12.C - Discontinue Current Support Procedures

Purpose:

There may be situations when a current child support obligation should not be enforced, but assigned arrears are owed to the State of Wyoming.  It may be necessary to discontinue enforcing the current monthly support obligation and collect only the assigned arrearage amount. Examples of these situations include:

• The custodial parent requests closure when assigned arrears are owed, 

• The custodial parent chooses not to cooperate with the District Child Support Program (CSP) Office when assigned arrears are owed, or 

• The District CSP office is unable to locate custodial parent when assigned arrears are owed.

Assigned arrears are child support arrears that accrued during the time period(s) the custodial parent received a public assistance grant and/or Medicaid benefits from the State of Wyoming. During this time period(s), child support is assigned to the State of Wyoming to offset the public assistance grant and/or Medicaid benefit amount provided to the family.

A child support case cannot be closed if the custodial parent is currently receiving a public assistance grant and/or Medicaid benefits as indicated on the public assistance computer system and POSSE.  The POSSE Case Class must show Non-AFDC.

Procedures:

The following procedures will be used by the case worker when making a determination for an appropriate case action for all situations described in the Purpose Section of this document. The case manager must:

1. End date the child(ren) on all of the custodial parent’s cases where a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears will not be enforced using the last day of the current month and current year in which a determination is made based on the situation described in the Purpose Section above (e.g. custodial parent requests closure January 15, 2005, End date will be January 31, 2005); 

2. Request a CSE251P1- Balance Analysis process; 

3. Reinstate the non-custodial suspended license, including:

• Driver License,

• Recreational License,

• Professional License, and/or

• Occupational License.  

4. Send an email to dfspossehelp@wyo.gov requesting that the case be closed as Assigned Arrears Only with specific language explaining why the case is closing for that specific reason. Enter a Case Activity Log Note on each connected case explaining how the case meets the criteria for one of the closure reasons stated in the Purpose above as required by Chapter 12 – Closure and why the current monthly child support obligation and any assigned or non-assigned arrears are not being enforced.  The closure log note should state that the request for closure is for Assigned Arrears Only to avoid arrears being passed through to the custodial parent.

5. Request a CSE767P1 – Child Support Summary report if there are connected cases or each for each custodial parent case where a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears will not be enforced to determine the amount of assigned arrearage owed to the State of Wyoming at the time the child(ren) were end dated;

6. Enter a “999” Stipulated Judgment to only include the arrears balance of any tied cases shown on the CSE767P1.  This amount will be entered as being owed by the noncustodial parent and owed to the State.  The date entered in the “Judgment Thru” date field will be the same date as the end date used for each child as used in the example in the Purpose section of this document.  The CSE767P1 will be kept in the physical case file as proof of the amounts used when creating the “999” Stipulated Judgment and a copy will be sent to the Clerk of District Court;

7. Request another CSE251p1- Balance Analysis for each connected case to make sure the financial transaction is recorded properly on POSSE;

8. Make sure each child support case file contains appropriate documentation (e.g. written request from custodial parent to close case, documentation proving custodial parent noncooperation, documentation showing custodial parent unable to be located);

9. Complete and send the original “Notice of Enforcement of Assigned Arrears Only” POSSE Document NENAAOA1 along with a copy of the CSE767P1 to the Clerk of District Court where the child support order is filed for each custodial parent case where a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears will not be enforced and a copy to the custodial parent and noncustodial parent; and

10. Place a copy of the “Notice of Enforcement of Assigned Arrears Only” in each tied case file.

Reapplication

The following procedures will be used by the case worker when the custodial parent reapplies for IV-D services and requests enforcement of a current child support obligation and/or any child support arrears owed to the custodial parent or the custodial parent becomes eligible for a public assistance program requiring cooperation with the Wyoming Child Support Program:

1. Remove the end date on the child(ren) on all custodial parent cases where enforcement of a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears is required;

2. Request a CSE251p1 – Balance Analysis process for each custodial parent case where enforcement of a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears is required;

3. Void the “999” Stipulated Judgment from each custodial parent case where enforcement of a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears is required;

4. Delete the most recent zero order and must request a CSE251p1 – Balance Analysis process on all connected cases;

5. Make sure each custodial parent case where enforcement of a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears is required contains all of the appropriate child support obligations and all payment information;

6. Request another CSE251p1 – Balance Analysis process for each custodial parent case where enforcement of a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears is required to make sure the financial transaction is recorded properly on POSSE;

7. Make sure each child support case file contains appropriate documentation from the custodial parent requesting enforcement of a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears;

8. Enter a Case Activity Log on each child support case documenting the reason(s) why the current monthly child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears is now being enforced; 

9. Complete and send the original “Notice of IV-D Support Order Enforcement” – POSSE Document N4DSOEA1 to the Clerk of District Court where the child support order is filed for each custodial parent case where a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears will not be enforced and a copy to the custodial parent and noncustodial parent; and

10. Place a copy of the “Notice of IV-D Support Order Enforcement” in each custodial parent case file where a current child support obligation and/or non-assigned arrears will not be enforced.