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STATEDATE POLICY BEGINSDATE POLICY ENDS SS_WORST NOTES
Alabama 2013/09/01 Ongoing Entire assistance unit loses eligibility for twelve months. The custodial parent's failure to comply with Child Support cooperation requirements for one month following second and subsequent disqualification, the assistance unit loses eligibility for twelve months. Penalties for noncompliance with child support or JOBS are cumulative. If a recipient who has received benefits for more than 60 months fails to cooperate, the case is closed, benefits are recovered for all months of receipt over 60, and eligibility is permanently lost.
Alaska 2013/03/01 Ongoing A deduction of the entire payment for the family size. The case is closed and the family must reapply to receive further benefits. If the caretaker refuses to cooperate with child support requirements and does not claim good cause, sanctions are imposed. If the caretaker is not included in the assistance unit, a sanction cannot be imposed. Penalties imposed by other states do not transfer to the Temporary Assistance program, and an individual is not required to serve the remainder of any other state's penalty while receiving Temporary Assistance.
Arizona 2004/04/01 2020/03/30 Entire assistance unit loses eligibility for one month or until compliance, whichever is longer. Applicants must cooperate with Child Support Enforcement before services can be approved.
Arkansas 1999/07/01 2020/03/26 The unit's benefit is reduced by 25% until compliance.
California 1998/01/01 Ongoing 25% reduction in benefit amount until compliance
Colorado 2005/01/01 Ongoing Unit is ineligible for assistance until compliance or a period of 3 months, whichever is longer. County can determine specifics of sanction as noted
Connecticut 2002/01/01 Ongoing Entire assistance unit loses benefit eligibility until compliance.
Delaware 2000/06/01 Ongoing Unit is ineligible for benefits until compliance.
District of Columbia 2018/04/01 2020/03/21 The unit's benefit is reduced by 6%.
Florida 2009/10/01 Ongoing Entire assistance unit loses eligibility. The parent may reapply for benefits for other unit members. Good cause for noncooperation exists if cooperating could cause physical or emotional harm to the child or caretaker, the child was conceived as a result of incest or forcible rape, or legal adoption proceedings are pending or being considered.
Georgia 2004/01/01 Ongoing The entire unit is ineligible for cash assistance until compliance. If the child is not a member of the standard filing unit, the assistance unit has the option of requesting removal of the child of the absent parent about whom the individual fails to cooperate from the assistance unit. Pregnant women are not sanctioned for failure to cooperate for an unborn child. Minor parents who are dependent children of a larger assistance unit are not sanctioned if she chooses to exclude her children from the assistance unit.
Hawaii 1999/07/01 Ongoing The entire unit is ineligible for financial assistance.
Idaho 1997/07/01 Ongoing The family's grant is reduced by 50%. The above penalty is calculated before any other penalties are considered. Once the 50% reduction takes place, apply other penalties as applicable.
Illinois 2004/01/01 2021/02/28 Unit is ineligible for benefits for 3 months or until compliance, whichever is longer. The amount and length of the sanction depend on the number of times the case has been sanctioned previously for failure to comply with child support requirements, activities requirements, or school attendance requirements. Sanctions accumulate by family (case), not person, during any period of continuous assistance. Sanctions start over at level 1 when all previous 3-month sanction periods have ended and the family has been off cash and medical assistance for at least one full payment month before reapplication. Loss of assistance due to sanction is not a break in assistance if the family continues to receive medial assistance.
Indiana 2007/11/01 Ongoing The needs of the custodial parent are not included for benefit calculation, however, their income (after standard disregards) and assets are still included for eligibility and benefit calculation purposes. All benefits during the sanction period are paid to a protective payee.
Iowa 1998/03/01 Ongoing 25 percent reduction in unit's benefits
Kansas 2011/11/01 Ongoing The unit is ineligible for benefits for ten years. A fourth or subsequent penalty will result in a ten-year penalty.
Kentucky 2014/04/01 Ongoing Benefit amount is reduced by 25 percent of the maximum benefit amount for the eligible unit size, regardless of the actual benefit the unit receives. Sanction continues until compliance. Applicants and recipients who refuse to assign child support rights to the state are ineligible for benefits.
Louisiana 2013/01/01 Ongoing If the unit is work-eligible, the case is closed for 3 months or until compliance, whichever is longer. If the unit is not work-eligible, the case is closed for 1 month or until compliance, whichever is longer. Child Support Sanctions are imposed in conjunction with Activities Requirements sanctions. If a family has been sanctioned at level 1 for noncompliance with activities requirements or child support requirements, it may be sanctioned at the second level for noncompliance in the other.
Maine 2000/10/01 Ongoing 25% benefit reduction OR the needs of the sanctioned individual are not included for benefit calculation, whichever is greater. In the latter case, income (after standard disregards and those listed below) and assets of the sanctioned individual are still included for eligibility and benefit calculation purposes. The individual is sanctioned until compliance. Additional disregards (after standard) include amount equal to the standard of need for support of non-eligible dependents living in the household with the sanctioned parent, alimony and child support payments to persons outside the household, and payments to dependents of the sanctioned parent who live outside the household. If the unit head is sanctioned, the benefit is issued to a third party payee.
Maryland 1999/01/01 2021/05/12 Unit is ineligible for benefits until compliance.
Massachusetts 2005/11/01 Ongoing The needs of the custodial parent are not included for benefit calculation, however, their income (after standard disregards) and assets are still included for eligibility and benefit calculation purposes. The unit is sanctioned until compliance and all benefits during the sanction period are paid to a protective payee.
Michigan 2014/10/01 Ongoing Entire unit loses eligibility for a minimum of one calendar month. No sanction is applied when the non-cooperating person's needs are not included in the grant. This includes SSI recipients and other ineligible grantees. A sanction can only be imposed when the non-cooperating person's needs are included in the grant. Good cause justification for failing to meet child support requirements can include: pending adoptions, adoption counseling, and domestic violence.
Minnesota 2009/01/01 2020/03/28 Case closure. Even if a caregiver comes into compliance on the child support cooperation the clock does not restart at 0. If at any point the caretaker falls out of compliance with child support cooperation the sanctions restart in whatever month they last left off in.
Mississippi 2014/08/01 Ongoing The unit is ineligible for benefits until compliance. Filing a false affidavit for child support will result in a $1,000 fine.
Missouri 2005/05/01 Ongoing Benefit is reduced by 25 percent until compliance.
Montana 2006/01/01 Ongoing Case is closed. Cooperation with Child Support Enforcement is a requirement for eligibility.
Nebraska 2002/10/01 Ongoing The unit's grant is reduced by 25%. The individual's needs are removed from the computation of medical benefits. Sanctioned until compliance. If a minor parent is in the unit of his/her parent, the minor's parent is responsible for cooperating in obtaining support of the minor's child. The payee is sanctioned if s/he or the minor does not cooperate. The minor is not removed from the medical unit until his/her period of continuous eligibility ends.
Nevada 2015/05/01 Ongoing Assistance to the caretaker will be terminated. If the caretaker is in compliance at the time of the next redetermination, s/he can be added back to the unit.
New Hampshire 2010/02/01 Ongoing The unit's benefit is reduced by 25%; until compliance. n.a.
New Jersey 1997/07/01 Ongoing Loss of benefit eligibility for the entire assistance unit
New Mexico 2017/08/29 Ongoing The unit's benefits are terminated and the case is closed. The case cannot be reopened until compliance or 6 months have passed, whichever is longer. These sanctions are closely related to activities requirements sanctions. For example, if an individual is in non-compliance with both child support requirements and activities requirements for the first time, s/he automatically advances to child care and activities sanction #2. Complying with both activities requirements and child support will remove the unit from the sanctioning process. However, sanctions related strictly to child support non-compliance are progressive. Complying with a level 3 sanction puts the unit at level 2. Once the individual complies with #2 for 30 days, the unit moves to sanction #1. Once the individual complies with #1 for 30 days, the unit is removed from all sanctions. This process applies to moving from #2 to #1 as well.
New York 2006/10/01 Ongoing The needs of the custodial parent are not included for benefit calculation, however, their income (after standard disregards) and assets are still included for eligibility and benefit calculation purposes. The unit is sanctioned until compliance and all benefits during the sanction period are paid to a protective payee. A New York Senate Bill (6753) allows for penalties against employers who discriminate against an employee involved in a child support order or employers and income payers who do not comply with child support collection, to be paid to the creditor.
North Carolina 2011/04/01 2020/04/21 Termination of the unit's case.
North Dakota 2010/10/01 Ongoing The needs of the individual are not included for benefit calculation, however, their income (after standard disregards) and assets are still included for eligibility and benefit calculation purposes. The unit is sanctioned for one month. If no compliance after one month, entire case goes into closure following penalty month. Sanction cannot be imposed for more than 12 months. When an individual moves to North Dakota from another state and applies for TANF, sanctions for noncompliance with work requirements imposed in the other state shall not be imposed in North Dakota.
Ohio 1997/10/01 Ongoing Terminate the noncompliant individual's benefits for six months or until compliance, whichever is longer. Include his/her income when computing the unit's benefit.
Oklahoma 1997/11/01 2021/09/14 The unit's benefit is reduced by 25% until compliance.
Oregon 2011/04/01 Ongoing Recipients who fail to cooperate for four or more months: Unit is ineligible for benefits. Child support cooperation requirements may be waived as a result of domestic violence. Waivers are reevaluated every 6 months.
Pennsylvania 2007/10/01 Ongoing Benefit is reduced by 25%. However, the income of the sanctioned parent (after standard disregards) and assets are still included for eligibility and benefit calculation purposes. The unit is sanctioned until compliance and all benefits during the sanction period are paid to a protective payee. Individuals who experience domestic violence are not obligated to comply with child support rules to be eligible for assistance due to the good cause claim. A recipient is in compliance with the Cooperative Agreement regarding child support information if she has information that is reasonably attainable and presents that information to her worker.
Rhode Island 2008/10/01 2020/04/23 Case is closed.
South Carolina 2007/12/01 Ongoing The custodial parent and the children) in question are removed from the grant. The unit faces this sanction until compliance, or until the children) in question leave the unit, or until the family somehow begins receiving full support even without cooperation with this requirement. Support services are available for recipients working to cure a child support sanction
South Dakota 1997/03/01 Ongoing Caretaker relative is ineligible for assistance. A protective payee is arranged for handling the child's assistance payments.
Tennessee 2009/03/01 Ongoing Unit is ineligible for benefits until compliance. Only minor parents, who are the caretakers of the assistance unit, are subject to child support sanctions. Minor Parents, who are dependents in larger assistance units, are exempt from child support sanctions. Good cause may be granted for refusal or failure to comply with child support cooperation requirements if it is reasonably certain that there will be (1) physical or serious emotional harm to the child for whom support is being sought or (2) physical or serious emotional harm to the caretaker that would reduce the caretaker's capacity to care for the child.
Texas 2005/10/01 Ongoing TANF case is closed for a minimum of two months. The unit must demonstrate cooperation before receiving assistance again.
Utah 2006/05/01 Ongoing Financial assistance is sanctioned for two full months. The client must reapply for financial assistance and formally resolve the child support non-compliance issue before financial benefits are authorized.
Vermont 1998/01/01 2020/03/29 Unit's benefit is reduced by 25% until compliance.
Virginia 2011/04/01 Ongoing Entire assistance unit is ineligible until compliance If all children for whom the client was sanctioned leave the home, the penalty will be lifted. The penalty is reimposed if the child or children returns to the home.
Washington 2012/09/01 Ongoing The unit's cash grant is reduced by 25% until compliance.
West Virginia 2007/05/01 Ongoing Unit is ineligible for benefits for 3 months or until compliance, whichever is later.
Wisconsin 2012/02/01 2020/04/14 The unit is sanctioned for 6 months or until compliance, whichever is longer. If a group has multiple child support cases and a parent has not cooperated with child support, then the entire group is ineligible for W-2 even if the parent or another parent in the group is cooperating with child support for another child support case.
Wyoming 2001/01/01 Ongoing The unit's benefits are terminated until compliance.

For each row in the results table, all of the policies in the record were in place from at least 'Date Policy Begins' to at least 'Date Policy Ends'. For example, if 'Date Policy Begins' is 2012/01/01 and 'Date Policy Ends' is 2012/10/01, the policies in that row were all in effect from at least January 1, 2012 through October 1, 2012. Every row comes from a different 'record' in the database, and a new record is coded whenever any of the policies in that category changes. If the policy that changed is not a policy being examined in a particular query, the results may show two rows for the same state that have identical information other than different (and adjacent) date ranges.

VARIABLENOTES
State Indicates the state in which the rules apply.
Date Policy Begins Indicates the date on which the policies begin.
Date Policy Ends Indicates the date on which the policies end.
Coverage Indicates whether the rules apply to a portion of or the entire caseload and captures whether the rules apply to only some counties/regions or the entire state.
Coverage Description Describes the geographic area and/or percentage of the caseload covered by the rules.
Unit Type Describes the type(s) of assistance units to whom the rules apply.
Component Indicates the name of the component for which the given rules apply. Assistance units are divided into components based on the unit's characteristics.
Waiver Name Indicates the waiver name, if the rules are authorized under a waiver.
Program Captures the source of funding for the given rules.
Majority Rule Indicates whether the rules are in effect for a majority of the caseload for a majority of the year. There is only one majority rule record for a given state, year and category.
ss_worst Describes the most severe penalty imposed as a result of failing to meet child support cooperation requirements. The worst case sanction variable includes a description of the sanction and, if relevant, the duration of the sanction.

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Please cite as: Welfare Rules Database Project website, https://wrd.urban.org/wrd/query/query.cfm downloaded on December 1 2023 Copyright (C) 2015, The Urban Institute