BILL NUMBER: AB 667 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 26, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jones
FEBRUARY 17, 2005
An act to amend Sections 17600 and 17602 of
add and repeal Section 17716 of the Family Code, relating
to child support.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 667, as amended, Jones. Child support enforcement.
(1) Existing law establishes
the Department of Child Support Services to administer laws and
regulations pertaining to the administration of child support
enforcement obligations. Existing law requires each county to
maintain a local child support agency.
Existing law requires t he Director of
Child Support Services to review and approve annual budgets submitted
by the local child support agencies to ensure each local child
support agency operates an effective and efficient program
that complies with all federal and state laws, regulations, and
directives. Existing law provides for the payment of a federal
incentive to every county, and also establishes a state child
support incentive funding program permitting a county that comes
within specified standards of performance to receive state child
support incentive funds. Each participating county is
required to provide specified county child support information to the
department. The department is required to develop regulations to
ensure the uniform reporting of this information in consultation with
specified entities, including the California Family Support Council.
This bill would revise these provisions, relating to the
department's collection of information from counties participating in
the state child support incentive program, to instead require the
submission of information by local child support agencies. The bill
would add specified performance measures and would eliminate an
exemption for a county unable to comply with a reporting requirement.
The bill would require the department to develop regulations in
consultation with the California Child Support Directors Association,
rather than the California Family Support Council, and to post
comparative data on its Web site, as specified. The bill would impose
a state-mandated local program by increasing the duties of local
child support agencies to provide information to the department. The
bill would make conforming changes.
(2) Existing law requires the Department of Child Support Services
to adopt the federal minimum standards as the baseline standard of
performance for the local child support agencies and work in
consultation with the local child support agencies to develop program
performance targets on an annual federal fiscal year basis. In
determining these performance measures, the department is required to
consider and analyze information on uncollected child support
arrearages, and use this analysis to establish program priorities.
The Director of Child Support Services is required to adopt a 3-phase
process to be used statewide when a local child support agency is
out of compliance with the performance standards adopted by the
department.
This bill instead would require the state child support program to
achieve specified performance targets for the performance measures
described in (1) above, and would delete the requirement that the
department consider and analyze information on uncollected child
support arrearages. The bill would require the Director of Child
Support Services to adopt a 2-phase process, rather than a 3-phase,
to be used statewide when a local child support agency is out of
compliance with a specified performance standard relating to the
percentage of caseload with collections. If a local child support
agency fails to achieve performance targets or to comply with other
requirements, the department would be required to require the removal
of the local administrator or to assess a performance incentive
charge against the local child support agency, as specified.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
This bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to
conduct an evaluation, as specified, of the adequacy of the current
child support services budgeting methodology and make recommendations
for revising the budgeting methodology in order to ensure accurate
and adequate funding of the state child support program. The bill
would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to report its findings
and recommendations to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2007.
The bill also would require the Department of Child Support Services
to provide to the Legislative Analyst's Office requested caseload
performance and expenditure data to ensure timely completion of the
report.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(a) Child support is critical to the financial security of
children throughout California.
(b) The existing approach to budgeting and funding of child
support services was established before the current federal incentive
structure was implemented, and it is in the best interest of
children for the Legislature to find out if the system is effective
as a means of maximizing child support collections for families,
maximizing federal incentive payments, and adequately funding the
program today.
SEC. 2. Section 17716 is added to the
Family Code , to read:
17716.
(a) The Legislative Analyst's Office shall conduct an evaluation
of the adequacy of the current child support services budgeting
methodology and make recommendations for revising the budgeting
methodology, including appropriate caseload standards, in order to
ensure accurate and adequate funding of the state child support
program. In preparing this evaluation, the Legislative Analyst's
Office shall consider the impact of the following factors on the
budgeting methodology:
(1) The current state and federal statutory and regulatory
environment for child support services.
(2) The state of the art advancements and best practices.
(3) The potential impact of the California Child Support Automated
System on the workload of workers in the system.
(4) The comparable caseload and workload levels in other states.
(5) The impact on workload of timely establishing and collecting
child support to meet children's needs.
(b) In preparing this evaluation, the Legislative Analyst's Office
shall consult with representatives of the department, the Child
Support Directors Association of California, the California State
Association of Counties, child support services consumers, children's
advocacy organizations, child support worker organizations, and
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
(c) The department shall provide the Legislative Analyst's Office
requested caseload performance and expenditure data to ensure timely
completion of the report required pursuant to subdivision (d).
(d) The Legislative Analyst's Office shall report the findings and
recommendations of the evaluation to the appropriate policy and
fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2007.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2008, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2008, deletes or extends
that date. All matter omitted in this version of the bill
appears in the bill as amended in Assembly, 04/13/05.