AT-00-11, Distribution of Revised Federally Approved Standard Interstate Child Support Enforcement Forms

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children & Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement

ACTION TRANSMITTAL

OCSE-AT-00-11

DATE: December 18, 2000

TO: STATE AGENCIES ADMINISTERING CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT PLANS UNDER TITLE IV-D OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT AND OTHER INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS

SUBJECT: Distribution of Revised Federally Approved Standard Interstate Child Support Enforcement Forms.

ATTACHMENT: Attached is a copy of the Federally approved standard interstate CSE forms packet, revised to be consistent with the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) and updated to reflect changes suggested by three years of State experience using the previous forms. This packet is comprised of the: UIFSA forms Matrix; Glossary of Terms; Child Support Transmittal #1 - Initial Request; Child Support Transmittal #2 - Subsequent Actions; Child Support Transmittal #3 - Request for Assistance/Discovery; Uniform Support Petition; General Testimony; Affidavit in Support of Establishing Paternity; Locate Data Sheet; Notice of Determination of Controlling Order; and Registration Statement.

STATUTORY REFERENCE: 42 U.S.C. 666(f) required all States to enact UIFSA by January 1, 1998. UIFSA, at section 311(b) requires the use of Federally approved forms in interstate CSE proceedings.

BACKGROUND: We published the original set of standard interstate CSE forms with OCSE-AT-97-06. That AT specified that all States, including those who had not yet passed UIFSA at that time, were required to begin using the new standard interstate CSE forms. OMB approved the forms for three years which has just expired. We took advantage of the expiration of the forms to examine them closely to see if there were aspects of the forms that needed to be revised. We formed a workgroup composed of Central and Regional Office Staff and State representatives with CSE and systems experience to look at the forms and recommend changes. Most of the changes we made were minor in nature and suggested by three years of experience with the previous version of the forms.

We will make these forms available at our website in the near future.

Changes to the form consisted of such things as:

Changing case type to be consistent with Federal reporting requirements;
Adding references to fax numbers and e-mail addresses;
Deleting references to URESA and AFDC;
Adding references to using electronic means of communicating information whenever possible (such as via CSENet);
Changing references from "docket number" to "tribunal number" to be more consistent with UIFSA; and
Revising section VIII of the General Testimony to reflect changes in public assistance.

We did make two more notable changes: We eliminated reference to using the Locate Data Sheet as part of interstate referrals and specify that the form should only be used for "quick locates". We also deleted reference to response to a transmittal #3 being optional. These kinds of responses are critical to working interstate cases. When a jurisdiction receives a transmittal #3 from another jurisdiction it should provide the limited assistance requested by the initiating State.

INQUIRIES TO: ACF Regional Administrators

______________________________

Frank Fuentes
Deputy Commissioner and
Acting Operations Head

Interstate Forms