[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 205 (Thursday, October 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63406-63407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25024]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families


Child Support Enforcement Program; Report to Congress

AGENCY: Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health 
and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice of request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration 
for Children and Families, Office of Child Support Enforcement requests 
public comments to inform its upcoming Report to Congress. The Report 
to Congress (``Report'') is required to be submitted no later than June 
30, 2015 under Title III, Section 305 of H.R. 4980 (Pub. L. 113-183), 
Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014. The 
legislation was signed into law on September 29, 2014. This Request for 
Information offers the opportunity for interested individuals and 
organizations to provide input on specific Report requirements or other 
information that would be valuable to the Report development.

DATES: Comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on December 22, 2014, to 
be considered.

ADDRESSES: Respondents are encouraged to submit their comments through 
the following methods; although email is the preferred method of 
submission.
    Email: Email comments concerning this notice to 
[email protected]. Email submissions will receive an electronic 
confirmation acknowledging

[[Page 63407]]

receipt of your response, but will not receive individualized feedback 
on any suggestions.
    Postal Mail: ACF/Office of Child Support Enforcement, Attn: OCSE 
Report--Sheila Drake, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW., 4th Floor East, 
Washington, DC 20447. Submissions by postal mail must be received by 
the deadline, and should allow sufficient time for security processing.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Request for Information offers the 
opportunity for interested individuals and organizations to provide 
input on specific Report requirements or other information that would 
be valuable to the Report development.

Background

    H.R. 4980 (Pub. L. 113-183), Preventing Sex Trafficking and 
Strengthening Families Act (Act) of 2014 was passed by both the House 
and Senate and then signed by the President on September 29, 2014. 
Under the Act's Title III--Improving International Child Support 
Recovery, Section 305--Report to Congress, the Secretary, in 
conjunction with the strategic plan, is directed to review and provide 
recommendations for cost-effective improvements to the child support 
enforcement program funded under title IV-D of the Social Security Act 
and ensure that the plan addresses the effectiveness and performance of 
the program, analyzes program practices, identifies possible new 
collection tools and approaches, and identifies strategies for holding 
parents accountable for supporting their children and for building the 
capacity of parents to pay child support, with specific attention given 
to matters including front-end services, ongoing case management, 
collections, tribal-state partnerships, interstate and 
intergovernmental interactions, program performance, data analytics, 
and information technology. This shall be done in consultation with 
stakeholders including state, tribal, and county child support 
directors; judges who preside over family courts and organizations that 
represent the judges; custodial and noncustodial parents and the 
organizations that represent them; and fiduciaries such as financial 
institutions and employers. The Secretary shall submit a report to 
Congress not later than June 30, 2015, which will include:
     An analysis of the effectiveness of state child support 
programs;
     Recommendations for methods to enhance the effectiveness 
of child support programs and collection practices;
     A review of state best practices in regards to 
establishing and operating state and multistate lien registries;
     A compilation of state recovery and distribution policies;
     Options, with analysis, for methods to engage noncustodial 
parents in the lives of their children through consideration of 
parental time and visitation with children;
     An analysis of the role of alternative dispute resolution 
in making child support determinations;
     Identification of best practices for determining which 
services and support programs available to custodial and noncustodial 
parents are non-duplicative, evidence-based, produce quality outcomes, 
and connect parents to those services and support programs. 
Identification of best practices for providing employment support, job 
training, and job placement for custodial and noncustodial parents. 
Identification of best practices for establishing services and supports 
and child support tracking with options for preventing and resolving 
uncollectible arrears;
     Options, with analysis, for methods for states to use to 
collect child support payments from individuals who owe excessive 
arrearages;
     A review of state practices used to determine which 
individuals are excluded from the requirement to be reported to the 
Passport Denial program, including the extent to which individuals are 
able to successfully contest or appeal decisions; and
     Options, with analysis, for such legislative and 
administrative actions as are determined to be appropriate for 
improvement in child support enforcement.

Additional Instructions Regarding Comments To Be Submitted

    In your comments, please reference the specific paragraph of the 
legislation or issue area. Please do not include in your comments 
information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal 
information or proprietary information. Information obtained as a 
result of this notice may be used by the Federal Government for Report 
development. Please be aware that your comments may be posted online or 
cited in the Report.

    Authority: Sec. 305, Pub. L. 113-183, 128 Stat. 1919.

Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-25024 Filed 10-22-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184-01-P