252B.3 - DUTY OF DEPARTMENT TO ENFORCE CHILD SUPPORT -- COOPERATION -- RULES.
252B.3 DUTY OF DEPARTMENT TO ENFORCE CHILD SUPPORT --
COOPERATION -- RULES.
1. Upon receipt by the department of an application for public
assistance on behalf of a child and determination by the department
that the child is eligible for public assistance and that provision
of child support services is appropriate, the department shall take
appropriate action under the provisions of this chapter or under
other appropriate statutes of this state including but not limited to
chapters 239B, 252A, 252C, 252D, 252E, 252F, 252G, 252H, 252I, 252J,
598, and 600B, to ensure that the parent or other person responsible
for the support of the child fulfills the support obligation. The
department shall also take appropriate action as required by federal
law upon receiving a request from a child support agency for a child
receiving public assistance in another state.
2. The department of human services may negotiate a partial
payment of a support obligation with a parent or other person
responsible for the support of the child, provided that the
negotiation and partial payment are consistent with applicable
federal law and regulation.
3. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A
regarding cases in which, under federal law, it is a condition of
eligibility for an individual who is an applicant for or recipient of
public assistance to cooperate in good faith with the department in
establishing the paternity of, or in establishing, modifying, or
enforcing a support order by identifying and locating the parent of
the child or enforcing rights to support payments. The rules shall
include all of the following provisions:
a. As required by the unit, the individual shall provide the
name of the noncustodial parent and additional necessary information,
and shall appear at interviews, hearings, and legal proceedings.
b. If paternity is an issue, the individual and child shall
submit to blood or genetic tests pursuant to a judicial or
administrative order.
c. The individual may be requested to sign a voluntary
affidavit of paternity, after notice of the rights and consequences
of such an acknowledgment, but shall not be required to sign an
affidavit or otherwise relinquish the right to blood or genetic
tests.
d. The unit shall promptly notify the individual and the
appropriate division of the department administering the public
assistance program of each determination by the unit of
noncooperation of the individual and the reason for such
determination.
e. A procedure under which the individual may claim that, and
the department shall determine whether, the individual has sufficient
good cause or other exception for not cooperating, taking into
consideration the best interest of the child.
4. Without need for a court order and notwithstanding the
requirements of section 598.22A, the support payment ordered pursuant
to any chapter shall be satisfied as to the department, the child,
and either parent for the period during which the parents are
reconciled and are cohabiting, the child for whom support is ordered
is living in the same residence as the parents, and the obligor
receives public assistance on the obligor's own behalf for the
benefit of the child. The department shall implement this subsection
as follows:
a. The unit shall file a notice of satisfaction with the
clerk of court.
b. This subsection shall not apply unless all the children
for whom support is ordered reside with both parents, except that a
child may be absent from the home due to a foster care placement
pursuant to chapter 234 or a comparable law of a foreign
jurisdiction.
c. The unit shall send notice by regular mail to the obligor
when the provisions of this subsection no longer apply. A copy of
the notice shall be filed with the clerk of court.
d. This section shall not limit the rights of the parents or
the department to proceed by other means to suspend, terminate,
modify, reinstate, or establish support.
5. On or after July 1, 1999, the department shall implement a
program for the satisfaction of accrued support debts, based upon
timely payment by the obligor of both current support due and any
payments due for accrued support debt under a periodic payment plan.
The unit shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to establish the
criteria and procedures for obtaining satisfaction under the program.
The rules adopted under this subsection shall specify the cases and
amounts to which the program is applicable, and may provide for the
establishment of the program as a pilot program. Section History: Early Form
[C77, 79, 81, § 252B.3; 82 Acts, ch 1237, § 3] Section History: Recent Form
83 Acts, ch 96, § 157, 159; 93 Acts, ch 79, §36; 97 Acts, ch 41, §
32; 97 Acts, ch 175, § 26; 98 Acts, ch 1170, §41
Referred to in § 252B.2, 252B.6A, 252B.9, 598.22A