Child Support Improvement Act of 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Eligibility for Services; Distribution of Payments

Title II: Locate and Case Tracking

Title III: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures

Title IV: Paternity Establishment

Title V: Program Administration and Funding

Title VI: Establishment and Modification of Support Orders

Title VII: Enforcement of Support Orders

Title VIII: Medical Support

Title IX: Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Non-

Residential Parents

Title X: Effective Dates and Conforming Amendments

Child Support Improvement Act of 1996 - Title I: Eligibility for Services; Distribution of Payments - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require State plans for child and spousal support to provide: (1) certain services relating to paternity establishment or enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) continuation of services for families ceasing to receive assistance under Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

(Sec. 102) Revises payment distribution guidelines for support obligations collected by the State on behalf of a family.

(Sec. 103) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions; and (2) notification to services applicants or recipients of all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations.

Title II: Locate and Case Tracking - Mandates that single statewide automated data systems include a State case registry containing records of: (1) each case in which services are provided by the State agency; and (2) each support order established on or after a specified date. Permits the linking of local registries.

(Sec. 202) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments. Permits the unit to be established by linking local disbursement units through an automated information network if the Secretary agrees that it will not cost more or take more time to establish or operate than a centralized system.

(Sec. 203) Requires State plans to: (1) provide for a State-operated and automated State Directory of New Hires containing prescribed information furnished by employers on new personnel; and (2) transmit such information to the National Directory of New Hires.

(Sec. 204) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which wages of a person with a support obligation imposed by a child support order issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement.

(Sec. 205) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to ensure that Federal and State agencies conducting income-withholding activities have access to State locator systems for motor vehicle or law enforcement purposes.

(Sec. 206) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to provide for additional information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of: (1) establishing parentage; (2) establishing, setting the amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations; and (3) enforcing child custody or visitation orders.

Directs the HHS Secretary to establish in the Federal Parent Locator Service an automated Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders and an automated National Directory of New Hires.

Requires the Secretaries of Labor and of HHS to jointly develop cost-effective methods of accessing information in the various State directories of new hires and the National Directory of New Hires, taking into account impact and cost to the States, and the need to insure authorized use of wage record information.

(Sec. 207) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring recordation on such documents of the Social Security number of: (1) specified driver's, marriage, and occupational, and professional license applicants; (2) individuals subject to certain domestic relations orders; and (3) deceased persons (on death records).

Title III: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures - Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1998. Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the procedures for the court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders.

(Sec. 303) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring: (1) expedited administrative enforcement in interstate cases and support orders; and (2) expedited administrative and judicial procedures for establishing paternity and enforcing support obligations.

Title IV: Paternity Establishment - Revises the guidelines for State laws governing paternity establishment. Requires State procedures under which the name of the father shall be included on the birth certificate only: (1) if the mother and father have signed a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity; or (2) pursuant to a judicial or administrative order.

(Sec. 403) Requires State plans for child and spousal support to provide that the State agency administering the plan will make a determination as to whether a program recipient is cooperating in good faith with State efforts to establish paternity and secure support.

Title V: Program Administration and Funding - Directs the Secretary to develop a new incentive system to replace the current one. Revises the guidelines for Federal performance-based incentive payments to the States for effective child support enforcement programs.

(Sec. 502) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location.

(Sec. 504) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks.

(Sec. 505) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service.

Title VI: Establishment and Modification of Support Orders - Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders.

(Sec. 602) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to authorize a consumer agency to furnish a consumer report: (1) in response to a request by a governmental child support enforcement agency; or (2) to the State administrative agency which sets child support awards.

(Sec. 603) Shields a depository institution from Federal or State liability for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency. Prohibits such agency from disclosing such a financial record except for the purpose of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation. Sets forth civil penalties for knowing or negligent violation of such prohibition.

Title VII: Enforcement of Support Orders - Amends Internal Revenue Code procedural guidelines for the collection of arrearages to provide that no additional fee may be assessed for adjustments to a previously certified amount.

(Sec. 702) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of members of the armed forces.

(Sec. 704) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to have in effect the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act of 1981, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act of 1984, or a similar law, as well as certain procedures governing the voiding of fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor.

(Sec. 705) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include specified procedures to: (1) ensure that persons owing past-due support work or participate in work activities the court deems appropriate; (2) report to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (3) provide for liens against real and personal property for the support arrearages of an absent parent; and (4) implement the restriction of driver's, professional, occupational, and recreational licenses of individuals owing support arrearages.

(Sec. 710) Requires the Secretary of State to deny, revoke, or limit a passport upon certification of nonpayment of child support.

(Sec. 711) Authorizes the Secretary of State to negotiate reciprocal agreements with foreign nations: (1) regarding international enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) designating the Department of Health and Human Services as the central authority for such enforcement.

(Sec. 712) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which a State agency shall enter agreements with financial institutions doing business within the State to develop and operate a data match system to provide identifying information for each absent parent targeted by the State who maintains an account at the institution, and to encumber or surrender such parent's assets at the institution pursuant to a lien or levy.

(Sec. 713) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which child support orders relating to the child of minor parents, where the custodial parents are receiving assistance, are enforceable against the child's paternal or maternal grandparents.

(Sec. 714) Amends Federal bankruptcy law and the Social Security Act to declare a debt for child support nondischargeable in bankruptcy.

Title VIII: Medical Support - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to include within the definition of medical child support order an order issued through a State administrative process.

(Sec. 802) Amends part D of SSA title IV to mandate statutorily prescribed procedures under which all enforced child support orders shall include a provision for the health care coverage of the child.

Title IX: Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Non-Residential Parents - Amends part D of SSA title IV to prescribe guidelines under which the Administration for Children and Families shall make grants to enable States to establish and administer access and visitation programs to facilitate absent parents' access to their children.

Title X: Effective Dates and Conforming Amendments - Sets forth effective dates and conforming amendments.