SECTIONS 17701-17714 - California Statutes

FAMILY.CODE

SECTION 17701-17714

17701. (a) There is established within California's child support
program a quality assurance and performance improvement program,
pursuant to which local child support agencies, in partnership with
the Department of Child Support Services, shall monitor and measure
program performance and compliance, and ensure the implementation of
actions necessary to meet state and federal requirements and to
continuously improve the quality of child support program services.
(b) Under the direction and oversight of the department, each
local child support agency shall implement a quality assurance and
performance improvement program that shall include, at a minimum, all
of the following:
(1) An annual planning process that incorporates statewide
standards and requirements, and establishes local performance goals
that the department and local agency agree are appropriate.
(2) The inclusion of local performance goals and other
performance-related measures in the local child support agency's Plan
of Cooperation agreement with the department.
(3) Implementation of actions necessary to promote the delivery of
enhanced program services and improved performance.
(4) An ongoing self-assessment process that evaluates progress in
achieving performance improvement and compliance with program
requirements.
(5) Regular and ongoing oversight by the department, including
onsite reviews and the provision of technical assistance.
(c) The department shall promulgate regulations to implement this
section.

17702. (a) The department shall assess, at least once every three
years, each county's compliance with federal and state child support
laws and regulations in effect for the time period being reviewed,
using a statistically valid sample of cases. Counties found to be out
of compliance shall be assessed annually, until they are found to be
in compliance. The information for the assessment shall be based on
reviews conducted and reports produced by either state or county
staff, as determined by the department.
In addition, in order to meet federal self-assessment
requirements, the department shall conduct an annual assessment of
the state's compliance, using a statistically valid statewide sample
of cases.
(b) A county shall be eligible for the state incentives under
Section 17704 only if the department determines that the county is in
compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations or if the
county has a corrective action plan in place that has been certified
by the department pursuant to this subdivision. If a county is
determined not to be in compliance the county shall develop and
submit a corrective action plan to the department. The department
shall certify a corrective action plan if the department determines
that the plan will put the county into compliance with federal and
state laws and regulations. A county shall be eligible for state
incentives under Section 17704 only for any quarter the county
remains in compliance with a corrective action plan that has been
certified by the department.
(c) Counties under a corrective action plan shall be assessed on a
quarterly basis until the department determines that they are in
compliance with federal and state child support program requirements.

17702.5. (a) The Child Support Collections Recovery Fund is hereby
created in the State Treasury, and shall be administered by the
department for the purposes specified in subdivision (c).
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the fund shall
consist of both of the following:
(1) All public moneys transferred by public agencies to the
department for deposit into the fund, as permitted under Section
304.30 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations or any other
applicable federal statutes.
(2) Any interest that accrues on amounts in the fund.
(c) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, all moneys in the fund
shall be used to make payments or advances to local child support
agencies of the federal share of administrative payments for costs
incurred pursuant to this article.
(d) Upon repeal of this section, the Legislature intends that any
moneys remaining in the fund shall be returned to the federal agency
that provides federal financial participation to the department.

17703. (a) A revolving fund in the State Treasury is hereby created
to be known as the Child Support Services Advance Fund. All moneys
deposited into the fund are for the purpose of making a consolidated
payment or advance to counties, state agencies, or other governmental
entities, comprised of the state and federal share of costs
associated with the programs administered by the Department of Child
Support Services, inclusive of the payment of refunds. In addition,
the fund may be used for the purpose of making a consolidated payment
to any payee, comprised of the state and federal shares of local
assistance costs associated with the programs administered by the
Department of Child Support Services.
(b) Payments or advances of funds to counties, state agencies, or
other governmental agencies and other payees doing business with the
state that are properly chargeable to appropriations or other funds
in the State Treasury, may be made by a Controller's warrant drawn
against the Child Support Services Advance Fund. For every warrant so
issued, a remittance advice shall be issued by the Department of
Child Support Services to identify the purposes and amounts for which
it was drawn.
(c) The amounts to be transferred to the Child Support Services
Advance Fund at any time shall be determined by the department, and,
upon order of the Controller, shall be transferred from the funds and
appropriations otherwise properly chargeable.
(d) Refunds of amounts disbursed from the Child Support Services
Advance Fund shall, on order of the Controller, be deposited in the
Child Support Services Advance Fund, and, on order of the Controller,
shall be transferred therefrom to the funds and appropriations from
which those amounts were originally derived. Claims for amounts
erroneously deposited into the Child Support Services Advance Fund
shall be submitted by the department to the Controller who, if he or
she approves the claims, shall draw a warrant in payment thereof
against the Child Support Services Advance Fund.
(e) All amounts increasing the cash balance in the Child Support
Services Advance Fund, that were derived from the cancellation of
warrants issued therefrom, shall, on order of the Controller, be
transferred to the appropriations from which the amounts were
originally derived.

17704. (a) For the 1998-99 fiscal year the department shall pay to
each county a child support incentive payment. Every county shall
receive the federal child support incentive. A county shall receive
the state child support incentive if it elects to do both of the
following:
(1) Comply with the reporting requirements of Section 17600 while
federal financial participation is available for collecting and
reporting data.
(2) Comply with federal and state child support laws and
regulations, or has a corrective action plan certified by the
department pursuant to Section 17702. The combined federal and state
incentive payment shall be 13.6 percent of distributed collections.
If the amount appropriated by the Legislature for the state
incentives is less than the amount necessary to satisfy each county's
actual incentives pursuant to this section, each county shall
receive its proportional share of incentives.
(b) (1) Beginning July 1, 1999, the department shall pay to each
county a child support incentive for child support collections. Every
county shall receive the federal child support incentive. The
combined federal and state incentive payments shall be 13.6 percent
of distributed collections. In addition to the federal child support
incentive, each county may also receive a state child support
incentive. A county shall receive the state child support incentive
if it elects to do both of the following:
(A) Comply with the reporting requirements of Section 17600 while
federal financial participation is available for collecting and
reporting data.
(B) Be in compliance with federal and state child support laws and
regulations, or have a performance improvement plan certified by the
department pursuant to Section 17702.
(2) (A) For purposes of paragraph (1), the federal incentive
component shall be each county's share of the child support incentive
payments that the state receives from the federal government, based
on the county's collections.
(B) (i) Effective July 1, 1999, and annually thereafter, state
funds appropriated for child support incentives shall first be used
to fund the administrative costs incurred by local child support
agencies in administering the child support program, excluding
automation costs as set forth in Section 10085 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, after subtracting all federal financial
participation for administrative costs and all federal child support
incentives received by the state and passed on to the local child
support agencies. The department shall allocate sufficient resources
to each local child support agency to fully fund the remaining
administrative costs of its budget as approved by the director
pursuant to paragraph (9) of subdivision (b) of Section 17306,
subject to the appropriation of funding in the annual Budget Act. No
later than January 1, 2000, the department shall identify allowable
administrative costs that may be claimed for reimbursement from the
state, which shall be limited to reasonable amounts in relation to
the scope of services and the total funds available. If the total
amount of administrative costs claimed in any year exceeds the amount
appropriated in the Budget Act, the amount provided to local child
support agencies shall be reduced by the percentage necessary to
ensure that projected General Fund expenditures do not exceed the
amount authorized in the Budget Act.
(ii) Effective July 1, 2001, and annually thereafter, after
allowable administrative costs are funded under clause (i), the
department shall use any remaining unallocated incentive funds
appropriated from the prior fiscal year which are hereby
reappropriated to implement an incentive program that rewards up to
10 local child support agencies in each year, based on their
performance or increase in performance on one or more of the federal
performance standards set forth in Section 458 of the federal Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 658), or state performance standards set
forth in subdivision (a) of Section 17602, as determined by the
department. The department shall determine the number of local
agencies that receive state incentive funds under this program,
subject to a maximum of 10 agencies and shall determine the amount
received by each local agency based on the availability of funds and
each local child support agency's proportional share based on the
performance standard or standards used.
(iii) Any funds received pursuant to this subdivision shall be
used only for child support enforcement activities.
(c) Each county shall continue to receive its federal child
support incentive funding whether or not it elects to participate in
the state child support incentive funding program.
(d) The department shall provide incentive funds pursuant to this
section only during any fiscal year in which funding is provided for
that purpose in the Budget Act.

17706. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
counties to elevate the visibility and significance of the child
support enforcement program in the county. To advance this goal,
effective July 1, 2000, the counties with the 10 best performance
standards pursuant to clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b) of Section 17704 shall receive an additional 5
percent of the state's share of those counties' collections that are
used to reduce or repay aid that is paid pursuant to Article 6
(commencing with Section 11450) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 9
of the Welfare and Institutions Code. The counties shall use the
increased recoupment for child support-related activities that may
not be eligible for federal child support funding under Part D of
Title IV of the Social Security Act, including, but not limited to,
providing services to parents to help them better support their
children financially, medically, and emotionally.
(b) The operation of subdivision (a) shall be suspended for the
2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09,
2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 fiscal years.

17708. (a) This section shall apply to any county that elects to
participate in the state incentive program described in Section
17704.
(b) Each participating county child support enforcement program
shall provide the data required by Section 17600 to the department on
a quarterly basis. The data shall be provided no later than 15 days
after the end of each quarter.
(c) On and after July 1, 1998, a county shall be required to
comply with the provisions of this section only during fiscal years
in which funding is provided for that purpose in the Budget Act.

17710. (a) Each county shall be responsible for any administrative
expenditures for administering the child support program not covered
by federal and state funds.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), effective July 1, 1991, to
June 30, 1992, inclusive, counties shall pay the nonfederal share of
the administrative costs of conducting the reviews required under
Section 15200.8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code from the savings
counties will obtain as a result of the reduction in the maximum aid
payments specified in Section 11450. Effective July 1, 1992, to June
30, 1993, inclusive, the state shall pay the nonfederal share of
administrative costs of conducting the reviews required under Section
15200.8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Funding for county
costs after June 30, 1993, shall be subject to the availability of
funds in the annual Budget Act.
(c) If the federal government imposes a penalty on California's
child support program for the failure to meet the October 1, 1997,
deadline for the implementation of an automated child support
enforcement system required by the federal Family Support Act of 1988
(P.L. 100-485), no portion of any penalty imposed by the federal
government from October 1, 1997, to the date of enactment of the act
adding this subdivision shall be assessed against Los Angeles County.

17712. Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 17708, and to the
extent funds are appropriated by the annual Budget Act, funds shall
be provided to the Judicial Council for the nonfederal share of costs
for the costs of child support commissioners pursuant to Section
4251 and family law facilitators pursuant to Division 14 (commencing
with Section 10000). The Judicial Council shall distribute the funds
to the counties for the purpose of matching federal funds for the
costs of child support commissioners and family law facilitators and
related costs. Funds distributed pursuant to this section may also be
used to offset the nonfederal share of costs incurred by the
Judicial Council for performing the duties specified in Sections 4252
and 10010.

17714. (a) (1) Any funds paid to a county pursuant to this chapter
prior to June 30, 1999, which exceed the county's cost of
administering the child support program of the local child support
agency pursuant to Section 17400 to that date, hereafter referred to
as "excess funds," shall be expended by the county only upon that
program. All these excess funds shall be deposited by the county into
a special fund established by the county for this purpose.
(2) Performance incentive funds shall include, but not be limited
to, incentive funds paid pursuant to Section 17704, and performance
incentive funds paid pursuant to Section 14124.93 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code and all interest earned on deposits in the special
fund. Performance incentive funds shall not include funds paid
pursuant to Section 17706. Performance incentive funds shall be
expended by the county only upon that program. All performance
incentive funds shall be deposited by the county into a special fund
established by the county for this purpose.
(b) All excess funds and performance incentive funds shall be
expended by the county on the support enforcement program of the
local child support agency within two fiscal years following the
fiscal year of receipt of the funds by the county. Except as provided
in subdivision (c), any excess funds or performance incentive funds
paid pursuant to this chapter since July 1, 1992, that the department
determines have not been spent within the required two-year period
shall revert to the state General Fund, and shall be distributed by
the department only to counties that have complied with this section.
The formula for distribution shall be based on the number of
CalWORKs cases within each county.
(c) A county that submits to the department a written plan
approved by that county's local child support agency for the
expenditure of excess funds or performance incentive funds shall be
exempted from the requirements of subdivision (b), if the department
determines that the expenditure will be cost-effective, will maximize
federal funds, and the expenditure plan will require more than the
time provided for in subdivision (b) to expend the funds. Once the
department approves a plan pursuant to this subdivision, funds
received by a county and designated for an expenditure in the plan
shall not be expended by the county for any other purpose.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to nullify the
recovery and reversion to the General Fund of unspent incentive funds
as provided in Section 6 of Chapter 479 of the Statutes of 1999.