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SECTION 3
Information gathering is an important aspect of CSE. The information includes address, employment, assets and/or resources available to successfully pay support for their child(ren). This information is obtained in a variety of methods that will be discussed in the subsequent section.
It is the policy of the Child Support Enforcement Program (CSE) to attempt to verify the location, employment assets and/or resources available for every Non-Custodial Parent (NCP) for whom paternity or an obligation needs to be established or enforced. Cases in which a good cause claim has been established are exempt from this policy.
Under the provisions of the Social Security Act, the Child Support Enforcement Program has established a State Parent Locator Service utilizing relevant sources of information and records in the State and other states as appropriate and the Federal Parent Locator Service. The IV-D agency must also cooperate in locating an NCP against whom any action is being taken under a IV-D program in any other state.
The purpose and objective of the Parent Locator Service system is to provide a method by which clues regarding the whereabouts of NCP can be obtained for the purpose of contacting him/her for establishing and enforcing child support obligations. The function of the Parent Locator Service is to obtain and transmit to authorized persons the most recent home address and/or employment information. It must be emphasized that information obtained by any Parent Locator Service must only be used for purposes related to child support enforcement.
Parent Locator Services include the use of local resources, the State and Federal Parent Locator Services as well as other states resources, when appropriate.
The location and verification process begins with information provided by the CP/caretaker relative. If the CP/caretaker relative can provide verifiable location and employer information, additional information may not be necessary.
If this is not the case, the service provider should obtain as much information about the NCP from as many sources as possible. Much of this information is obtained from the SE-5033 or SE-5033.1 completed by the CP/caretaker relative. The information from the form should be combined with a personal interview with the CP/caretaker relative of the child(ren), if necessary.
The following information is helpful in locating NCPs and should be secured, if possible:
- A physical description including a photograph, if one can be obtained
- Social Security Number (SSN)
- Date of birth
- Union membership
- A License held (i.e. drivers, hunting, commercial, etc.)
- Work history including information about most recent jobs, benefits from unemployment compensation, etc.
- Names and addresses of friends and relatives
- Information about unusual activities and pastimes
- Military service, including the service number
- Membership in organizations such as VFW and fraternal organizations
- Information about prior (or current) incarceration
New or additional information should be included as part of the case record as it is obtained.
The service provider is required to obtain as much pertinent information as possible about the NCP. If the location of the NCP is unknown, locate information is to be secured from any available resource.
Some locate information is supplied by automated sources, however CSE cannot rely solely on these. Staff must utilize and develop sources of information. Some suggested sources are:
- Relatives and Friends
- Directories
- Employers, Occupations, Business Associates
- Trade Associations and Unions
- Law Enforcement
- Military Services, Past Service, Veterans Administration
- Societies, Lodges and Churches
- Real Estate, Insurance and Bank Accounts
- Credit Agency
- Schools
- Utility Companies
- Post Office
- Federal Employment
- Directory Assistance NCPs Residing in Kansas
- Recreational License
DL provides the following services regarding locate information:
- DL computers electronically interface with KAECSES to match information regarding wage information for a CSE person, which may lead to a current employer.
- DL monitors and updates duplicate income sources. When income is reported for a duplicated income source, only the most recently created income source will be updated and have quarterly wage information attached to it.
3320 Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
CSE Staff has online access to the Department of Revenue’s Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for driver’s license and vehicle registration files. Access to driver photographs, as per KSA 74-2012, is restricted unless one has either a court order directing DMV to make the disclosure, or a specific provision of law authorizing disclosure of DMV photos to them.
3330 Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS)
SRS has several resources that may assist in locating an NCP. Information may be located on KAECSES, Old KAECSES, EES, etc. If the approximate location of the NCP is known, a paper file may be located and contain helpful information.
As part of the registration of a case, a search is made within the KAECSES system to determine if the NCP is known to the agency.
3340 Bureau of Vital Statistics (BVS)
The Bureau of Vital Statistics (BVS) of the Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) maintains birth records for all children born in Kansas.
BVS has loaded all historical records into the automated birth files, including the Social Security Numbers of the parents of children registered after November 1, 1990. If a father has been named on a birth certificate, his name will appear on this screen. If no father has been named, that section will be blank.
3350 Kansas New Hires Directory (KNHD)
Employers are required to report all newly hired employees, within 20 days, to the Kansas New Hire Directory operated by the Kansas Department of Labor (DL). DL runs a daily cross match against a file of NCPs provided by CSE and reports any matches.
3400 FEDERAL RESOURCE SEARCHES
3410 FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE (FPLS)
The Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) supports various programs and initiatives which support the location of participants in child support orders, communication between states and online profile information regarding how counties, states, regions and international offices operate.
(See supplemental information)
FPLS includes services operated by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE):
3410.1 Federal Case Registry (FCR)
The FCR is a National registry containing state IV-D and Non-IVD case data that also serves as a pointer system to help locate persons across state lines.
Personal data in the FCR is matched daily against employment data in the National Directory of New Hire (NDNH). The information is then generated to the appropriate states.
3410.2 National Directory of New Hires (NDNH)
The National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) is a national directory of employment and unemployment insurance from state and federal agencies.
3420 FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DATA MATCH (FIDM)
Federal legislation allows financial institutions to provide information concerning open accounts held by delinquent child support obligors
The following financial institutions can participate in FIDM:
- Banks
- Savings and loans
- Federal and State Credit Unions
- Benefit associations
- Insurance Companies
- Safe Deposit companies
- Money Market Mutual Funds
3420.1 Multi-State Financial Institution Data Match (MSFIDM)
The Office of Child Support Enforcement sends a file of delinquent obligors to participating multi-state financial institutions quarterly. Resulting matches with open accounts are returned to the states for enforcement.
Kansas has also developed agreements with certain instate financial institutions to provide information about open accounts held by delinquent child support obligors.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is authorized to disclose tax return information to state Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agencies. The information will be disclosed only to the extent necessary for the use of the agency in establishing and collecting child support obligations and locating individuals for the establishment or enforcement of such obligations.
3430.1 Disclosure of Tax Return Information from IRS
IV-D agencies must operate under strict guidelines in order to comply with the rules allowing them to benefit from this service.
In general, no officer, employee or contractor of CSE can disclose Federal Tax Information (FTI) except to:
- The individual against whom child support obligations are being sought
- His/her legal representative, or
- CSE program or contractor staff on a need-to-know basis in connection with their official duties
The Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) will provide the addresses and Social Security numbers for the CSE persons who have filed a tax return.
For more information see:
Tax information including addresses, may not be used in litigation and may not be divulged to third parties due to strict safeguards.
The information IRS provides is intended to serve as a starting point which may lead to other sources from which the information can be obtained and used during litigation and other CSE activity.
CSE staff must not refer to the IRS data when dealing with other sources.
3430.4 Unauthorized Inspection or Disclosure of Return Information Any person who willfully inspects tax return information, except in performance of their job, may be subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and/or imprisonment of not more than one (1) year.
Any person who violates the confidentiality provisions set down by IRS and discloses tax return information to unauthorized persons shall be guilty of a felony punishable by fine not exceeding $5,000 and/or imprisonment of not more than five (5) years.
3430.5 Civil Damages for Unauthorized Disclosure of Returns or Return Information Whenever any person knowingly, or by reason of negligence, discloses unauthorized tax return information regarding a taxpayer, the taxpayer may bring a civil action for damages against the responsible person.
3430.6 Safeguarding Requirements for IRS
Information received from IRS is subject to strict safeguards and record keeping. The CSE Program Administrator or Central Office administrator will be responsible for safeguarding the IRS information in his/her area. This responsibility includes:
- Insuring staff are trained concerning the handling of IRS information
- Conducting an annual Disclosure Awareness Program
- Developing and maintaining an up to date security plan
- Securing signed IRS Safeguarding statements
Each person having access to IRS information shall sign an IRS Safeguarding Statement acknowledging the requirements for safeguarding IRS information and the penalties for unlawful inspections and/or disclosure. A copy of this statement should be retained by the individual and a copy retained by the CSE Program Administrator or their designee or Central Office administrator.
The CSE Program Administrators or Central Office administrator will be responsible for submitting a security plan for safeguarding IRS information for each office in their areas.
The plan should include:
- How the information will be handled, stored and destroyed
- Identification of the designated CSE staff member and alternates by name, position and location
- Specification that these persons have been given permission to access the locked containers where IRS information is kept. The plan should be amended as necessary with changes in personnel and as requested by the CSE Program Administrator
3430.8 Disclosure Awareness Program
The CSE Program Administrator or Central Office administrator will be responsible to conduct an annual Disclosure Awareness Program under which all employees and contractors having access to Federal tax information are notified of the confidentiality provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), a definition of what returns and return information is and the civil and criminal sanctions for unauthorized inspection and disclosure.
Each CSE Program Administrator should maintain the latest Safeguard Procedures Report (SPR) on file.
3430.9 Record Keeping Requirements
SRS personnel authorized by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to receive Federal Tax Information (FTI) are required to establish a permanent system of standardized records of requests made, by or to them, for disclosure of FTI.
This record keeping should include internal request among agency employees as well as request outside of the agency. The records are to be maintained for five (5) years or the applicable records control schedule, whichever is longer.
The Child Support Enforcement Network (CSENet) is a nationwide communications network that transfers child support case data among all states.
CSENet is designed to support state follow-up on Federal Case Registry (FCR) data matches. The CSE system accesses the FCR data and triggers the generation of an alert to the CO regarding receipt of the information. This process automatically allows the exchange of computer information.
Automated processes from state to state have been mandated by federal policy for a computer exchange of information. The KAECSES system has been designed to allow for this process.
Each state is responsible for identifying specific pieces of data. The responding state transmits the information from their computer to the KAECSES computer for a quick response. The assigned Collection Officer receives an alert when information is received.