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CHILD SUPPORT 4.9 ALL Child support is the voluntary or court-ordered payment of money by the absent parent(s) for the living expense of his/her child(ren). Medical, dental, child care, and educational expenses can also be covered. Child support may be paid directly to the child's caretaker, paid through the court to the caretaker, or paid to the Child Support Services Division (CSSD.) CSED sends the family: • all support collected, if the family never received TANF; • support received in excess of the amount that CSSD may legally retain if the family received AFDC/TANF in the past; or • up to the first $150 in total child support collected by CSSD for the family, if the family currently receives TANF. This is called a "pass-through" payment. Pass-through payments started in April 2006, but families' eligibility for pass-throughs is retroactive to October 1, 2005. MA AR: Count all child support received and any payments from CSSD as unearned income but exclude the first $150 of total child support received by the group. AX: See AR. SR: Count two-thirds of child support received by an SR child as unearned income. QM: N/A MC: See AR. TANF TANF recipients must turn in all child support received directly from the absent parent or through the court to CSSD. CSSD is responsible for collecting all child support for the group. Treat child support received by a family as follows: • For TANF applicants, count voluntary child support, any CSSD "excess" payments received by the group, and any CSSD pass-through payments as unearned income in determining potential eligibility, and disregard the first $150. Next, if the group meets the income test, determine the amount of the grant by including child support in excess of $150 as countable income for TANF for two months. This allows CSSD time to begin retaining support (see Chapter 2: Child Support Requirements in Part V.) • For TANF recipients who begin receiving child support, count the child support as income for the first two months that can be affected, after timely and adequate notice, unless CSSD begins retaining support before the two-month period ends. During this two-month period, disregard the first $150 in total child support received by the group. After two months, the SSR should assume that CSSD is collecting the group's child support. If the SSR learns that this is not the case, the SSR should inform CSSD that child support is being paid to the family. The SSR may continue to count the child support received after the second month only when the adult has failed to cooperate with CSSD requirements with respect to the child on whose behalf support is being received and the group is subject to a child support sanction. When the non-custodial parent pays support for two consecutive months that exceeds the TANF grant by more than $150, the TANF grant is terminated. If in a single month, CSSD provides and