131.3 Cooperation with Support Requirements

Each applicant/recipient must cooperate in the absent parent determination and the establishment/enforcement of a child support obligation. The CAO must require the applicant/recipient to give proof and must enter supporting evidence in the case notes.

55 Pa. Code § 141.21

23 Pa. C.S § 4380

The CAO must not require cooperation when:

An LRR is deceased

A putative father is deceased

A child for whom assistance is sought or received is 18 years old or older and paternity was never established

NOTE: Action to establish paternity must begin before the child’s 18th birthday.

The applicant/recipient claims good cause (using PA 1747 ) and the CAO determines that good cause exists. See Section 131.63, CAO Determination and Notice of Good Cause

5 5 Pa. Code § 187.27

55 Pa. Code § 141.21(d)(1)

A court or the DHS Bureau of Hearings and Appeals finds that there is good cause for not cooperating with child support enforcement requirements

A child is adopted by a single parent or born to a single woman as a result of artificial insemination.

When Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash benefits applicants/recipients do not cooperate with support requirements without good cause, the CAO must reduce their cash grants by 25%. See Appendix D, Eligibility Status for Non-Cooperation with Support Requirements and Mandatory Participation in Road to Economic Self-Sufficiency Through Employment and Training (RESET).

NOTE: If more than one grant group is receiving TANF in the same record, cooperation with Support Requirements is determined by grant group.

Example: An applicant or recipient is cooperating with establishing support for a child in grant group one and not cooperating with establishing support for a child in grant group two, only the benefit amount for grant group two is reduced by 25%. The applicant/recipient receives the full FSA for grant group 1.

A TANF household whose cash grant is reduced for failure to comply with support requirements is entitled to removal of the 25% reduction effective the first payment date that can be met after the compliance has been verified. As individuals not cooperating with support requirements continue to be coded with an ES status, the compliance is not an eligibility factor for the individual. A supplemental OTI is not issued.

55 Pa. Code § 153.44(b)(2)(i)(c)

55 Pa. Code § 187.26 (c)(1)