Child Support Referrals 623-05-15-45-05

(Revised 4/25/16 ML #3469)

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PI 21-10

 

 

County Social Service Boards (Administrative County) must submit a child support referral on each parent whose child is in foster care. There are two exceptions to making a child support referral. A referral will not be made against either parent;

  1. If one of both parents receive a subsidized adoption payment on behalf of a child in foster care, or
  2. If the child’s placement was short-term. For purposes of this exception, “short-term” is defined as follows:
  1. The child exited the placement by the time the referral would be sent, and
  2. The child was in the placement for 60 days or less.

Both criteria a and b must be met in order for the referral to be eliminated (i.e., not made). If the child is in placement at the time of referral, a referral is made regardless of the amount of time the child has been in placement.

 

Special circumstances may also apply when submitting the referral; those include:

  1. DA = Donor Assisted Conception
  2. OT = Other special circumstances reason
  3. SP = Single parent adoption
  4. TR = Terminated Parental Rights

The Department of Human Services uses automated systems to transmit and receive referrals. Child support referrals must be completed and transmitted in CCWIPS. The referral information sent to the Child Support Division is used to establish paternity, locate the absent parent(s), and establish and enforce a support order. The referral may be transmitted by the County Social Service Board to Child Support at any time following placement, but is required to be transmitted at the time of initial payment authorization.

 

Once a child support referral is in an open status, child support collected on behalf of the child will automatically be allocated to the North Dakota Department of Human Services to offset the amount expended for foster care while the child is in a paid placement. When a child’s placement is closed/ended, the child support referral will revert to “close pending” and remain in a monitor status until the child’s foster care program is closed or a new placement is entered.

 

Excess Child Support Payments:

The legal custodian will be sent any child support collected that is in excess of the foster care expenditures for any month in which the child was in a paid placement. In months in which a child transitions between paid and non-paid placements, the collected amount in excess of the foster care expenditures for that month will be sent to the custodial agency. The custodial agency should verify with the Administrative county and Child Support the reason for the direct payment to the agency. Several circumstances will impact how the money is allocated:

  1. Child Support sent to the custodian while a foster child is placed in an unpaid or unlicensed family setting.
    1. Custodian must verify with child support the reason for the direct payment.
    2. Arrearages collected for the time a child was in a paid placement or a medical placement must be reallocated as outlined in #2 and #3 below.
  2. Child Support collected to cover medical expenses for a foster child’s medical placement in a psychiatric residential treatment facility or hospitalization.
    1. Custodian must reallocate the amount collected to Medical Assistance to be applied to the amount expended for the medical placement. The custodial agency must complete an SFN 828 – “Medicare Premium Repayment/Credit Report” and send the Child Support collected amount to the NDDHS Fiscal Administration detailing how to reallocate the funds.
  3. Child Support collected when a foster child is placed with a licensed provider (family, therapeutic home, group home, residential child care facility):
    1. Custodian must verify with Child Support the reason for the direct payment.
    2. Child Support collections exceeding the amount of foster care expenditures for a specific month is unearned income for the foster care child. The excess amount should be put into a savings in the child/custodian’s name. The custodian should determine how to reallocate the money to best meet the needs of the child while the child is in foster care.