Child Support Program Costs

Division 17, Chapter 2, Article 4 of the Family Code deals with program costs for child support enforcement in this state.

Section 17701 established within California’s child support program a quality assurance and performance improvement program, pursuant to which local child support agencies, in partnership with the Department of Child Support Services, are required to monitor and measure program performance and compliance, and ensure the implementation of actions necessary to meet state and federal requirements and to continuously improve the quality of child support program services. Also, each local child support agency is required to implement a quality assurance and performance improvement program that includes five specified elements.

Section 17702 requires the department to assess, at least once every three years, each county’s compliance with federal and state child support laws and regulations in effect for the time period being reviewed, using a statistically valid sample of cases. Counties found to be out of compliance are to be assessed annually, until they are found to be in compliance. The information for the assessment is to be based on reviews conducted and reports produced by either state or county staff, as determined by the department.

In addition, in order to meet federal self-assessment requirements, the department is required to conduct an annual assessment of the state’s compliance, using a statistically valid statewide sample of cases. And, a county is only eligible for the state incentives if the department determines that the county is in compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations or if the county has a corrective action plan in place that has been certified by the department pursuant to this subdivision.

Section 17702.5 created the Child Support Collections Recovery Fund in the State Treasury, and it is administered by the department. The funds consists of two pots of money. All moneys must be used to make payments or advances to local child support agencies of the federal share of administrative payments for costs incurred pursuant to this article.

Section 17703 established a revolving fund in the State Treasury which is known as the Child Support Services Advance Fund. All moneys deposited into the fund are for the purpose of making a consolidated payment or advance to counties, state agencies, or other governmental entities, comprised of the state and federal share of costs associated with the programs administered by the Department of Child Support Services.

In addition, the fund may be used for the purpose of making a consolidated payment to a payee, comprised of the state and federal shares of local assistance costs associated with the programs administered by the Department of Child Support Services. The amounts to be transferred to the Child Support Services Advance Fund at any time is determined by the department.

Section 17704 requires the department to pay to each county a child support incentive for child support collections. Every county receives the federal child support incentive. The combined federal and state incentive payments is 13.6% of distributed collections. In addition to the federal child support incentive, each county may also receive a state child support incentive. A county receives the state child support incentive if it elects to do both of the specified actions.

Section 17708 requires each participating county child support enforcement program to provide required data to the department on a quarterly basis.

Section 17710 requires each county to be responsible for any administrative expenditures for administering the child support program not covered by federal and state funds.

Section 17712 specifies that funds are to be provided to the Judicial Council for the nonfederal share of costs for the costs of child support commissioners. The Judicial Council has to distribute the funds to the counties for the purpose of matching federal funds for the costs of child support commissioners and family law facilitators and related costs.