[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46550-46552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17486]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (HHS)

Administration for Children and Families

Office of Child Support Enforcement


Privacy Act of 1974; Amended System of Records

AGENCY: Office of Child Support Enforcement, ACF, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of amended system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 
(5 U.S.C. 552a), the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is 
publishing a notice of its amendment of its system of records, 09-80-
0202, entitled ``Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders.''

DATES: HHS invites interested parties to submit comments on the 
proposed notice until September 2, 2004. As required by the Privacy Act 
(5 U.S.C. 552a(r)), HHS on July 23, 2004 sent a report of an Amended 
System of Records to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs 
of the Senate, and the Office of Management and Budget. The amendments 
described in this notice are effective upon publication unless HHS 
receives comments that would result in a contrary determination.

ADDRESSES: Please address comments to: Donna Bonar, Associate 
Commissioner, Office of Automation and Program Operations, Office of 
Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, 
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., 2nd Floor West, Washington, DC 20447, 
(202) 401-9271.
    Comments received will be available for inspection at the address 
specified above from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Bonar, Associate Commissioner, 
Office of Automation and Program Operations, Office of Child Support 
Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, 370 L'Enfant 
Promenade, SW., 2nd Floor West, Washington, DC 20447, (202) 401-9271.

[[Page 46551]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that the Office of 
Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is amending one of its Systems of 
Records, ``Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders'' (FCR). DHHS/
OCSE No. 09-80-0202, last published at 63 FR 45070 on August 24, 1998.
    Consistent with sections 453(e) of the Social Security Act (the 
Act), for the purpose of establishing parentage, setting the amount of, 
modifying or enforcing child support obligations, information in the 
FCR pertaining to an individual who is under an obligation to pay child 
support, against whom such an obligation is sought or to whom such an 
obligation is owed may be matched against information held by any of 
the departments, agencies, or instrumentalities of the United States or 
of any State to obtain and transmit to an authorized person information 
on, or facilitating the discovery of, the location of the individual, 
the individual's wages (or other income) from, and benefits of, 
employment (including rights to or enrollment in group health care 
coverage) and information on the type, status, location, and amount of 
any assets of, or debts owed by or to, any such individual. If any 
information is obtained the disclosure of which would contravene 
national policy or security interests of the United States or the 
confidentiality of census data, such information shall not be 
transmitted by the department, agency or instrumentality.
    The complete system notice is republished below.

    Dated: July 27, 2004.
Sherri Z. Heller,
Commissioner.
09-80-0202

System Name:
    Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders (FCR), HHS, OCSE.

Security Classification:
    None.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Office of Child Support Enforcement, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., 
2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20447; Social Security Administration, 6200 
Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Records are maintained with respect to all cases or orders 
submitted by States to the Federal Case Registry. The cases and orders 
which States submit to the FCR include each case in which services are 
being provided by the State under the State plan approved pursuant to 
Title IV-D of the Act, and each support order established or modified 
in the State on or after October 1, 1998.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The FCR system of records includes records that contain the 
following information: Names (including alternative names); social 
security numbers (including alternative numbers); birth dates; 
participant type (custodial party, noncustodial parent, putative 
father, child); sex; case type (IV-D, non-IV-D); indication of an 
order; family violence indicator (domestic violence or child abuse); 
locate request type (reason for locate); locate source (source which 
State wishes to check for data); State Federal Information Processing 
Standard code; county code; State case identification number; and State 
member identification number.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    Sections 452 and 453 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 652 and 
653) require the Secretary of HHS to establish and conduct the Federal 
Parent Locator Service, a computerized national location network which 
provides location and asset information, including addresses and social 
security numbers, to State and local CSE agencies.

Purpose(s):
    The primary purpose of the FCR is to improve States' abilities to 
locate parents and collect child support. The FCR consists of State 
case registry information, and contains abstracts of case and order 
information with respect to each case and order in each State Case 
Registry. At least every two business days, the FCR is matched against 
the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH), another component of the 
Federal Parent Locator Service, to determine if a newly hired employee 
included in the NDNH is a participant in a child support case anywhere 
in the country. Within two business days after a comparison reveals a 
match with respect to an individual, the Service reports the match as 
well as the information regarding the individual's current employment 
and other pertinent information to the State agency or agencies 
responsible for the case. The Service also alerts States when other 
States have registered the same individuals on the FCR.
    The system of records includes a Family Violence (FV) indicator in 
the FCR to prevent disclosure of the records of any person a State 
associates with FV. When a State notifies the FCR that there is 
reasonable evidence of domestic violence or child abuse, and that 
disclosure could be harmful to the party or the child, the FCR does not 
disclose any information from the records. In this instance, the FCR 
returns a notice indicating that ``Disclosure is Prohibited.'' A FV 
designation can only be removed by the State that placed the 
designation, and the designation may be placed by more than one State 
on the same person. However, information from the records containing a 
FV designation may be disclosed by court order pursuant to section 
453(b)(2)(B) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 653(b)(2)(B)).

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purpose of Such Uses:
    The routine uses for this system are compatible with the stated 
purpose of the system. Information from the Federal Case Registry may 
be disclosed to the following entities: (1) Under section 453(c)(1) of 
the Act (42 U.S.C. 653(c)(1)), to agents and attorney of a State which 
has in effect an approved plan under Title IV-D of the Act who have 
duty or authority to collect child and spousal support; (2) Under 
section 453(c)(2) of the Act (42 U.S.C 653(c)(2)), to a Court or its 
agent which has authority to issue an order against a noncustodial 
parent for child support or to serve as the initiating court in an 
action to seek a child support order against a noncustodial parent; (3) 
Under section 453(c)(3) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 653(c)(3)), to a resident 
parent, legal guardian, or attorney or agent of a child not receiving 
TANF benefits; (4) Under section 453(c)(4) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 
653(c)(4)), to a State agency administering a child welfare program 
operated under a State plan pursuant to subchapter 1 of Title IV-B of 
the Act or a State plan pursuant to subchapter 2 of Title IV-B of the 
Act, or to a State agency that is administering a program operated 
under a State plan pursuant to Title IV-E of the Act; (5) Under section 
653(j)(1)(B) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)(1)(B)), to the Social 
Security Administration for verification of name, social security 
number, and birth dates; and employer identification number; (6) Under 
section 453(j)(2)(B) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)(2)(B)), to State 
agencies responsible for paternity establishment or child support 
cases; (7) Under section 453(j)(3)(B) of the Act (42 U.S.C 
653(j)(3)(B)), to State agencies for the purpose of assisting States to 
carry out their responsibilities under programs operated under Title 
IV-D and IV-A of the Act; (8) Under section 463(d)(2)(A) of the Act (42 
U.S.C. 663(d)(2)(A)), to

[[Page 46552]]

agents or attorneys of States who have the duty or authority to enforce 
child custody or visitation determinations; (9) Under section 
463(d)(2)(B) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 663(d)(2)(B)), to a Court or its 
agent with the jurisdiction to make or enforce a child custody or 
visitation determination; (10) Under section 463(d)(2)(C) of the Act 
(42 U.S.C. 663(d)(2)(C)), to agents or attorney of the U.S. or of a 
State who have the authority or duty to investigate, enforce, or 
prosecute the unlawful taking or restraint of a child; (11) Under 
section 463(e) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 663(e)), to the U.S. Central 
Authority for the purpose of locating any parent or child on behalf of 
an applicant to the Central Authority; (12) Pursuant to Public Law 105-
34, Title X, sections 1090(a)(2) and (4), to the Secretary of Treasury 
for the purpose of administering sections of Title 26 which grant tax 
benefits based on support or residence of children; (13) Where 
permitted by law, to researchers for the purpose of conducting research 
consistent with the pertinent statutory authority; and (14) Under 
section 453(e) to any of the departments, agencies, or 
instrumentalities of the United States or of any State for the purpose 
of locating information on the individual's wages (or other income) 
from, and benefits of, employment (including rights to or enrollment in 
group health care coverage) and information on the type, status, 
location, and amount of any assets of, or debts owed by or to, any such 
individual.

Disclosures to Consumer Reporting Agencies:
    None.

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    The Secretary of Health and Human Services houses the FCR in the 
Social Security Administration's National Computer Center in Baltimore, 
Maryland. A Direct Access Storage Data (DASD) unit is used for storage. 
FCR records are maintained on disc and computer tape, and hard copy.

Retrievability:
    System records can be accessed by either an assigned case 
identification number or Social Security Number.

Safeguards:
    1. Authorized Users: Data stored on computer files are accessed by 
passwords known only to persons who are responsible for implementing 
the FCR. Access to information in the FCR system is limited to approved 
users whose official duties require access to this information.
    2. Physical Safeguards: Rooms where records are stored will be 
locked when not in use. During regular business hours rooms will be 
unlocked but controlled by on-site personnel.
    3. Procedural and Technical Safeguards: A password is required to 
access the terminal and a data set name restricts the release of the 
data to only approved users. All users of the FCR system are required 
to have in effect safeguards, applicable to all confidential 
information that are designed to protect the privacy rights of the 
parties; they must also have safeguards against any unapproved use or 
disclosure of information contained in the FCR.

Retention and Disposal:
    (1) Records pertaining to a child are deleted from the FCR when a 
State dissociates the last custodial parent, non-custodial parent, or 
putative father from the case or order, and no child included in the 
case or order is associated with any other FCR case or order; (2) 
Records containing a Family Violence Indicator are removed from the FCR 
when the State that initiated the indicator requests that the record be 
removed from the FCR or when the State closes the last case or order 
including the person connected to an indicator; (3) Records of 
information provided by the FCR to authorized persons are maintained 
only long enough to communicate the information to the appropriate 
State or Federal agent. Thereafter, the information provided will be 
destroyed; (4) Records pertaining to disclosures (including information 
provided by States, Federal agencies contacted, and an indication of 
the type(s) of information returned), are stored on a history tape and 
in hard copy for two years and then destroyed; and (5) Any record 
relating or potentially relating to a fraud or abuse investigation or a 
pending or ongoing legal action including a class action, is retained 
until conclusion of the investigation or legal action. This exception 
will protect information relevant to a pending case from being 
prematurely destroyed.

System Manager(s) and Address:
    Director, Office of Automation and Program Operations, Office of 
Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, 
370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., 2nd Floor West, Washington, DC 20447.

Notification Procedures:
    To determine if a record exists, write to the System Manager listed 
above. The requester must provide his or her full name and address. 
Additional information, such as Social Security Number, date of birth 
or mother's maiden name, may be requested by the system manager in 
order to distinguish between individuals having the same or similar 
names.

Record Access Procedures:
    Individuals may have access to their records by making a written 
request, addressed to the System Manager specified above. The envelope 
containing the written request must be marked ``Privacy Act Request'' 
or ``Freedom of Information Act Request'' or both, in the bottom left-
hand corner. The letter requesting access to FCR records must state the 
following: (1) That the request is being made under the Privacy Act; 
Freedom of Information Act, or both, (2) the name, address, and 
signature of the requester; and (3) a detailed description of the 
record contents they are seeking.

Contesting Record Procedure:
    Individuals may request an amendment of a record which is not 
accurate, relevant, timely, or complete by writing to the System 
Manager at the address specified above. The envelope containing the 
written request must be marked ``Privacy Act Amendment Request'' or 
``Freedom of Information Act Request'' or both, in the bottom left-hand 
corner. The letter requesting an amendment to FCR records must state 
the following: (1) That the request to amend the record is being made 
under the Privacy Act; Freedom of Information Act, or both, (2) the 
individual's name, address, and signature; (3) a description of the 
contested information; (4) the reason why the information should be 
amended; and (5) documentation to show that the information is 
inaccurate, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete. Individuals who are 
contesting records must also be able to prove their identity.

Record Source Categories:
    Information is obtained from departments, agencies, or 
instrumentalities of the United States or any State.

System Exempted From Certain Provisions of the Act:
    None.
[FR Doc. 04-17486 Filed 8-2-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P