Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-01-03-.32 - CHILD SUPPORT - AFDC ONLY
(1) Introduction.
The Office of Child Support Services is the agency with responsibility for the
administration of the Title IV-D requirements to locate absent parents,
establish paternity, collect support payments, and recover any overpayments due
to the family's retention of assigned support.
(2) Support is defined as court-ordered or
voluntary money payments made to, or on behalf of, any member of an AFDC
assistance unit by an absent parent (legally recognized parent, or natural
parent who admits paternity). Such support is assigned to the state, pursuant
to state law, as a condition of AFDC eligibility. Spousal support is also
assigned if it was ordered at the time of the child support order by a
court.
(3) Conditions of AFDC
Eligibility. As conditions of AFDC eligibility for him/herself, each applicant
for or recipient of aid on behalf of a child must:
(a) Assign to the state any rights to support
from any other person that the A/R may have in behalf of any member of the aid
group. This assignment includes past support rights which have accrued at the
time of such assignment. There is no waiver of the assignment
requirement.
(b) Cooperate with the
state in:
1. Identifying and locating the
absent parent(s);
2. Establishing
paternity if necessary;
3.
Obtaining support payments.
(c) As an element of cooperation, turn over
to the state any support paid directly to the applicant/recipient, whether
voluntary or court-ordered.
(4) Summary of the Treatment of Support
Payments
(a) When an assignment is in effect
on an AFDC case, any support paid to or on behalf of the aid group members must
go to the state to be disbursed by the IV-D agency in accordance with federal
regulations.
(b) Support may or may
not be court ordered. Prior to the establishment of an order of support, the
actual monthly amount of voluntary support, less the child support bonus, is
tested against the grant or appropriate need standard to (re)determine
eligibility. In cases of court ordered support, the court ordered amount, less
the child support bonus, is tested against the appropriate need standard at the
time of application, at redeterminations requested by IV-D Fiscal Services, or
as required due to client retained support. Any excess amount paid over the
court ordered amount of support by the absent parent is used by IV-D to
reimburse arrearages owed the state and federal governments for payment of the
AFDC grant. If there are no arrearages, the overage is credited to "futures" to
be used for reimbursement purposes as needed.
(c) If the support payment, less the child
support bonus, is insufficient to meet the family's needs by DHS grant
standards, the family receives the full AFDC grant to which it is entitled,
disregarding the support. The support payment is used to reimburse state and
federal AFDC funds expended on the family.
(d) If the support payments do meet the needs
of the family (or children), the AFDC grant must be terminated.
(5) AFDC Cases Subject to Support
Procedures. Any AFDC assistance case in which eligibility is based upon absence
of a parent is subject to child support requirements and will be referred to
the IV-D agency upon approval of the AFDC grant and at the time of an addition
of a child(ren) to the aid group. Grants which include only a pregnant woman
who would be eligible for AFDC if the child was born must also be referred to
IV-D. The following types of cases are exempt from support processes and are
not referred to the IV-D agency even where eligibility is based on absence:
(a) "Caretaker Only" cases in which the needy
child is an SSI recipient.
(b)
"Medicaid Only" recipient/cases for dependent children age 18-21 years
old.
(c) Absence due to court
ordered public service in lieu of incarceration.
(d) Single parent adoptions.
(6) Reserved for future
use.
Notes
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