						11-12-006, § 388-14A-1020, filed 5/19/11, effective 6/19/11. Statutory
						Authority:
						RCW
						 26.18.170,
						26.23.035,
						26.23.050, [26.23.]110,
						74.20.040,74.20A.030, [74.20A.]055, [74.20A.]056, and 74.20A.310. 09-02-059,
						§ 388-14A-1020, filed 1/5/09, effective 1/27/09. Statutory Authority: 2007
						c 143, §§ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. 08-12-029, § 388-14A-1020,
						filed 5/29/08, effective 7/1/08. Statutory Authority:
						RCW
						 74.20A.310,  45 C.F.R. 302.31 and 302.33.
						06-03-120, § 388-14A-1020, filed 1/17/06, effective 2/17/06. Statutory
						Authority:
						RCW
						 34.05.220(1),
						74.08.090,
						74.20A.055,
						74.20A.056,
						74.20A.310. 05-14-101, §
						388-14A-1020, filed 6/30/05, effective 7/31/05. Statutory Authority:
						RCW
						 74.08.090,
						74.20A.310, and
						26.18.170,  42 U.S.C. 666(a)(19),
						Child Support Performance and Incentives Act of 1998,
						45 C.F.R.
						303.31, and
						45 C.F.R.
						303.32. 04-17-119, § 388-14A-1020, filed
						8/17/04, effective 9/17/04. Statutory Authority:
						RCW
						 74.08.090,
						26.23.035,
						34.05.220(1),
						74.20A.055,
						74.20A.056. 01-03-089, §
						388-14A-1020, filed 1/17/01, effective 2/17/01. Formerly WAC 388-11-011 and
						388-14-020.