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Child Support Enforcement Annual User Fee: In Brief

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Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee Carmen Solomon-Fears Specialist in Social Policy December 16, 2008 The House Ways and Means Committee is making available this version of this Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, with the cover date shown above, for inclusion in its 2011 Green Book website. CRS works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to Committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. Congressional Research ServiceNovember 6, 2012 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RS22753 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee Summary P.L. 109-171, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, required states to impose a $25 annual user fee for Child Support Enforcement (CSE) services provided to families with no connection to the welfare system. The user fee is to be assessed if the state CSE agency collects at least $500 in child support payments on behalf of the family in a given fiscal year. The law gives the states four options on how to obtain the user fee. According to aan August 2012 survey of the 54 jurisdictions with CSE programs, 2618 jurisdictions imposepay the user fee on the custodial parent, 20 jurisdictions pay the fee fee with state funds, 24 jurisdictions get the fee from the noncustodial parent, 1 jurisdiction charges half of the fee to the noncustodial parent and the other half to the custodial parent, and 3 jurisdictions retain the fee from the imposes the user fee directly on the custodial parent, and 31 jurisdictions impose the fee indirectly on the custodial parent by retaining the fee from the family’s child support payment (after $500 per year has been collected on behalf of the family); the other 2 jurisdictions did not respond to the survey or the issue is still unresolved. This report will be updated as new information becomes available. Congressional Research Service Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee Contents Background ................................................................................................................................1 New Annual CSE User Fee ...... 1 Annual CSE User Fee ...................................................................................................................... 2 Implementation of CSE User Fee .................................................................................................... 43 Tables Table 1. Method By Which $25 CSE Annual User Fee Is Imposed ................................................ 4 Contacts Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 6 4 Congressional Research Service Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee Background The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program was enacted in 1975 as a federal-state program (Title IV-D of the Social Security Act) to help strengthen families by securing financial support for children from their noncustodial parent on a consistent and continuing basis and by helping some families to remain self-sufficient and off public assistance by providing the requisite CSE services. The CSE program provides seven major services on behalf of children: (1) parent location, (2) paternity establishment, (3) establishment of child support orders, (4) review and modification of child support orders, (5) collection of child support payments, (6) distribution of child support payments, and (7) establishment and enforcement of medical child support. Collection methods used by state CSE agencies include income withholding, intercept of federal and state income tax refunds, intercept of unemployment compensation, liens against property, reporting child support obligations to credit bureaus, intercept of lottery winnings, sending insurance settlement information to CSE agencies, authority to withhold or suspend driver’s licenses, professional licenses, and recreational and sporting licenses of persons who owe past-due support, and authority to seize assets of debtor parents held by public or private retirement funds and financial institutions. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands operate CSE programs and are entitled to federal matching funds. The federal government and the states share CSE program costs at the rate of 66% and 34%, respectively. The CSE program serves both welfare and non-welfare families.1 Families receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) assistance (Title IV-A), foster care payments (Title IV-E), Medicaid coverage (Title XIX), or food stamp recipients who, at state option, are required by law to cooperate with the CSE agency, automatically qualify for CSE services free of charge. Other families must apply for CSE services, and states must charge an application fee that cannot exceed $25.2 1 In FY2007FY2011, of the nearly 15.8 million CSE cases, 13.6% (2.10 million) were in the TANF program, 45.7% (7.2 43% (6.8 million) had formerly been in the TANF program, and 40.8% (6.444% (7.0 million) had never been in the TANF program. 2 The CSE program enacted in 1975 (P.L. 93-647) at first permitted, and then in 1984 (P.L. 98-378) required, the CSE agency to charge a one-time application fee for families not on welfare. In 1975, the law required that the application fee be reasonable, as determined by federal regulations. In 1984, the law specified that the fee could not exceed $25. The CSE agency may charge this fee to the applicant (i.e., the custodial parent) or the noncustodial parent, or pay the fee out of state funds. In addition, a state may at its option recover costs in excess of the application fee. Such recovery of costs may be either from the custodial parent or the noncustodial parent. Although the application fee is mandatory, federal law allows the state to charge an amount that can range from 1 cent to $25. Many of the states that charge a $1 or less application fee do so to maximize non-TANF clients’ access to CSE services. Many state CSE officials view application fees as a barrier to clients who do not have the financial means to apply for services. They also claim that fees and other charges may discourage clients from seeking services, because the fee is paid regardless of whether any child support is collected on behalf of the family. Others view application fees for non-TANF families as a way to reduce CSE program costs. The legislative history of P.L. 98-378 (S. Rept. 98-387, p. 30-31; April 9, 1984) says: “The Committee believes that this minimal fee requirement represents a reasonable way to help defray some of the costs incurred in processing the application and in providing support enforcement services. This fee would still be significantly less costly to the non-AFDC applicant nethanthan the cost of pursuing support enforcement through a private attorney.” Congressional Research Service 1 Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee New Annual CSE User Fee P.L. 109-171 (Section 7310), the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (enacted February 8, 2006), required families that have never been on the TANF program to pay a $25 annual user fee when the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program collects at least $500 in child support annually (from the noncustodial parent) on their behalf. 3 P.L. 109-171 provides the state with four options on how to collect the fee. The $25 user fee may be (1) retained by the state from child support collected on behalf of the family (but the $25 cannot be part of the first $500 collected in any given federal fiscal year); (2) paid by the custodial parent; (3) recovered/recouped from the noncustodial parent; or (4) paid by the state out of state funds.4 The intent of the $25 user fee is to recoup in part the costs of the CSE program to the federal and state governments by decreasing CSE program expenditures.5 The $25 user fee (from custodial and noncustodial parents) is considered income to the CSE program. The federal and state governments share income to the CSE program (sometimes referred to as cost recovery) at the same rate that they share program costs (i.e., 66% federal and 34% state). The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the $25 CSE annual user fee provision would save the federal government $172405 million and the state governments $93215 million over the four-year period FY2007-FY2010.nine-year period FY2007-FY2015.6 After the $25 user fee was enacted, there was a lot of interest in how it would be implemented. Most of the arguments about the user fee (for and against) concerned the option that permitted states to charge the custodial parent. Persons in favor of the mandatory $25 annual user fee maintain that it will, to a limited extent, compensate the federal government and the states for operating a CSE program. They claim that even on top of the CSE application fee, the CSE program is still a bargain for custodial parents. They argue that there is no comparison between the nominal fees that the CSE program charges and the much higher fees that a private attorney or collection agency would charge for obtaining child support payments. They say that unlike the CSE application fee, it only applies to those who have received a certain amount of child support payments. They also point out that 7572% of custodial parents had income above the poverty level (20052009 Census data)7 and thereby could 3 and that on the basis of earlier data, a significant percentage of families (16%) had income above 300% of poverty level6 3 Provision of a mandatory $25 annual user fee for non-welfare CSE families has been discussed for many years. Such a proposal was included in the George H. W. Bush Administration’s FY1992 budget proposals and in the George W. Bush Administration’s FY2003 budget proposals. For additional information, see States’ Practices and Perspectives for Assessing Fees for Child Support Services to Applicants not Receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children. , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General., July 8, 1992 http://oig.hhs.gov/oas/ reports/ region6/69100048.pdf. Also see Feasibility of Collecting Fees for Child Support Services, by Carol Welch. Washington State., Washington State, Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Child Support, Fiscal Management., June 2001 2001, http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/esa/dcs/reports/feestudy.pdf. 4 If the $25 annual user fee is paid by the state out of state funds, it is not considered an administrative cost of the CSE program and thus is not eligible for 66% federal matching funds. 5 In FY2007FY2011, CSE program expenditures amounted to nearly $5.67 billion; child support payments collected from noncustodial parents by CSE agencies totaled $24.9 billion. 6 Characteristics of Families Using Title IV-D Services in 1995, by Matthew Lyon. May 1999. According to the report, 16% of CSE families had income above 300% of the poverty level in 1995; see http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/CSE-Char99/27.3 billion. 6 Congressional Budget Office, Cost Estimate of S. 1932 (Deficit Reduction Act of 2005), January 27, 2006, p. 55 and p. 60. 7 U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2009, by Timothy S. Grall, P60-240, (continued...) Congressional Research Service 2 Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee and thereby could probably afford to pay the user fee without it negatively affecting their standard of living. In addition, they assert that it is normal practice to charge a fee or user charge for services rendered. Persons opposed to the mandatory $25 annual user fee (that is imposed on the custodial parent) contend that it treats similarly situated families in an unequal manner. They argue that a lowincome custodial parent who has not had to go on welfare needs child support just as much as a custodial parent who formerly was on welfare (i.e., the TANF program). They contend that the $25 annual fee would impose a new surcharge on working poor families who were previously successful in remaining self-sufficient. They contend that fees generally take away funds that otherwise could be available to the child and the family. They also point out that because the $25 user fee is considered CSE program income, the state gets 34% of the $25 fee ($8.50) and the federal government gets the remaining 66% ($16.50). They claim that the administrative cost of reprogramming a state’s automated computer system to account for the fee would outweigh the financial benefit of the fee’s increased income to the state. They also say that the financial benefit, if any, to the federal government would be negligible. 78 According to the Lewin Group/ECONorthwest report entitled Anticipated Effects of the Deficit Reduction Act Provisions on Child Support Program Financing and Performance Summary of Data Analysis and IV-D Director Calls (July 20, 2007): Many directors noted potential benefits of the fee, including program revenue and instilling a sense of ownership in one’s child support case. Directors, though, identified more drawbacks to the fee. All directors expected the cost of programming the statewide automated system would exceed the revenue generated from the fee, at least in the short-term. This occurs at a time when they are already facing budget cuts or foregoing other project enhancements. Some expressed concern that it will take money from low-income families; others fear it will drive customers—largely consistent payers—from the program, hurting not only child support program performance but families as well. One-fourth of the surveyed directors stated that their programs would not charge the fee and would pay the federal share out of program resources.8 Implementation of CSE User Fee The provision mandating a $25 annual user fee became effective on October 1, 2006. However, some states had to enact the provision into state law before they could impose the mandatory $25 user fee. The proposed regulations on the user fee were published in January 2007.9 Final regulations are expected to be published in the summer of 2008. Table 1 is based on a survey of the states by the National Council of Child Support Directors and information from state CSE agencies. Table 1 indicates that of the 54 jurisdictions with CSE (...continued) CSE-Char99.htm. 7 National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA). Resolution on $25 Annual Fee. June 17, 2002. See http://www.ncsea.org/files/Resolution-AnnualFee.pdf. 8 See http://www.nccsd.net/documents/nccsd_final_report_revised_2_437782.pdf. 9 Federal Register, vol. 72, no. 15. January 24, 2007. Child Support Enforcement Program, p. 3093-3102. The proposed regulations can be found at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/AT/2007/at-07-01.htm. Congressional Research Service 3 Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee programs, 26 jurisdictions impose the user fee on the custodial parent, 20 jurisdictions pay the fee with state funds, 2 jurisdictions get the fee from the noncustodial parent, 1 jurisdiction charges half of the fee to the noncustodial parent and the other half to the custodial parent, and 3 jurisdictions retain the fee from the family’s child support payment (after $500 per year has been collected on behalf of the family). The other 2 jurisdictions did not respond to the survey or the issue is still unresolved. Table 1. Method By Which $25 CSE Annual User Fee Is Imposed State Implementation Date Fee Paid by State Out of State Funds Fee Paid by Noncustodial Parent Fee Paid by Custodial Parent Alabama 10/1/07 Alaska 10/1/06 Arizona 10/1/07 Arkansas 10/1/07 X California 10/1/07 X Colorado 10/1/07 Connecticut 10/1/07 Delaware 10/1/07 District of Columbia 10/1/07 X Florida 10/1/07 X Georgia 10/1/07 Guam 10/1/07 X Hawaii 10/1/07 X Idaho 10/1/07 X Illinois 10/1/07 Indiana 01/1/08 Iowa 10/1/07 Kansas pending Kentucky 7/1/2008 X Louisiana 10/1/06 X Maine 10/1/06 Maryland 10/1/07 Massachusetts 10/1/07 Michigan 09/1/08 Minnesota 9/30/07 X Mississippi 10/1/06 X Missouri 10/1/07 Montana 10/1/07 Congressional Research Service Fee Paid Out of Child Support Paymenta X X X X X X X (split) X (split) X X X X X X X X X 4 Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee State Implementation Date Fee Paid by State Out of State Funds Fee Paid by Noncustodial Parent Fee Paid by Custodial Parent Nebraska 10/1/07 X Nevada 10/1/07 X New Hampshire 12/1/07 X New Jersey 7/1/08 X New Mexico 10/1/07 X New Yorkb 10/01/08 X North Carolina 10/1/07 X North Dakota 10/1/07 X Ohio 10/1/07 X Oklahoma 10/1/07 X Oregon 10/1/07 Pennsylvaniac 03/31/08 Puerto Rico pending Rhode Island 10/1/07 South Carolina 10/1/07 South Dakota 10/1/07 Tennessee 10/1/07 Texas 10/1/07 Utah 7/1/07 Vermont 10/1/06 Virgin Islands Fee Paid Out of Child Support Paymenta X X X X X X X X X X d Virginia 10/1/07 X Washington 10/1/07 X West Virginia 10/1/07 Wisconsin 10/1/08 Wyoming 11/1/07 X X X Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service on the basis of information collected by the National Council of Child Support Directors and from state CSE agencies. a. The $25 CSE annual user fee may be retained by the state from the child support payment made to the custodial parent but only after $500 has been collected (in a given fiscal year) from the noncustodial parent on that family’s behalf. b. New York will pay the $25 CSE annual user fee from state funds during the period from April 1, 2008, through September 30, 2008. c. Pennsylvania pays the $25 CSE annual user fee out of state funds for cases in which the annual child support collection is between $500 and $1,999.99. If the annual child support collection is $2,000 or more, the $25 annual user fee is collected from the custodial parent. d. The documentation for the Virgin Islands (Office of Child Support Enforcement, Virgin Islands State Profile at http://ocse.acf.hhs.gov/ext/irg/sps/selectastate.cfm) does not include the implementation date. Congressional Research Service 5 Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee9 The final regulation pertaining to the $25 CSE annual user fee includes the following comment from OCSE: The Federal Government continues to pay 66 percent of State costs to operate child support enforcement programs. This is a generous matching rate, exceeding the administrative matching rate of other programs such as Medicaid and Food Stamps. Therefore, we do not believe that the annual fee amounts to direct compliance costs on States and local governments, nor does it have a federalism impact.10 (...continued) December 2011, p. 6. 8 National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA), Resolution on $25 Annual Fee, June 17, 2002, see http://www.ncsea.org/files/Resolution-AnnualFee.pdf. 9 See http://www.nccsd.net/documents/nccsd_final_report_revised_2_437782.pdf. 10 Federal Register, vol. 73, no. 237, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement, Final Rules, December 9, 2008, pp. 74913-74914 (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-12-09/pdf/ E8-28660.pdf#page=1). Congressional Research Service 3 Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report: Some CSE officials we interviewed stated that their states absorbed the $25 service fee due to concerns that the fee would be a burden, while others said that they charged the fee to custodial parents because their states couldn’t afford to absorb the fee due to budgetary constraints. Some of the latter told us that the reason they charged the service fee to custodial, rather than noncustodial, parents was because it was easier administratively. A few also reported that families affected by the fee had voiced little opposition to it.11 Implementation of CSE User Fee The provision mandating a $25 annual user fee became effective on October 1, 2006. However, some states had to enact the provision into state law before they could impose the mandatory $25 user fee. The proposed regulations on the user fee were published in January 2007.12 The final regulations were published on December 9, 2008, and became effective on February 9, 2009.13 Table 1 is based on a survey of the states by the National Council of Child Support Directors and information from state CSE agencies. Table 1 indicates that of the 54 jurisdictions with CSE programs, 18 jurisdictions pay the fee with state funds, 4 jurisdictions get the fee from the noncustodial parent, 1 jurisdiction imposes the user fee directly on the custodial parent, and 31 jurisdictions impose the fee indirectly on the custodial parent by retaining the fee from the family’s child support payment (after $500 per year has been collected on behalf of the family). Table 1. Method By Which $25 CSE Annual User Fee Is Imposed State Fee Paid by State Out of State Funds Fee Paid by Noncustodial Parent Fee Paid by Custodial Parent Alabama Alaska Fee Paid Out of Child Support Payment X X Arizona X Arkansas X California X Colorado X Connecticut X Delaware X District of Columbia X Florida X 11 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Child Support Enforcement: Departures from Long-term Trends in Sources of Collections and Caseloads Reflect Recent Economic Conditions, GAO-11-196, January 2011, p. 24. 12 Federal Register, vol. 72, no. 15, January 24, 2007, Child Support Enforcement Program, pp. 3093-3102. The proposed regulations can be found at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/AT/2007/at-07-01.htm. 13 Federal Register, vol. 73, no. 237, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement, Final Rules, December 9, 2008, pp. 74898-74921(http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2008-12-09/pdf/E828660.pdf#page=1). Congressional Research Service 4 Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee State Fee Paid by State Out of State Funds Fee Paid by Noncustodial Parent Georgia Guam Fee Paid by Custodial Parent Fee Paid Out of Child Support Payment X X Hawaii X Idaho X Illinois X Indiana X Iowa Kansas X X Kentucky X Louisiana X Maine X Marylanda X Massachusetts X Michigan X Minnesota X Mississippi X Missouri X Montana X Nebraska X Nevada X New Hampshire X New Jersey X New Mexico X New York X North Carolina X North Dakota X Ohio X Oklahoma X Oregon X Pennsylvaniab X Puerto Rico X Rhode Island X South Carolina South Dakota X X Tennessee X Texas X Congressional Research Service 5 Child Support Enforcement: $25 Annual User Fee State Fee Paid by State Out of State Funds Utah Vermont Fee Paid by Noncustodial Parent Fee Paid by Custodial Parent Fee Paid Out of Child Support Payment X X Virgin Islands X Virginia X Washington X West Virginia X Wisconsin X Wyoming X Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service on October 11, 2012, based on data from the Office of Child Support Enforcement website (Intergovernmental Reference Guide (IRG)— https://extranet.acf.hhs.gov/irg/welcome.html). The website was last modified on August 10, 2012. a. Maryland pays the $25 CSE annual user fee out of state funds for cases in which the annual child support collection is between $500 and $3,499.99. If the annual child support collection is $3,500 or more, the $25 annual CSE user fee is retained from child support payments. b. Pennsylvania pays the $25 CSE annual user fee out of state funds for cases in which the annual child support collection is between $500 and $1,999.99. If the annual child support collection is $2,000 or more, the $25 annual CSE user fee is retained from child support payments. Author Contact Information Carmen Solomon-Fears Specialist in Social Policy csolomonfears@crs.loc.gov, 7-7306 Congressional Research Service 6