CSPMTL 43 (Allocation Hierarchies and Prorating Collections; PRWORA Assignment, Limited Assignment, and Distribution)
Child Support Program Manual Transmittal Letter No. 43
September 25, 2009
TO: All Child Support Program Manual Holders
FROM: Douglas E. Lumpkin, Director
SUBJECT: Allocation Hierarchies and Prorating Collections; PRWORA Assignment, Limited Assignment, and Distribution

The Office of Child Support (OCS) has adopted changes to rules in Chapter 5101:12-80 of the Ohio Administrative Code in order to comply with new federal and state laws.

Federal law: The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 requires support assigned under a Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefit period on or after October 1, 2009 to be limited to the amount of support owed during the period that TANF benefits are received. (In Ohio, TANF benefits are administered through the Ohio Works First program.) However, any support assigned on or after October 1, 1997 and before October 1, 2009 continues to follow the assignment requirements of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA).

State law: Amended Substitute House Bill 119 of the 127th General Assembly requires all child support orders issued or modified in Ohio to include a cash medical support obligation.

In accordance with these requirements, OCS has rescinded the following rules:

Rescinded RuleRescinded Rule TitlePrior Effective Date of RuleEffective Date of Rescission
5101:12‑80‑10Allocation hierarchy for collections.6/15/200610/1/2009
This rule describes the standard allocation hierarchy for support collections.
This rule has been rescinded and replaced by a new rule with the same rule number but different title because more than 50% of the text was stricken and a comparable amount of new text was added.
5101:12‑80‑10.1Federal income tax refund offset allocation hierarchy.6/15/200610/1/2009
This rule describes the allocation hierarchy for federal income tax refund offset collections.
This rule has been rescinded and replaced by a new rule with the same rule number but different title because more than 50% of the text was stricken and a comparable amount of new text was added.
5101:12‑80‑10.2Prorating collections.6/15/200610/1/2009
This rule describes how to prorate a support collection when the Office of Child Support (OCS) or a child support enforcement agency (CSEA) receives a collection, the obligor has more than one support order, and there are no instructions included with the collection or remitter instructions cannot be obtained for apportioning the payment between the support orders.
This rule has been rescinded and replaced by a new rule with the same rule number but different title because more than 50% of the text was stricken and a comparable amount of new text was added.
5101:12‑80‑14Assigned support collections.6/15/200610/1/2009
This rule describes how support is assigned when a child or family receives Title IV-A Ohio Works First (OWF) or Title IV-E foster care maintenance (FCM) benefits, including converting (known as "sweeping") unassigned arrears into conditionally assigned arrears when the benefits start and stop, and ensuring that the amount of assigned support retained by the state does not exceed the unreimbursed assistance amount. The rule follows the provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) regarding an OWF assignment and also includes definitions.
This rule has been rescinded and replaced by a new rule with the same rule number but different title. Definitions contained in this rule for "assignment" and "support" are not needed in the rule and have not been replaced; the definition for "futures" is now contained in rule 5101:12‑80‑10 and the remaining definitions are now contained in rule 5101:12‑80‑14. Information from this rule regarding an OWF assignment is now contained in paragraph (D) of rule 5101:12‑80‑14. Information from this rule regarding an FCM assignment is now contained in rule 5101:12‑80‑14.2.
5101:12‑80‑14.1Distribution of assigned support.6/15/200610/1/2009
This rule describes how assigned support is distributed in a current Title IV-A Ohio Works First (OWF) or Title IV-E Foster Care Maintenance (FCM) assistance case and in a former OWF or FCM assistance case.
This rule has been rescinded and replaced by a new rule with the same rule number but different title. Information from this rule regarding an OWF case is now contained in rule 5101:12‑80‑14.1. Information from this rule regarding an FCM case is now contained in rule 5101:12‑80‑14.2.

OCS has adopted the following rules:

Adopted RuleAdopted Rule TitleEffective Date of Adopted Rule
5101:12‑80‑10Allocation hierarchy for support collections.10/1/2009
This rule describes the standard allocation hierarchy for support collections.
Because a case may have pre-existing unassigned, unassigned conditionally assigned, or unassigned during assistance arrears when a limited assignment benefit period starts, and these arrears do not "sweep" under limited assignment, a current assistance case may now have both assigned and unassigned arrears. Therefore, unassigned, unassigned conditionally assigned, and unassigned during assistance arrears are included in this rule in the hierarchy for a current assistance case.
Cash medical support obligations are also included in the hierarchy. In addition, in response to multiple policy inquiries received, the five different types of monetary medical support obligations are individually identified:
Cash medical support, i.e. an on-going, monthly obligation issued by a court or child support enforcement agency (CSEA), for which a child is the subject, to be paid by the obligor when private health insurance coverage for the child is not provided as ordered or not available;
On-going medical support, i.e. an on-going, monthly obligation issued by a court, for which a child or obligee is the subject;
Reimbursement for birth costs ordered to be paid to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), i.e. a judgment of an amount certain, issued by the court, to reimburse ODJFS for birth costs covered by Medicaid;
Reimbursement for medical expenses other than birth costs ordered to be paid to ODJFS, i.e. a judgment of an amount certain, issued by the court, to reimburse ODJFS for a specific medical expense other than birth costs (e.g., surgery) covered by Medicaid; and
Reimbursement for medical expenses ordered to be paid to an individual other than ODJFS, i.e. a judgment of an amount certain, issued by the court, to reimburse the obligee for specific a medical expense (e.g., birth costs, the child's braces).
Additional changes from rescinded rule 5101:12‑80‑10 include: identifying in paragraph (A) what obligations shall not be satisfied when the collection is from unemployment compensation or a state income tax refund offset; removing the word "unpaid" from the definition of accrue because it is redundant; including "debt" in the definition of "arrears"; specifying what obligations are assigned pursuant to what benefit is received in the definition of "assigned arrears"; adding the provision that the assignment must have been entered into before October 1, 2009 to the definition of "conditionally assigned arrears" because conditionally assigned arrears will no longer be created under limited assignment; removing "provision of living quarters, school related expenses, clothing or miscellaneous allowance" from the definition of "current obligation" because these obligations are not specifically identified in the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) and exist in the support enforcement tracking system as sub-orders because of a business need; adding the definition of "debt" and "futures"; adding the definition of "determination", but also maintaining the term "ordered payment" because the Ohio Title IV-D community is familiar with that term; adding the definition of "past care support", as described in ORC section 3111.13; using the term "public assistance" only regarding OWF or Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits; removing the definition of "support order" because it is not needed; adding distinction in the definition of "unassigned pre-assistance arrears" for Title IV-E foster care maintenance (FCM) cases because these arrears are not created in an FCM waiver case; clarifying that a collection will allocate to interest on unassigned arrears before allocating to interest on assigned arrears; and adding that any remaining funds shall be issued to the obligor when the collection is from unemployment compensation.
5101:12‑80‑10.1Allocation hierarchy for federal income tax refund offset collections.10/1/2009
This rule describes the allocation hierarchy for federal income tax refund offset collections.
Changes from rescinded rule 5101:12‑80‑10.1 include: adding "past care arrears" and "cash medical support arrears" because these obligations are included in this hierarchy; distinguishing between "unassigned conditionally assigned" and "assigned conditionally assigned" arrears; identifying the specific monetary medical support obligations (see descriptions above); and changing the word "returned" to "issued" in paragraph (C) because "returned" implies that the funds were previously issued to the obligor.
5101:12‑80‑10.2Prorating support collections.10/1/2009
This rule describes how to prorate a support collection when the Office of Child Support (OCS) or a child support enforcement agency (CSEA) receives a collection, the obligor has more than one support order, and there are no instructions included with the collection or remitter instructions cannot be obtained for apportioning the payment between the support orders.
Changes from rescinded rule 5101:12‑80‑10.2 include: replacing the term "eligible" with "qualified" because "eligible" is primarily associated with arrears that were submitted for a federal income tax refund offset collection; adding the definition "monthly obligation" for the purposes of proration; adding an additional case scenario in paragraph (C) per the request of the OCS Payment Analysis and Account Reconciliation Section; specifying that prorated collections are subject to the allocation hierarchies; clarifying the language regarding the proration calculations; and adding additional language in paragraph (E) to specify that when the prorated collection is from a federal income tax refund offset collection, the collection shall first be applied to eligible assigned arrears and then to eligible unassigned arrears.
5101:12‑80‑14Limited assignment, PRWORA assignment, and distribution of assigned support collections.10/1/2009
This rule describes the provisions of limited assignment and Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) assignment and provides related definitions. This rule and its supplemental rules do not apply to medical support.
Changes from rescinded rule 5101:12‑80‑14 include: clarifying that the rule and its supplemental rules do not apply to medical support; adding definitions for "assignment period", "limited assignment", and "PRWORA assignment"; adding the provisions of limited assignment; distinguishing when a Title IV-A Ohio Works First (OWF) public assistance benefit period is subject to limited assignment and when it is subject to PRWORA assignment; and specifying that limited assignment and PRWORA assignment are only applicable to an OWF assignment and are not applicable to a Title IV-E Foster Care Maintenance or Medicaid assignment.
5101:12‑80‑14.1Distribution of assigned support in a Title IV-D public assistance case.10/1/2009
This rule describes distribution in a Title IV-D public assistance (i.e. OWF) case.
Changes from rescinded rule 5101:12‑80‑14.1 include: moving definitions to rule 5101:12‑80‑14; and moving language regarding FCM cases to rule 5101:12‑80‑14.2.
5101:12‑80‑14.2Assignment and distribution in a Title IV-D/Title IV-E foster care maintenance case.10/1/2009
This rule describes the provisions of assignment and distribution in a Title IV-D/Title IV-E foster care maintenance (FCM) case.
Changes from rescinded rule 5101:12‑80‑14.1 include: adding definitions for "FCM non-waiver case", "FCM waiver case", "grant amount", "actual IV-E grant amount", and "average IV-E grant amount"; and clarifying that all child support is assigned and retained by the state during the FCM assignment period for an FCM waiver case.

INSTRUCTIONS:

When the CSPMTL is published, the CSPM will be updated as follows:

  • A rescinded rule will be moved from the CSPM to the OAC Archive section of the eManuals.
  • An adopted rule will be inserted.

The rules and forms in the CSPM can be accessed at:

http://emanuals.jfs.ohio.gov.

Forms can also be accessed on the ODJFS Forms Central InnerWeb page at:

http://www.odjfs.state.oh.us/forms/inner.asp

or on the ODJFS Forms Central Internet page at:

http://www.odjfs.state.oh.us/forms/inter.asp

INSTRUCTIONS for CSEA INTERNAL PROCEDURAL HANDBOOK:

Paragraph (I)(1) of OAC rule 5101:12-1-01 states that, whenever a program change requires modification of local procedures, the CSEA is required to revise its internal procedural handbook and submit the revision to OCS within thirty days of the revision. The CSEA should carefully review the adopted and amended rules contained in this CSPMTL to determine whether they require the CSEA to update its internal procedural handbook. The CSEA should give particular care when reviewing the following rules as they contain new or modified requirements with which the CSEA must comply:

RULEPARAGRAPH(s)
5101:12‑80‑10.2E