7.4 Federal Case Registry

Federal Authority:

Social Security Act

§453 Federal parent locator services

§453A State Directory of New Hires

§458(8), (17) and (28) State plan for child and spousal support

§466(a)(12) and (d) Requirement of statutorily prescribed procedures to improve the effectiveness of child support enforcement


Code of Federal Regulations

45 CFR 303.3 Location of noncustodial parents

45 CFR 303.7 Provision of services in intergovernmental IV-D cases

State Authority:

Wyoming Statute

Wyo. Stat. §20-6-104 - Child support enforcement generally

Wyo. Stat. §20-6-104 - Powers and duties of department regarding collection of support


Wyoming Child Support Enforcement Rules

Chapter 4 - General Services

Policy Number: 7.4

Effective Date: October 1, 2010

Overview

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 established the Federal Case Registry (FCR) as part of the expansion of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS).  The FCR is a national repository for basic IV-D caseload and participant data along with Non-IV-D case information for all orders after October 1, 1998.  Based upon PRWORA, each state created a State Case Registry (SCR) that contains the child support order information for the state and updates the FCR.  In Wyoming, the SCR is POSSE.


The FCR assists in the location of alleged fathers or non-custodial parents to establish paternity and/or child and medical support along with enforcing and modifying existing orders.  The National Directory of New Hire (NDNH) is a national database containing W-4, quarterly wage, and unemployment insurance data from federal, state and territory sources.  The NDNH identifies the location of those child support participants who are newly hired, earning wages, or who have applied for or are receiving unemployment benefits.


As new or updated information is received from the SCR and the NDNH, the FCR proactively matches SCR case information and NDNH employment information.  If matches are found, the FCR updates all appropriate state IV-D agencies through the FPLS.

Note:  If the FVI is marked, the FCR will not receive the participant data and will not proactively match or share information with other states.  See 3.7 - Confidentiality and Safeguarding Information - Family Violence Indicator for more details.

Note:  In order to proactively match information, social security number (SSN) and name information is first verified by the Social Security Administration (SSA).  If a SSN is not available, one can be located through the SSA only if enough identifying information is provided.  For details see Appendix 7.C – FPLS and Wyoming SPLS Timeframes.

The FCR matches proactively and provides information to state IV-D agencies when matches occur – even if the participant (e.g. a non-custodial parent) is already located.  The FPLS only notifies a state of a locate “hit” if the participant is in a status of “not located.”  In addition to the proactive matches with the NDNH, the FCR also proactively matches with the following databases:


Finally, the FCR also benefits states with its intergovernmental case processing.  It assists states in determining which states have a common interest in a child support participant; provides an indicator if a child support order exists; and in some instances may eliminate the need for manual searches when used in conjunction with the Child Support Enforcement Network (CSENet).  This is known as a CSI (Case Status Information) proactive match transaction.


Policy

In the Wyoming CSP, the FCR interface occurs in POSSE on the FCR screensThe POSSE FCR screens are updated on a daily basis.  


When reviewing a case for the next appropriate action, case workers will review POSSE FCR and Asset screens for possible address, employer, wage, asset, benefit, and insurance information.



Cross Reference

Appendix 7.C – FPLS and Wyoming SPLS Timeframes

Version Number:  1

Last Revised Date:  July 1, 2014

Last Reviewed: July 1, 2014