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DHS ORS ANIA 03/03/06 NOTICE OF SERVICES Utah Department of Human Services Office of Recovery Services Child Support Services DETACH THIS FORM AND KEEP IT FOR YOUR RECORDS. The Office of Recovery Services/Child Support Services (ORS/CSS) provides child support services under the Federal/State IV-D Child Support Program. These services are provided to people who: 1) receive cash assistance or Medicaid from the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) or the Department of Health (DOH); 2) are no longer receiving cash assistance or Medicaid but continue to receive child support services; and 3) apply directly to ORS/CSS for IV-D child support services. For online information visit the ORS Web Site located at: http://www.ors.utah.gov Contents Services Provided ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Help Us Help You ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Electronic Funds Transfer ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Important Information to Parents Receiving Cash Assistance.......................................................................................................................... 5 Fees for Services .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Other Information............................................................................................................................................................................................. 6 ORS/CSS Regional Office Addresses and Telephone Numbers ..................................................................................................................... 6 Services Provided: Case Opening and Locating the Non-Custodial Parent We will open your case and try to locate the non-custodial parent’s address, income and assets through automated computer matches to obtain or enforce a child support order. Establish an Order for Paternity, Child Support and Medical Support We will try to establish the paternity of children who are born to unmarried parents. We will provide genetic testing to identify the paternity of a child. If there is no order we will try to establish a child support and/or medical support order. The order will address each parent’s share of the total monthly obligation when the child(ren) is not living with that parent. We will enforce the obligation of the non-custodial parent(s). If physical custody of the child changes, the support obligation will follow the child unless there is more than one child and physical custody of the children are split between the parents. You will be notified if you are obligated to pay child support to our office. The order will also require either parent to maintain medical insurance coverage for the children, if it is available, and will require each parent to share equally in the children’s future uninsured medical expenses. The parent who has insurance coverage available will be required to get the insurance. Review and Adjustment of Support Orders Either parent may ask us to review the support order once every three years from the time the order was issued or last modified, or when a substantial change in circumstances has occurred. You must make a request for a review in writing. Not all reviews will result in a change (adjustment) to the order. If there is a change, the amount could go up OR down. To get an idea what the new amount may be, request a “Review and Adjustment Packet” by calling your regional ORS/CSS office (see the phone numbers on page 6). Or you may obtain this information at our web site listed above. Medical Support Enforcement We automatically provide medical support enforcement services to people who are receiving cash assistance, Medicaid, or apply for our services. If medical insurance coverage is not ordered in the support order, ORS/CSS may modify the order to include a provision for medical insurance. When a parent is ordered to maintain insurance coverage for the children, but fails to do so on a qualifying case, we will send notice to the parent’s employer to enroll the children in a health insurance plan. Utah’s child support guidelines allow the parent that is ordered to maintain insurance coverage to receive credit for up to 50% of the child’s portion of the premium. The parent must request and provide to ORS/CSS the insurance information in order to receive the credit. No retroactive credit will be given. The insurance credit will be reflected by adjusting the base child support award amount in our case accounting record. The adjustment in the case accounting record may make the child support amount go up or down depending on which parent is maintaining the insurance. Enforcing a Utah Child Support Guidelines Order We will enforce the support obligation of the parent(s) that does not have physical custody of the child. If the child is living with a relative, we must open separate cases for the parents. When physical custody of the child changes, we may enforce the obligation against the other parent(s) without modifying the order. 2 Enforcing All Child Support Orders We will try to collect support by taking the payments out of the non-custodial parent’s paycheck (referred to as “income withholding”), levying bank accounts, taking federal and state offset payments, imposing liens for past-due support on real and personal property and reporting these liens to the court in the name of ORS/CSS, reporting the past-due amount to the credit bureau, and taking other enforcement actions we decide are appropriate. If your case is closed and a past-due amount is still owed, we will stop all enforcement action and withdraw our lien that has been reported to the court. Withdrawing our lien does not mean the money is no longer owed, only that ORS/CSS will not be reporting or collecting the lien amount. Support Payments When payments are received (except federal offset payments), they are generally credited in the following order: 1) to current support debts; 2) to past-due amounts owed to the family, when the family is not receiving cash assistance; and 3) to past-due support owed to the state, when the family is receiving cash assistance. We may split the support payments received among the non-custodial parent’s current child support debts if s/he does not pay enough to cover the monthly amount due. If the non- custodial parent owes past-due support to more than one family, we may split the payment of the past-due amount among the cases. Payments received from federal offset are credited as follows: 1) past-due amounts owed to the State; 2) past-due amounts owed to the family. Payments are usually credited to support owed for the month in which they are received in the ORS/CSS office. However, payments received during the last two working days of the month may not be credited to the case(s) until the following month. We generally send support payments to the custodial parent within two days of receiving the payment when the family is not receiving cash assistance. We generally send federal offset payments within 6 months of receiving the money. ORS/CSS tries to credit payments properly. However, if the employer or non-custodial parent does not provide complete information with the payment, the payment may be credited incorrectly. If we send you a payment that was intended for another ORS/CSS debt, we may retain your future payment(s) to repay the debt. Sometimes a federal or state offset payment that has been sent to the custodial parent is taken back by the source that sent it to us. If this happens, the custodial parent must repay the take-back amount. Federal offset payments may be taken back up to six years. Release of Case Information The names and social security numbers of the custodial parent, the non-custodial parent and the children are sent to the Federal Case Registry, where the information may be accessed by authorized agencies, such as child support agencies in other states. The address or employer’s address of the non-custodial parent or the custodial parent and children’s address may be released to the other party or to the other party’s attorney if we receive a written request and a parent-time order. If we receive a request to release your location information, you will be sent a notice that gives you the opportunity to contest the action and to provide us with documentation that will safeguard your location information. The address or employer’s address of the non-custodial parent or custodial parent may be released under the Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA) to the other party or his/her attorney if needed to serve legal process to establish or modify a child support, spousal support, medical support, or child care order or judgment. If a National Medical Support Notice is sent to the employer of either parent to enroll the children in an insurance plan, the addresses of the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent will be included in the referral. If the case is sent to the Attorney General’s Office for a court action, the addresses of the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent will be included in the court documents, which become public records, unless we are provided with an alternate address. If the case is sent to the Office of Administrative Hearings, the addresses of the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent will be included in the hearing documents. If the case is referred to a child support agency in another state, the addresses of the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent will be included in the referral. If you have a domestic violence issue and you would like ORS/CSS to attempt to safeguard your case information and your children’s case information so that it will not be released, see the “Release of Information” section on the attached APPLICATION FOR SERVICES (form ANIB). Based on section 466(a)(13) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 666(a)(13)] it is mandatory for a State’s child support enforcement program to request an individual’s social security account number in order to locate individuals for purposes of establishing paternity and establishing, modifying, and enforcing support obligations. Interstate If the non-custodial parent lives in another state and we are unable to work the case ourselves, we must refer the case to the other state. We cannot tell the other state how to work your case. The only information we receive from the other state is when a hearing is scheduled and the results of the hearing. If the non-custodial parent does not live in the United States, the case can only be worked if we have an agreement with the foreign country to work child support cases. If the foreign country requires your support order to be translated into another language, you will need to have the order translated at your own expense. 3 Help Us Help You: Telephone Automated Information Service (AIS) and ORS Interactive Web Site Use AIS for information or questions about payments, receiving electronic payments, or general information about the services provided by ORS/CSS. The regional phone numbers are listed on page 6. Or use our interactive web site to access payment and case status information. You can also submit new address, employment and insurance information, and questions about your case electronically. Go to http://orsica.dhs.utah.gov where you will find a log-in page. Cooperate with ORS/CSS Provide truthful and correct information about the other parent and any past-due support that may be owed; answer questions regarding your case; give us copies of orders and the child support worksheets; send ORS/CSS any payments you receive directly from the non-custodial parent(s); appear at interviews, administrative or court hearings; submit to genetic testing, etc. Non-Cooperation If you are receiving cash assistance and do not cooperate with ORS/CSS, your cash assistance may be reduced and/or your DWS case closed unless ORS/CSS determines that you have cooperated in good faith. If you feel cooperation may cause physical or emotional harm to you or your children, contact your DWS worker. If you are NOT receiving cash assistance and do not cooperate and ORS/CSS is unable to take the next step on your case, your case will be closed. Medicaid Cooperation/Non-Cooperation If you are receiving certain Medicaid benefits you must cooperate with ORS/CSS in obtaining and enforcing a medical support order. You must give to ORS/CSS any medical support you receive from the non-custodial parent. If you do not cooperate, you will be removed from the Medicaid card. Tell ORS/CSS Immediately of New Information • Tell us if you are working with a private attorney or agency to collect your child support. Also tell the private attorney or agency that you have a case with ORS/CSS. • Tell us if an attorney or agency files any legal pleadings in court in regard to your child support. • Keep us advised of your current name (for example, if you remarry), address, social security number, phone number and your employer’s name and address. • Give us the social security numbers of everyone involved in your case. • Tell us if the non-custodial parent’s address, phone number, employer, or insurance changes. • Tell us if you, the non-custodial parent, or a spouse enrolls the children in a health insurance plan. Also, tell us if the children are dropped from the health insurance plan. • Tell us if your children are receiving cash assistance and tell us when they are no longer eligible to receive child support. For example: a child who has emancipated or is no longer living with you. You will need to repay any support payments sent to you for ineligible children. • Give us a certified copy of all your support orders, such as a legal separation order, divorce decree, paternity order, juvenile court order, order modification, or judgment for past-due child support, medical support, and/or child care. Judgments must be issued by the judicial district court and not by a small claims court. • If we are not informed of a reduction of court ordered support that results in an overpayment to the custodial parent, we may offset future payments to adjust for the overpaid amount. Support Payments Send any support payments you receive directly from the non-custodial parent or from any other source to: Child Support Services ORS PO Box 45011 Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0011 Enclose a note that includes the following information: • your case number or the non-custodial parent’s social security number, and • a statement that indicates the payment was made directly to you. If you do not include the note, the full payment may not be credited to your case. We will notify the non-custodial parent to send any future support payments directly to ORS/CSS. 4 Electronic Payment Options: Electronic Funds Transfer (Direct Deposit) or EPPICard (debit card) We can deposit your child support payments directly into your checking or savings account at your financial institution or apply payments to an EPPICard (debit card), unless you are receiving cash assistance from the State of Utah. Benefits: • Your payment goes directly into your checking or savings account for Electronic Funds Transfer (direct deposit). • If you do not have a checking or savings account your payment is credited to your EPPICard (debit card). • Your payment will be deposited within three days. • You do not have to wait for the US mail to deliver a check. • You do not have to go to the bank to cash a check. • No risk of a lost or stolen check. To Enroll: Complete the “Direct Deposit” or “EPPICard” section in the attached APPLICATION FOR SERVICES (form ANIB). For more information call the AIS number for your region on page 6 of this application, or go to http://orsica.dhs.utah.gov. Important Information to Parents Receiving Cash Assistance and/or Medicaid • You cannot enter into an agreement with the non-custodial parent to accept “in-kind” support in place of the court ordered support. If you do accept “in–kind” support, you will need to pay ORS/CSS an equal cash amount. Examples of in-kind support are food, clothing, housing, utilities, etc. • You cannot enter into a written agreement with the non-custodial parent for a reduction of child support during an extended visitation while you are receiving cash assistance. If your child support order gives the non-custodial parent extended visitation rights, please contact your regional ORS/CSS office prior to the extended visit. • When your cash assistance case and Medicaid case close, we will continue to provide full services which include child support, spousal support and medical support enforcement services, unless you tell us you do not want the services and request to close your case. If you were only receiving Medicaid and opted not to receive child support services, we will continue to provide only medical support enforcement services. • You assigned (transferred) your past, present and future child, spousal and medical support rights to the State when you became eligible for cash assistance. You will NOT receive your monthly child support payments when you are receiving cash assistance. We will keep any support the non-custodial parent pays up to the total amount of cash assistance you receive. If the amount of the support collected is more than the total cash assistance you receive, the excess amount is sent to you. • If legal paternity for your child(ren) has not been established, you must cooperate in identifying and locating all possible alleged fathers and in establishing paternity for your child(ren) unless ORS/CSS determines you are unable to meet the cooperation requirements, or the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) determines there is good cause or other exception to cooperation. FEES FOR SERVICES - Charged to individuals who are NOT receiving cash assistance or Medicaid. PAYMENT PROCESSING We charge a $5.00 administrative fee to the applicant each time a payment is processed and sent, by mail, Direct Deposit or EPPICard. The fee will not exceed $10.00 per month. This charge will be withheld from the support payment before it is sent. EPPICard FEES There are no fees for withdrawing money from a teller at a bank that displays the MasterCard brand mark, or to make purchases from a merchant that accepts MasterCard. There is a transaction fee of $0.85 each time you use an ATM to withdraw money and a $0.50 fee for a balance inquiry. FEDERAL OFFSET PAYMENT CHARGE We charge the case applicant up to $25.00 if we take the non-custodial parent’s federal offset payment. If the custodial parent is the applicant, we will withhold the charge from the federal offset payment before it is sent. If the non-custodial parent is the applicant, a $25.00 charge will be added to the non-custodial parent’s obligation. PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT SERVICES If the mother does not name all possible consorts at the time a case is opened, we will charge her for the cost of additional genetic testing, unless the man first named as the father is not excluded by genetic testing. INTERSTATE CASES There may be other charges if your case is referred to another state and that state charges a fee. If your court order exempts you from paying fees, you may ask the Clerk of Court who issued your order to initiate a Notice to Withhold Income for Child Support to have the payments sent to our office and forwarded to you. No additional services are provided on these cases and no fees are charged. See our web site for more information or contact the Clerk of Court. ORS/CSS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO GIVE FURTHER NOTICE ABOUT ADDITONAL COSTS AND FEES THAT MAY BE CHARGED IN THE FURTURE 5 Other Information We ONLY collect spousal support (alimony) if the non-custodial parent is also ordered to pay current child support for children living with the custodial parent. We ONLY collect interest if it is listed as a specific dollar amount in a judgment, or in an interstate case if the other state provides ORS/CSS with the specific interest amount, or if a case has been referred for criminal non-support prosecution. We ONLY collect ongoing medical support if it is included as a specific dollar amount in your support order. We will try to enforce judgments you obtain from the judicial district court for unpaid medical bills. We ONLY collect ongoing child care expenses if a parent makes the request, the specific dollar amount for child care is included in an order along with a child support obligation, and neither parent is disputing the monthly child care amount. We will try to enforce past-due child care expenses if you obtain a judgment from the judicial district court. We do not represent either parent. We are assisted by attorneys from the Utah Attorney General’s Office. They represent the State and are not personal attorneys for either parent. This means that no attorney client relationship exists between you and the State’s attorney. If you want legal advice, you will need to consult with a private attorney. We decide the actions that we will take on your case. This includes possible civil or criminal actions. You may want to consider using a private attorney or agency if you want legal action or a service that we do not provide, or if you want to be involved in deciding exactly how your case is worked. We cannot address custody, visitation, property settlement issues or any other non-support issues. We cannot provide all the services you may receive from a private attorney. Services are limited to those described in this Notice. We will attempt to collect child support until the child is legally emancipated. For Utah child support orders, the age of emancipation is when the child turns 18 or graduates with his/her normal graduating high school class, whichever occurs later. We will presume a child turning 18 prior to graduation will be graduating with his/her class unless a parent provides documentation stating otherwise. A child may also emancipate in Utah by marrying or joining the armed forces. If your order was issued by a state other than Utah, the child will emancipate based on the emancipation laws of that state. We cannot always collect past-due support. Based on Utah law, we can only collect past-due support within 4 years of when the last child in a Utah order reaches the age of majority. This means that if you have a Utah support order, we cannot collect past-due support after your youngest child turns 22. If the arrears have been reduced to a sum certain judgment by a Utah district court, we may apply Utah’s eight year statue of limitations for collection on judgments, or the Utah duration of judgment law (4 years of when the last child reaches the age of majority), whichever period is longer of the two. If your order was issued by a state other than Utah, we may be able to apply that state’s statute of limitations and extend the collection time period. ORS/CSS Regional Offices and Telephone Numbers Salt Lake Provo P.O. Box 45033, Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0033 150 E Center St., Suite 2100 (Office located at 515 E 100 S 1st Floor) Provo, UT 84606 801-536-8500 or 800-662-8525 801-374-7233 or 800-255-8734 Layton Richfield 523 Heritage Blvd. Suite 1 1152 South Highway 118 Layton, UT 84041 Richfield, UT 84701 801-779-2273 or 877-547-1808 435-896-5461 or 800-896-5461 Ogden St. George 2540 Washington Blvd. 377 Riverside Dr., Bldg B, Suite C Ogden, UT 84401 St. George, UT 84790 801-626-3475 or 800-336-2629 435-674-3900 or 800-678-1732 Reasonable accommodations per Americans with Disabilities Act available with minimum 3 days advance notice. 6
