Interstate Child Support: Better Information Needed on Absent Parents for Case Pursuit
HRD-90-41
Published: May 24, 1990. Publicly Released: Jun 26, 1990.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed state child support agencies' processes to obtain and verify critical information needed to pursue interstate cases.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct OCSE to require that initiating child support agencies exhaust all reasonable efforts, including, as appropriate, checking other states' parent locator services, to obtain address and employment information on out-of-state absent parents for use in deciding how best to pursue interstate cases. |
Closed – Not Implemented
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to believe that existing policy issuances and rules make clear that checking other states' parent locator services is an "option" available to states. HHS plans no further action.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct OCSE to require initiating agencies to verify out-of-state absent parents' addresses with the post office before sending cases with questionable information to other states for action. |
Closed – Not Implemented
HHS does not believe that verification of addresses with the U.S. Post Office should be "required" and does not plan to take any action on this recommendation.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct OCSE to require, by modifying existing performance standards, that responding state parent locator services quickly, preferably within 1 week, provide information from motor-vehicle, employment, and other readily accessible sources when responding to other states' information requests on cases that have not been referred for action. |
Closed – Not Implemented
HHS does not concur and therefore does not plan to take any action on this recommendation.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct OCSE to clarify that initiating child support agencies may request absent parent information directly from other states' parent locator services without sending the requests through the responding states' central registries. |
Closed – Implemented
HHS Policy Interpretation Question (PIQ) release 90-05 clearly indicates that direct requests of other states' parent locator services is an option.
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Topics
Child support paymentsDebt collectionIntergovernmental relationsInternal controlsInterstate programsLaw enforcementParentsState programsRegistriesFederal regulations