Administrative Law
Instructor: Brian Brown
Summer 2018 Semester Project
Kaylyn Little
One of the more startling realities of the 21st century is divorce. According to the American Psychological Association, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce and, sadly, subsequent marriages is at an even higher rate. Everyone has been affected by divorce in more ways than one. They themselves have either been divorced or know someone else who has been divorced. The transition of divorce can be huge and even more complicated when children are involved. One of the most fought over aspects of divorce is child support. How much to pay and how often?
Child support is a necessity that many parents are forced to pay. Even though it may not be something that the two parents agree on or even want to pay, it is extremely necessary to pay an appropriate amount on time. Child support not only provides necessities for the child, but it also reduces poverty and financial hardship among children. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, it reduces public spending on welfare by preventing single-parent families from entering the welfare system and helping them leave the system more quickly. “Child support is put in place to help the children enjoy the standard of living they would have enjoyed had the marriage never ended” (**). I strived to find an administrative agency to help with this cause and fell upon the Office of Child Support Enforcement (“OCSE”).
This federal, independent agency was established in 1975 and stemmed from Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. As a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration for Children and Families, the OCSE began as a child support program to reimburse benefits paid by the governments welfare programs; however, congress changed the program in 1996 as part of the new welfare reform laws to expand the role of technology and ensure children receive more of the support paid by their parents. Today, the child support program has emerged as a family support program providing significant income for vulnerable families (**). This federal administrative agency mainly assists federal, state, local and even tribal governments to develop, facilitate, and promote parental responsibility using practical and efficient child support enforcement tools. The OCSE not only assists with locating noncustodial parents, but the agency has the ability to establish paternity, enforce support orders, and collect and pay child support payments. It is essential that children receive reliable support from both their parents as they move to adulthood.
Under the leadership of commissioner Scott Lekan, the OCSE served more than 15.6 million children in 2016 (**). Their main goals are: that (1) all children have established parentage, (2) all children in child support cases have appropriate support orders, (3) all children in child support cases receive timely and consistent financial support from parents as ordered, (4) all children in support cases receive payments on overdue support and (5) the child support program will be efficient and responsive in its operations (**). As a result, for every $1.00 spent, the OCSE collects $5.33 making it one of the most cost effective government programs. $33 billion was collected by state and tribal child support programs and 95% of that went to respective families (**). The OCSE works both on a federal level and state level. It financially supports state child support programs operations, provides grants for state Access and Visitation Programs, but it also operates the Federal Parents Locator Devise and works with states to provide limited enforcement services such as federal tax refund intercepts and passport denials.
Although most child support problems occur with low-income families, it is definitely not limited to that. Take Miguel Cabrera, the Detroit Tiger’s first baseman, for example. Just a few months ago, Belkis Mariela Rodriguez, Cabrera’s ex-mistress, filed a lawsuit against Cabrera for cutting child-support payments. This messy situation between, Cabrera, Cabrera’s wife, and Rodriguez has 5 children who are caught in the cross hairs. Even though drama is inevitable in these types of situations, the OCSE is able to help enforce child support orders, modify when appropriate and can even help gain and/or recover missed payments. “When the program was strengthened as part of the 1996 welfare reform law, the message was clear – if you bring a child into the world, you must support them (us. News article). However, does this change depending on how and the amount someone gets paid?
In Davis v. Office of Child Support Enforcement, 341 Ark. 349 (2000), the Supreme Court of Arkansas reversed and remanded the trial court’s order requiring the appellant to pay child support from her supplemental security income benefits and holding that “sovereign immunity exception created by 2 U.S.C.S § 659 did not apply to SSI benefits, and although SSI benefits fell within the definition income for child-support purposes, they were not subject to state court jurisdiction. Davis and her ex-husband, Randy, were married in 1981, had two kids, and later received a divorce in 1989. At the time of the divorce, Davis and Randy agreed that Randy would have custody of the children and that Davis would not pay child support because of her unemployment. However, nine years later in 1998, the OCSE intervened assisting Randy to pursue child support from Davis. Davis alleged that she was disabled due to paranoid schizophrenia and identified that her only source of income was the $494 per month from her Social Security Income benefits. She argued that Congress only intended SSI to provide minimum level of income to recipients and that, “federal law prohibits the garnishment, levy, execution on, or other legal process against benefits” (Case). The OCSE argued back saying, “child-support payments could come out of ‘any form of payment’ to an individual” and that the SSI Davis received was indeed a ‘form of payment’. It was ordered that Davis pay $70 per month in child-support. Soon after, Davis filed for appeal. The court of appeals affirmed the decision and compared SSI to veteran’s and social security disability benefits which are also subject to child-support awards. Davis filed for appeal to the Supreme Court of Arkansas and found that benefits, indeed, do remain free from “execution, levy, attachment, garnishment or other legal process” (Case). 2 U.S.C.S § 659 states:
Consent to support enforcement
Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including section 407 of this title and section5301 of Title 38), effective January 1, 1975, moneys (the entitlement to which is based upon remuneration for employment) due from, or payable by, the United States or District of Columbia )including any agency, subdivision, or instrumentality thereof) to any individual, including members of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall be subject, in like manner and to the same extent as if the United States or District of Columbia were a private person, to withholding in accordance with State law enacted pursuant to subsections (a)(1) and (b) of section 666 of this title and regulation of the Secretary under such subsections, and to any other legal process brought, by a State agency administering a program under a State plan approved under this party by an individual obligee, to enforce the legal obligation for he individual to provide child support or alimony.
“This exception could not apply to federal SSI benefits. SSI benefits are not remuneration for any past or present employment. No premiums, deposits or other payments have been paid to qualify for them. Put simply, SSI is federal welfare for the poorest of the nation’s citizens” (Case). Thus, state courts cannot order child-support payments based upon SSI benefits.