North Carolina § 110-141 - Effectuation of intent of Article.

§ 110-141. Effectuation of intent of Article.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services shall supervise the administration of the program in accordance with federal law and shall cause the provisions of this Article to be effectuated and to secure child support from absent, deserting, abandoning and nonsupporting parents. Effective July 1, 2010, each child support enforcement program being administered by the Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of counties shall be administered, or the administration provided for, by the board of county commissioners of those counties. Until July 1, 2010, it shall be the responsibility of the Department of Health and Human Services to administer or provide for the administration of the program in those counties. A county may negotiate alternative arrangements to the procedure outlined in G.S. 110-130 for designating a local person or agency to administer the provisions of this Article in that county. History (1975, c. 827, s. 1; 1977, 2nd Sess., c. 1186, s. 16; 1979, c. 488; 1983 (Reg. Sess., 1984), c. 1034, s. 76; 1985, c. 244; c. 479, s. 103; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 129; 1997-443, s. 11A.118(a); 2009-451, s. 10.46A(a).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2002-126, s. 10.41C, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 110-141, a board of county commissioners that desires to assume responsibility for the administration of the Child Support Program beginning with the 2003-2004 fiscal year must notify the Department of Health and Human Services of its intent no later than December 1, 2002. The obligation of the board of county commissioners to assume responsibility for the administration of the Program does not commence prior to July 1, 2003. Until July 1, 2003, the Department of Health and Human Services shall continue the administration of the Program for that county." Session Laws 2002-126, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations, Capital Improvements, and Finance Act of 2002'." Session Laws 2002-126, s. 31.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2002-2003 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2002-2003 fiscal year. For example, uncodified provisions of this act relating to the Medicaid program apply only to the 2002-2003 fiscal year." Session Laws 2002-126, s. 31.6 is a severability clause. Session Laws 2007-323, s. 10.28, provides: "(a) The Department of Health and Human Services shall implement and maintain performance standards for each of the State and county child support enforcement offices across the State. These performance standards shall include the following: "(1) Cost per collections. "(2) Consumer satisfaction. "(3) Paternity establishments. "(4) Administrative costs. "(5) Orders established. "(6) Collections on arrearages. "(7) Location of absent parents. "(8) Other related performance measures. "The Department of Health and Human Services shall monitor the performance of each office and shall implement a system of reporting that allows each local office to review its performance as well as the performance of other local offices. The Department of Health and Human Services shall publish an annual performance report that shall include the statewide and local office performance of each child support office. "(b) The Department of Health and Human Services shall report on its progress, in compliance with this section, to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division by May 1 of each even-numbered year beginning in 2008." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2007'." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2009-451, s. 10.46A(b) provides: "Counties affected by this section shall submit plans to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services, no later than January 1, 2010, outlining the proposed operation of child support enforcement programs. The Division shall establish the criteria to be included within county plans for operations and review submitted plans to ensure the appropriate transitioning of administrative and programmatic responsibility." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 10.46A(c), as added by Session Laws 2010-31, s. 10.17, and as amended by Session Laws 2010-123, s. 4.1, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 143-64.03 and G.S. 143-64.05, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services may transfer State-owned equipment, including computers, printers, and furniture, used by State-operated child support offices to administer child support enforcement programs to a county government or the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians for the sole purpose of facilitating the county government or the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians' administration of the child support program. The transfer shall be at no cost to the county government or the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians and shall occur no later than July 1, 2010. "The county government or the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians assuming responsibility for the child support program effective July 1, 2010, shall identify from the existing equipment and office furnishings which items will be needed to administer the child support program. A comprehensive list of items to be transferred shall be compiled and signed by the manager of the State-operated child support office and the manager of the county or tribal child support office and the signed list shall serve as official documentation of the transfer. Copies of the documentation shall be provided to the Department of Health and Human Services Controller's Office and the Department of Administration. Any equipment that the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) determines cannot be used by the Department and is not included in the transfer shall revert to the Department of Administration, Division of Surplus Property." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2009'." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 28.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 28.5 is a severability clause. Session Laws 2010-31, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the "Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2010'." Session Laws 2010-31, s. 32.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2010-2011 fiscal year." Session Laws 2010-31, s. 32.6 is a severability clause. Session Laws 2015-51, s. 1(a), (b), provides: "(a) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) and the Division of Social Services (DSS), implement a process requiring child care subsidy recipients to participate in child support services programs. To that end, DCDEE and DSS shall develop a plan requiring a custodial parent or other relative or person with primary custody of the child who is receiving child care subsidy payments to cooperate with county child support services programs as a condition of receiving child care subsidy payments. In developing the plan, the DCDEE and DSS shall, at a minimum, consider each of the following: "(1) The number of child care subsidy cases that would be referred to county child support services programs. "(2) Whether there are any disparities between child support services programs administered directly by the county department of social services versus those programs administered by a vendor through a contract with the county department of social services, specifically as related to maintaining consistent communication. "(3) The access and exchange of information between county child support services programs/systems and child care subsidy services/systems and any differences that may create a conflict in coordinating child care subsidy payments with child support services. "(4) Any implementation issues related to IV-D child support cases versus non-IV-D child support cases. "(5) Any impact on the families involved and the need to incorporate good cause exceptions for cooperation with county child support services programs similar to those for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid. "(6) Any costs to implement the plan, including any automation costs associated with connecting the child care subsidy payments system to the child support payments system. "(7) The development of any forms needed to implement the plan. "(8) Transition time needed to implement the plan and to coordinate any interface with current systems, such as the North Carolina Automated Collection and Tracking System (NC ACTS) and North Carolina Families Accessing Services through Technology (NC FAST). "(9) Any training needs and costs associated with training. "(10) Other states that have implemented a similar plan as proposed in this section. "(11) Other programs of public assistance in this State requiring coordination with child support services programs. "(12) The need to update any current policies or procedures related to child care subsidy payments and child support payments. "(13) Any other issues DCDEE or DSS deem relevant. "(b) The Division of Child Development and Early Education and the Division of Social Services shall submit a report on the plan, along with any recommendations, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division no later than February 1, 2016." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 11B.7(a)-(c), provides: "(a) Beginning January 1, 2018, or 30 days from the date the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Care, approves the revised Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) plan, or whichever occurs later, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) and the Division of Social Services (DSS), shall implement a one-year statewide demonstration project in accordance with S.L. 2015-51 requiring a custodial parent or other relative or person with primary custody of the child who is receiving child care subsidy payments to cooperate with the county child support services program as a condition of receiving child care subsidy payments. DCDEE and DSS shall conduct the demonstration project in at least three counties, but no more than six, that represent the three regions of the State in both rural and urban settings. DCDEE and DSS may solicit counties to volunteer for the demonstration project. In selecting counties to participate in the demonstration project, DCDEE and DSS shall (i) consider the various methods counties employ in receiving and processing child care subsidy applications and (ii) compare the data from the counties participating in the demonstration project to counties that are similarly sized and situated that do not participate in the demonstration project. "(b) The statewide demonstration project shall include, at a minimum, the components described in Section 1(a) of S.L. 2015-51, as well as any criteria DCDEE and DSS identified in its report as submitted to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services dated February 1, 2016. Specifically, as identified in that report, DCDEE and DSS shall consider, at a minimum, each of the following factors in evaluating the demonstration project: "(1) The number and percentage of applicants for whom the requirement to participate in child support services was presented who actually submitted a child support application and applied for and received subsidized child care assistance. "(2) The number and percentage of families exempted from the requirement under subdivision (1) of this subsection through good-cause exceptions. "(3) The number and percentage of families that initially receive child support payments but become ineligible for subsidized child care assistance as a result of their increased income or family status. "(4) The number and percentage of families enrolled in the subsidized child care assistance program at the beginning of the demonstration project that exit the program due to imposed requirements for child support cooperation. "(5) The number and percentage of applicants who declined to apply or withdrew their application as a result of the requirement to cooperate with child support services. "(6) The number and percentage of child care subsidy recipients who begin receiving child support or, if receiving child support, the average increase in the recipients' child support received due to imposed requirements for child support cooperation. "(c) The Division of Child Development and Early Education and the Division of Social Services shall report on the results of the demonstration project to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division no later than March 1, 2019, or if the CCDF plan is approved after January 1, 2018, no later than three months from the date the one-year demonstration project is completed, whichever occurs later. The report shall include, at a minimum, each of the following: "(1) The factors evaluated under subsection (a) of this section. "(2) A detailed project plan and any costs associated with implementing the plan, specifically, any technology needs. "(3) Any recommendations for or challenges with sustaining the plan long term." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2017.'" Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.6, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2009-451, s. 10.46A(a), effective July 1, 2009, substituted "the program" for "this program" in the first paragraph; and rewrote the second paragraph.