(a) Required Laws. The State plan shall provide that, in accordance with sections 454(20) and 466 of the Act and part 303 of this chapter, the State has in effect laws providing for, and has implemented procedures to improve, program effectiveness:

(1) Procedures for carrying out a program of withholding under which new or existing support orders are subject to the State law governing withholding so that a portion of the noncustodial parent's wages may be withheld, in accordance with the requirements set forth in §303.100 of this chapter;

(2) Expedited processes to establish paternity and to establish and enforce child support orders having the same force and effect as those established through full judicial process, in accordance with the requirements set forth in §303.101 of this chapter;

(3) Procedures for obtaining overdue support from State income tax refunds on behalf of individuals receiving IV-D services, in accordance with the requirements set forth in §303.102 of this chapter;

(4) Procedures for the imposition of liens against the real and personal property of noncustodial parents who owe overdue support;

(5)

(i) Procedures for the establishment of paternity for any child at least to the child's 18th birthday, including any child for whom paternity has not yet been established and any child for whom a paternity action was previously dismissed under a statute of limitations of less than 18 years; and

(ii) Effective November 1, 1989, procedures under which the State is required (except in cases where the individual involved has been found under section 454(29) of the Act to have good cause for refusing to cooperate or if, in accordance with §303.5(b) of this chapter the IV-D agency has determined that it would not be in the best interest of the child to establish paternity in a case involving incest or forcible rape, or in any case in which legal proceedings for adoption are pending) to require the child and all other parties in a contested paternity case to submit to genetic tests upon the request of any such party, in accordance with §303.5 (d) and (e) of this chapter.

(iii) Procedures for a simple civil process for voluntarily acknowledging paternity under which the State must provide that, before a mother and putative father can sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, the mother and the putative father must be given notice, orally or through video or audio equipment, and in writing, of the alternatives to, the legal consequences of, and the rights (including any rights, if a parent is a minor, due to minority status) and responsibilities of acknowledging paternity, and ensure that due process safeguards are afforded. Such procedures must include:

(A) A hospital-based program in accordance with §303.5(g) for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity during the period immediately before or after the birth of a child to an unmarried mother, and a requirement that all public and private birthing hospitals participate in the hospital-based program defined in §303.5(g)(2); and

(B) A process for voluntary acknowledgment of paternity in hospitals, State birth record agencies, and in other entities designated by the State and participating in the State's voluntary paternity establishment program; and

(C) A requirement that the procedures governing hospital-based programs and State birth record agencies must also apply to other entities designated by the State and participating in the State's voluntary paternity establishment program, including the use of the same notice provisions, the same materials, the same evaluation methods, and the same training for the personnel of these other entities providing voluntary paternity establishment services.

(iv) Procedures under which the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity creates a rebuttable or, at the option of the State, conclusive presumption of paternity, and under which such voluntary acknowledgment is admissible as evidence of paternity;

(v) Procedures which provide that any objection to genetic testing results must be made in writing within a specified number of days before any hearing at which such results may be introduced into evidence; and if no objection is made, a report of the test results, which is reflected in a record, is admissible as evidence of paternity without the need for foundation testimony or other proof of authenticity or accuracy;

(vi) Procedures which create a rebuttable or, at the option of the State, conclusive presumption of paternity upon genetic testing results indicating a threshold probability of the alleged father being the father of the child;

(vii) Procedures under which a voluntary acknowledgment must be recognized as a basis for seeking a support order without requiring any further proceedings to establish paternity; and

(viii) Procedures requiring a default order to be entered in a paternity case upon a showing that process was served on the defendant in accordance with State law, that the defendant failed to respond to service in accordance with State procedures, and any additional showing required by State law.

(6) Procedures which require that a noncustodial parent give security, post a bond, or give some other guarantee to secure payment of support, in accordance with the procedures set forth in §303.104 of this chapter;

(7) Procedures for making information regarding the amount of overdue support owed by a noncustodial parent available to consumer reporting agencies;

(8) Procedures under which all child support orders which are issued or modified in the State will include provision for withholding from income, in order to assure that withholding as a means of collecting child support is available if arrearages occur without the necessity of filing an application for services under §302.33, in accordance with §303.100(g) of this chapter.

(9) Procedures which require that any payment or installment of support under any child support order, whether ordered through the State judicial system or through the expedited processes required by paragraph (a)(2) of this section, is (on and after the date it is due):

(i) A judgment by operation of law, with the full force, effect, and attributes of a judgment of the State, including the ability to be enforced;

(ii) Entitled as a judgment to full faith and credit in such State and in any other State; and

(iii) Not subject to retroactive modification by such State or by any other State, except as provided in §303.106(b).

(10) Procedures for the review and adjustment of child support orders in accordance with §303.8(b) of this chapter.

(11) Procedures under which the State must give full faith and credit to a determination of paternity made by any other State, whether established through voluntary acknowledgment or through administrative or judicial processes.

(b) A State need not apply a procedure required under paragraphs (a) (3), (4), (6) and (7) of this section in an individual case if the State determines that it is not appropriate using guidelines generally available to the public which take into account the payment record of the noncustodial parent, the availability of other remedies, and other relevant considerations. The guidelines may not determine a majority of cases in which no other remedy is being used to be inappropriate.

(c) State laws enacted under this section must give States sufficient authority to comply with the requirements of §§303.100 through 303.102 and §303.104 of this chapter.

(d)

(1) Exemption. A State may apply for an exemption from any of the requirements of section 466 of the Act by the submittal of a request for exemption to the appropriate Regional Office.

(2) Basis for granting exemption. The Secretary will grant a State, or political subdivision in the case of section 466(a)(2) of the Act, an exemption from any of the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section for a period not to exceed 5 years if the State demonstrates that compliance would not increase the effectiveness and efficiency of its Child Support Enforcement program. Demonstration of the program's efficiency and effectiveness must be shown by actual, or, if actual is not available, estimated data pertaining to caseloads, processing times, administrative costs, and average support collections or such other actual or estimated data as the Office may request. The State must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the program's effectiveness would not improve by using these procedures. Disapproval of a request for exemption is not subject to appeal.

(3) Review of exemption. The exemption is subject to continuing review by the Secretary and may be terminated upon a change in circumstances or reduced effectiveness in the State or political subdivision, if the State cannot demonstrate that the changed circumstances continue to warrant an exemption in accordance with this section.

(4) Request for extension. The State must request an extension of the exemption by submitting current data in accordance with paragraph (d)(2) of this section 90 days prior to the end of the exemption period granted under paragraph (d)(2) of this section.

(5) When an exemption is revoked or an extension is denied. If the Secretary revokes an exemption or does not grant an extension of an exemption, the State must enact the appropriate laws and procedures to implement the mandatory practice by the beginning of the fourth month after the end of the first regular, special, budget or other session of the State's legislature which ends after the date the exemption is revoked or the extension is denied. If no State law is necessary, the State must establish and be using the procedure by the beginning of the fourth month after the date the exemption is revoked.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0960-0385)

[50 FR 19649, May 9, 1985, as amended at 51 FR 37731, Oct. 24, 1986; 54 FR 15764, Apr. 19, 1989; 56 FR 8004, Feb. 26, 1991; 56 FR 22354, May 15, 1991; 57 FR 30681, July 10, 1992; 57 FR 61581, Dec. 28, 1992; 59 FR 66249, Dec. 23, 1994; 64 FR 6249, Feb. 9, 1999; 64 FR 11809, Mar. 10, 1999; 68 FR 25303, May 12, 2003; 68 FR 53052, Sept. 9, 2003; 73 FR 74920, Dec. 9, 2008; 81 FR 93563, Dec. 20, 2016]