Uniform Interstate Family Support
Act (UIFSA) Proposed Revisions
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Reauthorization
Medical Support
Effectiveness of Access and Visitation Grant Programs
| Issue:
|
Uniform Interstate Family Support Act
(UIFSA) Proposed Revisions
|
| Impact: |
Significant changes to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) are recommended by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL).
|
| Summary: |
The proposed amendments address issues of international reciprocity. For example, the definition of "state" is modified to include a foreign country that has been declared a reciprocating country under federal law or that has reciprocal agreements with individual states. The proposed amendments clarify that states may recognize foreign orders on the basis of comity, if otherwise permitted by state law or not forbidden by federal law. There is also a new provision permitting modification of a foreign support order when a jurisdiction of a foreign country has jurisdiction to modify the order under the standards of UIFSA, but declines to do so.
The proposed amendments also address issues related to modifications. The process for determining the controlling order is clarified. The state support enforcement agency is required to make reasonable efforts to ensure that the order for which registration is requested is the controlling order. The proposed amendments make it explicit that UIFSA does not confer jurisdiction over custody and visitation issues. If neither party lives in the state that issued the original order, the tribunal is required, upon request, to redirect support payments to the support enforcement agency where the obligee receives services.
|
| Position: |
No formal position
|
| References:
|
|
| Support
Materials:
|
Proposed Revisions to the Uniform Interstate Family Support
Act, NCSC Issue Brief, Vol. 2, No. 6, July 2001
|
top
Child Support
Enforcement
| Issue:
|
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) Reauthorization
|
| Impact: |
The reauthorization bill includes provisions to enhance child support enforcement options and funding for fatherhood programs.
|
| Summary: |
The House passed version of H.R. 4737, reauthorization legislation for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, includes several child support enforcement provisions as follows:
- Establishes a Healthy Marriage Promotion program that among other things would fund divorce reduction programs to teach relationship skills
- Establishes a Fatherhood program that among other things would fund divorce education, mediation, and programs designed to reduce domestic violence
- Reinstates mandatory 3-year reviews of TANF-related support orders for possible modification
- Mandates an annual mandatory $25 fee for IV-D child support collection services for families who have never received TANF
- Lowers the threshold for passport denial for past-due child support
- Permits tax intercept to be used to collect past-due child support on behalf of children who are no longer minors
- Permits the garnishment of Veterans benefits to enforce child support
- Permits the offset of Social Security benefits to enforce child support
|
| Position: |
No formal position
|
| References:
|
Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2002(H.R. 4737)
|
Support
Materials:
|
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Reauthorization, NCSC Issue Brief, Vol. 3, No. 5, July 2002
|
top
Child Support
Enforcement
| Issue:
|
Medical Support
|
| Impact: |
The Medical Child Support Working Group, as an independent body, provided recommendations to the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Labor for effective enforcement of medical support orders by State child support enforcement agencies. Some of the recommendations will impact judges.
|
| Summary: |
The Working Group's report contains 76 recommendations for improving medical support order enforcement and access to health care coverage for children eligible to receive child support enforcement services. There are a number of key recommendations that will have impact on state courts.
- States should adopt medical support guidelines that require decision makers to explore health care coverage available to both parents.
- Decision makers should use a "decision matrix" to decide which health care coverage is the most affordable, accessible, and comprehensive.
- Federal regulations defining "reasonable cost" should be replaced with a standard based on the cost of coverage relative to the income of the parent who provides the coverage.
- States should develop discovery mechanisms that require parents to disclose information about health care coverage to ensure the best available health care choice is ordered.
- The priority for allocating cash payments should be cash child support, then health care premiums/current medical support, then arrears, and then other obligations.
- State child support enforcement agencies should be prohibited from pursuing recoupment of pregnancy/birth-related Medicaid costs.
|
| Position: |
No formal position
|
| References:
|
"Twenty-One Million Children's Health: Our Shared
Responsibility", Medical Child Support Working Group Report, (2000)
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2000/reports/medrpt/.
|
Support
Materials:
|
Medical Support, NCSC Issue Brief, Vol. 3, No. 6, July 2002
|
top
Child Support
Enforcement
| Issue:
|
Effectiveness of Access and Visitation Grant Programs
|
| Impact: |
This recent federal audit report supports mediation programs as a means to increase access rights, visitation, and child support.
|
| Summary: |
The federal audit findings are as follows:
- The programs facilitated and increased access;
- Mediated agreements were reached in 76% of the cases.
- Access rights were increased through mutually agreed upon
visitation plans in 86% of the cases.
- Access rights were increased in 66% of the cases regardless of whether or not an agreement was reached in the mediation.
- Visitation increased;
- Of the parents surveyed, 42% who reported reaching an agreement also reported an increase in visits, 33% reported that the visits stayed the same, and 11% reported that the visits decreased.
- Child support payment compliance improved; and
- File reviews indicated that 61% of the non-custodial parents increased the percent of current child support they paid after mediation.
- A mediation program's success is related to its relationship with the referral source (courts or child support offices), its convenience to the clients, and its capacity to conduct outreach and follow-up.
|
| Position: |
No formal position
|
| References:
|
Effectiveness of Access and Visitation Grant Programs (October 2002) OEI-05-02-00300
|
Support
Materials:
|
No additional materials
|
top
|
