BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 610
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
610 (Jones-Sawyer)
As Amended April 8, 2015
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Judiciary |9-1 |Mark Stone, Wagner, |Gallagher |
| | |Alejo, Chau, Chiu, | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Maienschein, | |
| | |O'Donnell | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |16-1 |Gomez, Bigelow, Bloom, |Gallagher |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, Weber, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Continues, effective immediately as urgency legislation,
a pilot program to suspend the obligation to pay child support
while an obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized, except as specified. Specifically, this bill:
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1)Provides, until January 1, 2020, that the obligation to pay
child support is suspended for the period of time in which the
obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized, as
defined, for any period exceeding 90 consecutive days, unless
the obligor has the means to pay support while incarcerated or
institutionalized or was incarcerated for any domestic violence
offense or as a result of failure to pay child support. Takes
effect immediately as urgency legislation.
2)Provides that the suspension only applies during the period of
incarceration or institutionalization and automatically resumes
to the amount of the pre-suspension order on the first day of
the first full month after release.
3)Allows a local child support agency (LCSA) to administratively
adjust the order based on the suspension during incarceration or
institutionalization if: a) The LCSA verifies the arrears and
interest that accrued during the period of incarceration or
institutionalization; b) the LCSA notifies the obligor and the
obligee, in writing, of the possible adjustment and neither
objects within 30 days; and c) the LCSA confirms that the
obligor did not have the means to pay child support while
incarcerated and was not incarcerated for domestic violence or
for failure to pay child support.
4)Prohibits the LCSA, if either the child support obligor or the
oblige objects, from administratively adjusting the arrears and
requires the LCSA instead to file a motion to adjust the arrears
with the court and to serve copies of the motion on the parties.
5)Requires, by January 1, 2016, the Department of Child Support
Services (DCSS), in consultation with the Judicial Council, to
develop forms to implement the administrative adjustment
process.
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6)Requires DCSS and the Judicial Council to conduct an evaluation
of the effectiveness of the administrative adjustment process
and to report the results of the review, as well as any
recommended changes, to the Assembly and Senate Judiciary
Committees by January 1, 2019. Requires the evaluation to
include a review of the ease of the process to both the obligor
and obligee, as well as an analysis of the number of cases
administratively adjusted, the number of cases adjusted in
court, and the number of cases not adjusted.
7)Re-establishes, effective January 1, 2020, the original pilot
project that provides that the obligation to pay child support
pursuant to an order that is being enforced under Title IV-D of
the Social Security Act is suspended for the period of time in
which the obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized for any period exceeding 90 consecutive days,
unless the obligor has the means to pay support while
incarcerated or institutionalized.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes DCSS as the single statewide agency responsible for
the administration and management of California's child support
enforcement program.
2)Requires, at the local level, the child support enforcement
program to be run by local child support agencies, which shall
have the responsibility for promptly and effectively
establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support
obligations.
3)Provides that a support order may be modified or terminated at
any time as the court determines necessary. Provides that such
support modification or termination may only be made pursuant to
the filing of a motion or an order to show cause.
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4)Prohibits states from enacting laws providing for the
retroactive modification or termination of a support order,
except that an order modifying or terminating a support order
may be made retroactive to the date of the filing of a notice of
motion or order to show cause to modify or terminate the order.
5)Effective July 1, 2011, provides that the obligation to pay
child support pursuant to an order that is being enforced under
Title IV-D of the Social Security Act is suspended for the
period of time in which the obligor is incarcerated or
involuntarily institutionalized for any period exceeding 90
consecutive days, unless the obligor has the means to pay
support while incarcerated or institutionalized. Allows the
obligor, upon release from incarceration or
institutionalization, to petition the court to adjust the
arrears pursuant to the suspension. Requires the obligor to
show proof of dates of incarceration or involuntary
institutionalization, as well as proof that the obligor did not
have the means to pay support. Requires the obligor to serve
copies of the petition on the support obligee and the LCSA, who
may file objections to the petition. Provides that arrears may
not be adjusted until the court has approved the petition.
Sunsets these provisions effective July 1, 2015.
6)Provides that, notwithstanding 5), the court may continue the
support obligation if the obligor is incarcerated or
involuntarily institutionalized for any domestic violence
offense against the custodial parent or the supported child, any
offense that could be enjoined by a domestic violence protective
order, or for failure to pay child support.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
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1)One-time minor costs of approximately $100,000 to accommodate
changes to the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) System. It is
anticipated that this one-time cost is absorbable within
existing resources.
2)One-time minor and absorbable costs to DCSS to develop new forms
and prepare the evaluation report.
3)On-going minor and absorbable costs to the DCSS for increased
administrative workload to send notifications, file motions, and
serve copies.
4)No significant costs to the courts. This bill allows an
administrative modification of support awards which potentially
reduces the workload on courts. Costs to create/modify forms are
minor and absorbable.
5)The suspension of the child support orders for those who are
incarcerated is not expected to result in increased revenues and
collections; although it may limit the accumulation of child
support arrears. The estimated impact on child support arrears
will likely have a negligible impact on federal performance
incentives earned.
COMMENTS: When noncustodial parents are incarcerated, unless they
seek a modification of their child support order, their support
obligation continues unabated, and interest accrues on the unpaid
debt. According to a study of California's child support caseload
by the Urban Institute, only about half of incarcerated child
support obligors had reported incomes in the two years prior to
their incarceration and, of those, their median annual net income
was just under $3,000. Their median arrears were $14,564.
Researchers have discovered that the build-up of uncollectible
child support while an obligor is incarcerated has implications
not just for the obligor, but also for the state and the family.
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A just-released obligor, with a large support debt and few
employment prospects, is far more likely to avoid the formal
economy and, therefore, pay no child support and have little or no
contact with his or her children. In addition, the failure to
collect ongoing child support will result in the state receiving
less incentive funding from the federal government. Finally,
recidivism rates appear to increase for obligors with large child
support debts.
In response to these grim findings, the Legislature created a
pilot program - only through July 1, 2015, and only for cases
being enforced by the state child support program - to suspend the
obligation to pay child support for the period of time in which an
obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized, unless
the obligor otherwise has the means to pay support while
incarcerated or institutionalized. Upon release, the obligation
to pay child support immediately resumes to the amount specified
in the child support order prior to the suspension of that
obligation.
Unfortunately, that program has not proved very successful at
preventing the build-up of uncollectible arrears. Data from DCSS
show that very few noncustodial sought to have their arrears
suspended once out of prison - just 178 petitions were filed - and
of those only 14 (or 8%) were granted under the pilot program.
That program is scheduled to sunset on July 1st of this year.
This bill seeks to extent and expand that pilot in the hopes that
the expanded pilot program can be more successful at helping
reducing uncollectible child support and in helping noncustodial
parents better support their children.
Analysis Prepared by:
Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0000218
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