Policy Updates for Legislative Year 2021 Per Amended OAC Rules and Instructions to Staff.
Effective September 15, 2021 and Legislation Effective November 1, 2021.
The need for these amended rules and Instructions to Staff (ITS) was identified during the CSS annual review of rules in OAC 340:25 and CSS review of changes in state and federal laws. Legislation was identified and developed by the Center for Operations, Office of Impact Advocacy and Legal Outreach with the CSS Director.
The rules may be viewed in Word in Outlook://Public Folders/All Public Folders/OCSS All/Policy Unit/ Rules/Current Rules.
- Access a copy of 10-22-20 21-25 Final Draft Remediated (1).pdf
- Access a copy of CHAPTER 25 (9-15-21) Clean Remediated.pdf
- Access a copy of Index 2021 Clean Remediated.pdf
The 2021 Policy Index CSQuest article which links to the OKDHS website will be updated as soon as possible with the 2021 information.
- Access a copy of the 2021 Policy Updates PowerPoint
- Access a copy of the SB421 Signed Remediated.pdf
- Access the remediated 2021 Policy Updates Training recording
- Access a copy of the 2021 Policy Update Training Q & A
- Access current DHS internal regulations and OHCA OAC and an official copy of all OAC
OAC Section | Summary of Amendments |
---|---|
340:25-1-1.1 Definitions | Page 3
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340:25-1-2.1 Location for information | Page 6 ITS only: amended to update the Center now responsible for interpretation services |
340:25-1-1.2 Structure and services | Page 8 ITS only: amended to include interest when enforcing a fixed sum judgment for costs incurred by the mother for the child’s birth. |
340:25-3-1 Authority and scope | Page 10 ITS only: is amended to remove a note. |
340:25-3-3 Service of process | Page 12 is amended to add the process for subsequent consent of electronic service. This includes completion of the Notice of Consent to Electronic Service. Pleadings asserting new or additional claims require a new Notice of Consent to Electronic Service. |
340:25-5-67.1 Family violence | Page 14 ITS only: is amended to provide direction when address information is unclear and there are family violence issues. If unsure, staff contacts the Family Violence Coordinator in CPD for guidance. |
340:25-5-114 Procedures for determining and processing noncooperation on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and non-TANF SoonerCare (Medicaid) cases | Pages 15-16 is amended to:
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340:25-5-117 Initiation of Title IV-D cases | Pages 19 -20 is amended to:
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340:25-5-118 Noncooperation on non-Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cases | Page 23
ITS: (pg. 24) is amended to remove references to child care subsidy. |
340:25-5-123 Case closure system | Pages 24-26 is amended to:
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340:25-5-124 Assignment and Transfer of cases | Pages 29-32 [These all came from the CE case initiation group] is amended to:
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340:25-5-124.3 Assignment and management of deprived cases | Pages 34-37 is amended to clarify that when there is an existing family and domestic district court case, the child support case is assigned to the office serving the county of the deprived actions.ITS: (pg. 35-37) is amended to remove reference to obsolete offices. |
340:25-5-140 Past support | Page 41 ITS Only: is amended to instruct that CSS continues to collect arrears that accrued under a district court temporary order when the underlying court action is later dismissed and the support order was never vacated. |
340:25-5-140.1 Interest | Page 42 is amended to clarify that interest also accrues on child care costs and accrued fixed medical judgments per 43 O.S. § 114. ITS: Non-substantive cleanup. |
340:25-5-169 Establishment of medical enforcement only cases | Page 45 is amended to remove references to child care subsidy. ITS: Non-substantive cleanup |
340:25-5-176 Establishment of parentage | Page 49 ITS only: is amended to:
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340:25-5-179.1 Establishment of support for a prior period | Pages 51-52 is amended to:
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340:25-5-198.2 Modification | Page 55 ITS: is amended to:
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340:25-5-200 Enforcement | Page 55 is amended to clean up a citation. ITS: Non-Substantive cleanup. |
340:25-5-203.1 Collection from lottery prize winnings | Page 59 ITS Only: Revoked ITS. |
340:25-5-286 Tribal case referrals and transfers | Page 60 ITS: [all changes were channeled through Tony & Carlissa in CPD – cleaned up tribal case process now that we have a dedicated Tribal position in STO] is amended to:
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340:25-5-305 Overpayment and recovery policies | Page 62-64 is amended to:
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340:25-5-328 Recovery of overpayments from other entities | Page 65 ITS: is amended to clean up language and correct citation. |
340:25-5-340 Collection and maintenance of address of record | Page 66 ITS: is amended to instruct that CSS does not establish or update an address of record through a default court order. |
Legislation
Summary of Bills – all effective 11/1/21
This bill (SB 134, Daniels) amends 43 OS § 119.1 adding information for the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to consider as part of their review every 4 years:
- Obtain from OKDHS Child Support Services (CSS):
- Economic data on cost of raising children,
- Labor market data and
- Case data and analysis.
- OKDHS promulgates rules on the data to provide.
- Provide opportunity for public input, including from:
- Low income custodial and noncustodial parents and representatives.
- Publish all aspects of the quadrennial review on internet, including:
- House and Senate Judiciary Committee members,
- Date of guidelines laws and schedule of basic obligations and
- Date of next review.
Failure to comply with federal requirements for quadrennial reviews may result in rejection of the OKDHS CSS state plan and jeopardize federal funding for CSS and the TANF block grant.
This bill (SB 208, Garvin) clarifies that DHS/CSS can receive all birth and adoptions records of the OSDH electronically.
- OSDH to receive paternity order data from DHS/CSS electronically and be authorized to update birth certificates based on electronic information, rather than paper copies of orders. This will create tremendous efficiencies in processes for both agencies. OSDH to send DHS demographic date on births, deaths and adoptions. This data will be used for multiple purposes in DHS, e.g. close CSS and SNAP cases from death data, process paternity and child support cases.
This bill (SB 421, Rosino) makes several changes for CSS case processing:
- Amends 43 OS §118G to remove the child care subsidy calculation resulting in litigants using the actual co-payment amount; same as with private child care.
- Amends 43 OS §118B to address new federal requirements for income in the child support computation.
- Start with current monthly gross income or average of previous year (was 3 years).
- Only impute income if don’t have actual income.
- If equitable, consider new factors of a) average wages and hours worked in parent’s industry and geographic area and education, training, work experience and ability to work impute 25 hours of minimum wage, b) wage parent could earn consistent with minimum wage of not less than 25 hours/week (was 40 hours/week).
- Amends 43 OS §118B to add per diem or other allowance to self-employment fringe benefits.
- Amends 43 OS §118B to add VA disability received by a child to be treated in the CS Computation the same as SSD benefits.
- Amends 43 OS §118I to add incarceration for more than 180 days as a reason for a modification.
- Amends 43 OS §118I to change that a modification shall be effective on 1st day of the month following date of motion to modify unless parties agree to another date.
- Amends 43 OS §118A, §118B and §118I to address new federal income requirements for incarceration to not count as voluntary unemployment when determining income as follows: Amends 43 OS §118B if a parent’s incarcerated in prison or jail for more than 180 days, use current income which shall not be imputed. Doesn’t apply if incarcerated for crime against CP or child or for contempt of court or felony omitting to provide.
- New subsection added to 43 OS §118I that there is a rebuttable presumption that an NCP incarcerated for 180 days or more is unable to pay child support and therefore existing child support orders are automatically abated.
- The abatement goes back to the 1st day of the month following the NCP’s entry into jail or prison.
- This doesn’t apply if NCP committed crimes listed above.
- Upon release from incarceration, the obligation reverts to the pre-incarceration order amount beginning 1st day of the month following a lapse of 90 days.
- Abatement does not affect past-due support that accrued prior to abatement, (e.g. pre-incarceration arrears).
This is an OESC bill (SB 794, Leewright) – Requires all unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) offsets to be made through the CSS IV-D program.
- Section 10 addresses child support obligations in 40 OS Section 2-801:
- Changes the process for out-of-state IV-D child support agencies and private attorneys for obtaining UIB offsets through OESC for past due child support obligations.
- Requires OESC to enter in a data match agreement with DHS/CSS to identify persons who owe child support.
- DHS/CSS determines the child support amount to withhold from UIB.
- Requires child support amounts withheld from UIB to be paid to the Centralized Support Registry.