Retained Support Overpayment Overview

A retained support overpayment occurs when a custodial person (CP) receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) accepts child support directly from the non-custodial parent (NCP) but does not forward the support to Child Support Services (CSS) or report it to IV-A for benefit adjustments. Because the TANF grant is adjusted dollar for dollar for the amount of support, the CP is not allowed to accept these payments directly from the NCP.

When a CP certifies for TANF, they must notify the IV-A worker of any income, including child support, they have received during the eligibility period. If the CP has received child support directly from the NCP, they are required to notify the IV-A worker. The IV-A worker will update certain PS2 transactions which will reduce the TANF grant. The reduction of the TANF grant should only occur the first month. If CSS sees that the income is reported on a recurring basis, the IV-A worker should be notified because the support needs to come to CSS instead.

When proof of direct payments made during a TANF time period is received by CSS, verify whether IV-A was notified. This information is essential when determining whether to include these direct payments in a retained support obligation. If child support was reported to IV-A, then that month is not included in the overpayment.

Is it Really Retained Support?
Steps to Determine if CP Notified TANF of Child Support Payments

When a custodial person (CP) certifies for TANF, they must notify the IV-A worker of any income, including child support, they have received during the eligibility period. If the CP has received child support directly from the Non-custodial parent (NCP), the IV-A worker will update certain PS2 transactions which will reduce the TANF grant.

When proof of direct payments made during a TANF time period is received by Child Support Services (CSS), the worker must verify whether IV-A was notified. This information is essential when determining whether to include these direct payments in a retained support obligation. If child support was reported to IV-A, then that month is not included in an overpayment.

Use the following steps to determine if the CP reported income and then determine if it was reported as child support and for which child. The EBHL/EBOL transaction shows if the income was reported. The EFHL/EFOL transaction allows the worker to drill down to view adjustments for a specific person ID. The EFH transaction will display whether the income is child support and for which child (if the CP has more than one child).

1. EBHL/EBOL [EBLH (sp) C/H number]

   This PS2 transaction displays changes to a payee’s assistance case. It displays income reported, the amount the payee qualified for, and the amount of TANF issued after any deductions.

   

   NOTE: EBHL is for current information while EBOL is data that has dropped off EBHL because of date parameters.
   The EBHL transaction does not indicate what type of income was reported. In order to determine if it was child support & for which child, the worker needs to review the EFHL & EFH transactions.

2. EFHL/EFOL [EFHL (sp) C/H number (sp) Person ID]

   NOTE: Just like there is an EBOL version for EBHL, there is an EFOL version for the EFHL transaction.
   This transaction is essentially a per-person EBHL. It will display dates where there were updates to the assistance case for a specific person. The person ID sequence used is the one found on CMM for the child on your FGN.

   

   At this point, though, we do not yet know the specific type of income. That is found on the EFH transaction.

3. EFH Transaction

   This transaction displays person-specific information about a particular month’s benefit. Income is displayed on Page 2. If the income from EBHL/B59 is child support for the child on your FGN, it will be displayed in the F95 block.

   

   Because the child support was reported as income to the IV-A worker, the TANF grant was adjusted accordingly. In this example, an overpayment would not be recorded.
   If it is confirmed that direct payments were not reported to IV-A, review case conditions to determine if a retained support overpayment should be created. These overpayment obligations are built by the district office finance specialist. A Finance Action Request is not sent for this type of overpayment.

If it is confirmed that direct payments were not reported to IV-A, review case conditions to determine if a retained support overpayment should be created. These overpayment obligations are built by the district office finance specialist. A Finance Action Request is not sent for this type of overpayment.