FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-1025
May 12, 1998
No. HR-12
Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr., (R-FL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the new hire reporting and paternity establishment requirements in the 1996 welfare reform law, non-Federal child support enforcement, and the impact of domestic violence on child support enforcement and State welfare programs. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, May 19, 1998, in room B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear oral testimony at this hearing, the Subcommittee will hear from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include administrators from State child support programs, officials of local child support programs that operate independently of the Federal-State program, and other private sector and academic witnesses. Any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will focus on: (1) State implementation of three central provisions of the 1996 child support and welfare reforms, (2) the current and potential role of child support enforcement outside the Federal-State program funded under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, and (3) the impact of domestic violence on child support enforcement and State welfare programs.
For the 1996 reforms, the Subcommittee is interested in learning how the new system is working. For child support enforcement efforts outside the Federal-State program, the Subcommittee is interested in learning about how these programs operate, whether the services they provide are compatible with the Title IV-D child support program, and whether Federal statutes should be changed to help these organizations provide more efficient and effective services that better complement Title IV-D services. For the impact of domestic violence, the Subcommittee is seeking to determine whether the Federal provisions on domestic violence are helping States provide specialized services to victims of domestic violence.
BACKGROUND:
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193) established new hire reporting and paternity establishment requirements. These initiatives were two of the most important child support reforms established by the 1996 welfare reform legislation. Under the new hire provision, all employers must report to the State the name, address, and Social Security number of every newly-hired employee as well as the name, address, and tax identification number of the employer. States are required to establish a central registry of this information and to transmit the information to the Federal Directory of New Hires. Information from both the State and Federal directories of new hire information is now being used at both the State and national level to identify the employers of noncustodial parents who owe child support and to facilitate withholding child support payments from the paychecks of these parents.
The 1996 welfare reform legislation also contained several provisions designed to improve State performance in establishing paternity. These include a mandatory penalty against custodial parents receiving welfare who fail to provide information on noncustodial parents and a penalty against States that fail to establish paternity in 90 percent of nonmarital births or to make progress toward the 90 percent standard.
Child support enforcement is also conducted outside the Federal-State program established under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act by agencies established by local governments and by private companies who provide child support services to custodial parents.
Both the child support program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program provide benefits to women who are victims of domestic violence. Thus, in both the 1996 welfare reform legislation as well as under prior law, Congress has taken steps to provide the flexibility necessary for States to offer effective services to women subjected to violence.
Finally, current Federal statutes on child support treat ordinary income differently as compared with income derived from certain programs that provide benefits to veterans.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Shaw stated: "The Subcommittee intends to gather information on several important issues that influence the performance of the child support enforcement program. We are especially interested in how the major child support reforms enacted as part of the 1996 welfare reform law are being implemented and whether there is evidence that they are leading to improved child support collections."
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, June 2, 1998, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Human Resources office, room B-317 Rayburn House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.