WSR 21-12-003
PERMANENT RULES
DEPARTMENT OF
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Economic Services Administration)
[Filed May 19, 2021, 2:10 p.m., effective June 19, 2021]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: The department of social and health services division of child support (DCS) is amending the following sections in chapter 388-14A WAC to align WAC with the legislature's reenactment of pass-through payments in 2SSB 5144 (chapter 349, Laws of 2020).
Between October 1, 2008, and April 30, 2011, state law directed DCS to pass through a portion of child support collections to a family receiving temporary assistance for needy families (TANF). A pass-through payment is the portion of a support collection applied to assigned support that the state elects to pay a family receiving TANF at the time the collection was received. Due to budget constraints during the great recession, the legislature repealed the statutory authority to issue these pass-through payments. At that time, DCS amended its pass-through payment rules to sunset the policy (see WAC 388-14A-5015).
DCS is amending WAC 388-14A-5015 and 388-14A-5100 to clarify that pass-through payments are authorized again beginning February 1, 2021. These changes relate to internal governmental operations, are noncontroversial, and align with statutory provisions in RCW
26.23.035.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-14A-5015 and 388-14A-5100.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 21-06-093 on March 2, 2021.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: May 19, 2021.
Katherine I. Vasquez
Rules Coordinator
SHS-4853.1
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 11-14-063, filed 6/30/11, effective 7/31/11)
WAC 388-14A-5015What is a pass-through payment?
(1) Between October 1, 2008 and April 30, 2011 and beginning again on February 1, 2021, the division of child support (DCS) ((passed))passes through a portion of child support collections to a family receiving TANF.
(2) A pass-through payment ((was))is the portion of a support collection applied to assigned support that the state ((elected))elects to pay to a family receiving TANF at the time the collection ((was))is received.
(3) Between October 1, 2008 and April 30, 2011, the pass-through payment was paid in the following amounts:
(a) Up to one hundred dollars per month to a family with one child in the assistance unit.
(b) Up to two hundred dollars per month to a family with two or more children in the assistance unit.
(((3)))(4) Beginning February 1, 2021, the pass-through payment is paid in the following amounts:
(a) Up to fifty dollars per month to a family with one child in the assistance unit.
(b) Up to one hundred dollars per month to a family with two or more children in the assistance unit.
(5) The pass-through ((was))is paid from collections distributed to either current support or assigned arrears.
(((4)))(6) The pass-through amount for any month ((could not))cannot exceed the amount collected in that month.
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 11-14-063, filed 6/30/11, effective 7/31/11)
WAC 388-14A-5100How does the division of child support notify the custodial parent about support collections?
(1) The division of child support (DCS) mails a distribution and disbursement statement once each month to the last known address of a person for whom it received a support collection during the month, except as provided under subsection (6) of this section.
(2) DCS includes the following information in the distribution and disbursement statement:
(a) The amount of support collections DCS received and the date of collection;
(b) A description of how DCS distributed each support collection between current support and the support debt and any fees required by state or federal law;
(c) The amount DCS claims as reimbursement for public assistance paid, if applicable;
(d) The amount kept by the state to repay public assistance paid to the family;
(e) The amount disbursed to the family as a pass-through payment under WAC 388-14A-5015 ((for collections received between October 1, 2008 and April 30, 2011));
(f) The amount disbursed to the family as a payment on support owed to the family;
(g) The amount kept by the state to pay the twenty-five dollar annual fee, if applicable; and
(h) The amount kept by the state to repay child support paid to the family in error.
(3) The person to whom a distribution and disbursement statement is sent may file a request for a hearing under subsection (4) of this section within ninety days of the date of the statement to contest how DCS distributed the support collections, and must make specific objections to the statement. The effective date of a hearing request is the date DCS receives the request.
(4) A hearing under this section is for the limited purpose of determining if DCS correctly distributed the support money described in the contested statement.
(a) There is no hearing right regarding fees that have been charged on a case.
(b) If a custodial parent (CP) wants to request a hardship waiver of the fee, the CP may request a conference board under WAC 388-14A-6400.
(5) A person who requests a late hearing must show good cause for being late.
(6) This section does not require DCS to send a distribution and disbursement statement to a recipient of payment services only.