WSR 98-20-036

EMERGENCY RULES

DEPARTMENT OF

SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

(Economic Services Administration)

(Division of Child Support)

[Filed September 29, 1998, 4:04 p.m.]



Date of Adoption: September 29, 1998.

Purpose: The Department of Social and Health Services Division of Child Support (DCS) is amending WAC 388-14-450 to include both court-ordered and noncourt-ordered cases in the type of case which is subject to a debt adjustment notice. The prior version of WAC 388-14-450 refers only to court-ordered cases, and thus deprives the custodial parent who receives support pursuant to an administrative order of the right to a notice and hearing when DCS adjusts the amount of debt owed to the custodial parent.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-14-450.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 26.23.035(1), 34.05.220(1), 74.08.090, 74.20A.310.

Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.

Reasons for this Finding: DCS believes that the rule in its current version has unintended due process implications which must be addressed. The basis for the debt adjustment notice was a Stipulation and Consent Order Granting Relief filed in Ecoff v. DSHS, Thurston County Superior Court Case No. 89-2-016947-4, which provided that the payee under a superior court order was entitled to notice and a hearing when DCS made a discretionary downward adjustment to the support debt. Although DCS has given all payees the right to notice and hearing in debt adjustments, a recent administrative decision denied this right to notice and hearing to the payee under an administrative order, based on a strict reading of the rule. DCS seeks to put the payees of both kinds of orders on equal footing insofar as the right to notice and hearing of debt adjustment is concerned, thus ensuring due process.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, amended 0, repealed 0.

Effective Date of Rule: Immediately.

September 29, 1998

Marie Myerchin-Redifer, Manager

Rules and Policies Assistance Unit

SHS-2482.1

AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 97-13-092, filed 6/18/97, effective 7/19/97)



WAC 388-14-450  Debt adjustment notice. (1) The IV-D agency shall mail a debt adjustment notice to the ((payee under a court order)) physical custodian, also known as the custodial parent, within thirty days of the date the IV-D agency reduces the amount of the ((court-ordered)) support debt it intends to collect if that reduction was due to:

(a) A mathematical error in the debt calculation;

(b) A clerical error in the stated debt;

(c) Proof the support obligation should have been suspended for all or part of the time period involved in the calculation; or

(d) Proof the responsible parent made payments that had not previously been credited against the support debt.

(2) The debt adjustment notice shall state:

(a) The amount of the reduction;

(b) The reason the IV-D agency reduced the support debt, as provided under subsection (1) of this section;

(c) The name of the responsible parent and a statement that the responsible parent may attend and participate as an independent party in any hearing requested by the payee under this section; and

(d) The IV-D agency will continue to provide support enforcement services whether or not the payee objects to the debt adjustment notice.

(3) A debt adjustment notice becomes final under this subsection.

(a) A debt adjustment notice becomes final unless the ((payee)) custodial parent, within twenty days of service of the notice in Washington, files a request with the IV-D agency for a hearing under subsection (4) of this section. The effective date of a hearing request is the date the IV-D agency receives the request.

(b) A debt adjustment notice served in another state becomes final according to WAC 388-14-496.

(4) A hearing under this section is for the limited purpose of determining if the IV-D agency correctly reduced the support debt as stated in the notice of debt adjustment.

(5) A ((payee)) custodial parent who requests a late hearing under WAC 388-11-310 must show good cause for filing a late hearing request if it is filed more than one year after the date of the notice of debt adjustment.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 34.05.220(1), 74.08.090, 74.20A.310 and 26.23.035. 97-13-092, § 388-14-450, filed 6/18/97, effective 7/19/97. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090. 91-09-018 (Order 3133), § 388-14-450, filed 4/9/91, effective 5/10/91.]

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