9 Colo. Code Regs. § 2504-1-6.201

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 24, December 25, 2024

Section 9 CCR 2504-1-6.201 - Application Requirements

County CSS Units shall establish procedures to ensure that all appropriate functions and activities regarding applications and information on available services are undertaken and completed within the time frames specified and that all activities are documented on ACSES.

6.201.1Public Assistance (PA) Cases

A. Public assistance cases shall be provided full support services as required by the Child Support Services program upon referral without an application requirement. Referral is defined as the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) generated automated referral and the State prescribed Social Services Single Purposes Application (SSSPA) form or another county form containing, at a minimum, the information found in the State prescribed form.

B. The following information shall be provided to PA clients on the appropriate state prescribed form:

1. The assignment of rights to support payments;

2. Available services;

3. The individual's rights and responsibilities;

4. Fees, cost-recovery and distribution policies;

5. Case categorization and the information necessary to change the category;

6. The requirement, in appropriate cases, for good cause exemption from referral to the CSS Unit to be granted by the county director or the designate IV-A staff; and

7. The lack of an attorney-client relationship.

C. Counties must document in the case record the date of referral, which is the date the recipient received the program information.

6.201.2NON-PUBLIC ASSISTANCE (NPA) CASES [Rev. eff. 4/1/12]

A. Continued Services Cases

1. The Child Support Services Unit shall provide to the person whose IV-A grant or IV-E foster care eligibility is discontinued, continued CSS services, without a formal application unless the CSS agency is notified to the contrary by the person whose IV-A grant or IV-E foster care eligibility is discontinued.

2. The Notice of Action and the CSE 34 Notice are notices that inform the recipient of public assistance, when they have discontinued temporary aid to needy families (TANF) that their child support case will remain open unless they request that the county close their case. These notices will be generated and mailed to the recipient ten (10) days prior to the effective date of the discontinuation.

3. Form SS-4, Notice of Social Service Action, will be completed by the county services worker and mailed to recipients when a person(s) is discontinued from IV-E foster care. The form will be sent to the recipient five (5) days prior to the effective date of the discontinuation.

The Notice Of Action, the CSE 34 Notice, and the Notice of Social Service Action (SS-4) shall:

a. Notify the person whose IV-A grant or IV-E foster care has been discontinued, that the CSS Unit shall continue to provide CSS services unless the CSS Unit is notified by the former IV-A or IV-E foster care recipient to the contrary;

b. Specify the CSS services that are available;

c. Inform the person that the quality of information provided will affect the category of the case;

d. Specify the name of the person whose IV-A grant and/or IV-E foster care has been discontinued; and,

e. Specify the household number;

f. Specify the unique case identifiers;

g. Require the signature of the person discontinued who wishes to terminate CSS services;

h. Specify the CSS unit will collect overdue support to repay past IV-A or IV-E foster care maintenance.

i. Contain any other information deemed appropriate by the State Department.

4. The county Low-Income Child Care Assistance unit must provide written notice to the person who's IV-A grant or IV-E foster care eligibility is discontinued, if continued cooperation with the CSS Unit will be required due to the receipt of Low-Income Child Care Assistance within five days of referral from any of these referenced programs. The county Low-Income Child Care Assistance Program must also notify the county Child Support Services Unit within the same time frame.

B. Application Cases

1. Persons who do not receive public assistance or continued CSS services may apply for full CSS services by completing the Application for Child Support Services, as prescribed by the State Department. Applications for child support services shall be readily accessible to the public. If the county department has elected to require Low-Income Child Care Assistance recipients to cooperate with the CSS Unit, the recipients must complete the State prescribed application for Child Support Services. Applications will not be accepted if all of the children associated with a specific obligee and obligor are emancipated, as defined in the existing child support order and the laws of the state where the child support order was entered. This same requirement applies to new interstate referrals sent to Colorado from another initiating state or jurisdiction. In a responding intergovernmental case, if the case was opened in the other state prior to emancipation and/or has state debt due, the application shall be accepted.

2. Upon application, the services established for IV-A recipients to locate, establish paternity of a child (or children), establish court orders for child support, review and modify orders for child support, and secure support from noncustodial and/or alleged parents shall also be made available on behalf of children who are or were deprived of parental support due to the absence of a parent or parents, but, for other reasons, are not recipients of IV-A, including those children who are receiving foster care services from funds other than Title IV-E of the Social Security Act.

3. The application on behalf of the child for child support services may be made by either of the child's parents (custodial or noncustodial), an alleged father, legal guardian, or other person or agency.

4. When the applicant is not a parent of the child, an application for child support services must be obtained for each noncustodial parent.

5. Requests for Application

a. When an individual requests an application or CSS services in person, the CSS Unit shall provide an application on the day requested.

b. When an individual requests an application by phone or in writing, the application shall be sent by the county CSS Unit within no more than five (5) business days from the date of request.

c. The application shall include the following information:

1) available services;

2) the individual's rights and responsibilities;

3) fees, cost recovery and distribution policies;

4) case categorization and the information necessary to change the category; and

5) the lack of an attorney-client relationship.

d. The CSS Unit must maintain a log of requests for services which includes the following information:

1) name of person requesting an application;

2) type of request (in person, phone, mail);

3) date of request;

4) date the application was mailed or provided;

5) date the application is accepted.

6. The application for non-PA CSS services shall be made on the Application for Child Support Services, as prescribed by the state department. The standard Application for Child Support Services shall include the following elements:

a. The full name of the noncustodial parent;

b. The full name, date of birth, place of birth, sex and social security number of each child for whom support is sought;

c. The signature, address, telephone number, date of birth and social security number of the applicant and date of application.

7. Acceptance of Applications

a. An application may be filed in any CSS office. If there is an existing case in another county, then the application shall be forwarded to the appropriate enforcing county within two (2) working days of receipt in the original county.

b. An application shall be accepted as filed on the date it is received in the CSS office, if one or more of the children associated with a specific obligee and obligor are not emancipated as defined in the child support order and the laws of the state where the child support order was entered, and it includes the following information:

1) applicant's name, address and social security number;

2) the name of the noncustodial parent(s), if known;

3) name, birth date, sex, place of birth and social security number, if available, for each child;

4) applicant's signature, either handwritten or electronic.

c. Acceptance of an application involves recording the date of receipt on the application. The application must be entered into the ACSES for the application fee to be assessed..

8. County CSS Units may collect costs incurred in excess of fees. These costs shall be determined on a case by case basis and shall be used to reduce CSS program expenditures.

9. Non-PA obligees shall be charged an annual twenty-five dollar ($25) certification fee for collection of IRS tax refunds only if an actual intercept occurs. The fee shall be deducted from the tax refund intercept. The certification fee must be used to reduce CSS program expenditures.

If there is more than one tax refund intercept for a case, the twenty-five dollar ($25) certification fee will be charged only once, regardless of the number of obligors, and will be deducted from the first intercept(s) that occurs. If the total amount of all tax refunds for a case is less than twenty-five dollars ($25), the amount of refunds will satisfy the certification fee.

10. Non-PA obligees shall be charged an annual thirty-five dollar ($35) service fee once five hundred and fifty dollars ($550) has been disbursed to the family.

The service fee will be reported to the federal government as program income, and will be shared between the federal, state, and county governments.

The service fee will be collected for each case set in all intrastate in-state and initiating intergovernmental cases on the ACSES if the $550 disbursement threshold is reached.

C. Locate Only Cases

Persons who request only noncustodial parent locator service may complete the Request for Parent Locator Service. The Colorado State Parent Locator Service shall provide such caretaker with instructions for completing the form and fees to be paid by the caretaker. A non-PA application form is not required.

6.201.3FOSTER CARE CASES [Rev. eff. 4/1/12]

A. Appropriately referred IV-E or non-IV-E foster care cases pursuant to the CDHS Social Services staff manual (12 CCR 2509-1) shall be provided the full range of services as required by the Child Support Services program upon referral. Cases that are not appropriate for referral shall not be initiated.

B. Referral is defined as receipt of the referral packet from the county child welfare agency or the date the case appears in the county's on-line referral list. If the referral is manual, counties must document the date received by the CSS Unit as the referral date on the ACSES.

C. Child support services applications are not required for IV-E foster care cases. An application for child support services, as prescribed by the State Department, shall be completed by the county department having custody of the child(ren) for all non-IV-E foster care cases.

6.201.4LOW-INCOME CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE RECIPIENTS [Rev. eff. 10/1/09]

A. Appropriately referred Low-Income Child Care Assistance cases, pursuant to Section 3.905.1 of the CDHS "Income Maintenance" rule manual (9 CCR 2503-1) shall be provided the full range of services as required by the Child Support Services program upon referral and completion of the State prescribed application form. Referral is defined as receipt of the referral packet from the county Low-Income Child Care Assistance program.

B. The CSS Unit must document the case record with the date of referral, which is the date the CSS Unit received the packet. The CSS Unit must also have a process in place to notify the Child Care Assistance program within five business days after the recipient provides the completed application to the CSS Unit.

6.201.5MEDICAID REFERRAL CASES [Rev. eff. 10/1/09]

Appropriately referred Medicaid cases shall be provided the full range of services required by the Child Support Services (CSS) program without an application requirement. "Appropriately referred" means that the Medicaid applicant requested CSS services.

9 CCR 2504-1-6.201

39 CR 23, December 10, 2016, effective 1/1/2017

40 CR 21, November 10, 2017, effective 12/1/2017

42 CR 11, June 10, 2019, effective 6/30/2019

43 CR 17, September 10, 2020, effective 9/30/2020

43 CR 21, November 10, 2020, effective 12/1/2020

44 CR 23, December 10, 2021, effective 1/1/2022

45 CR 01, January 10, 2022, effective 3/1/2022

46 CR 11, June 10, 2023, effective 7/1/2023