HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 508 Draft 01 1972-1976 County of Hawaii—State of Hawaii
No. 50
Resolution
APPP.OVING AGREEMENT BETWEEN OFFICE
OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL AND THE STATE
OF HAWAII , DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
AND HOUSING, WITH RESPECT TO SUPPORT
ENFORCEMENT SERVICES PURSUANT TO PL 93-647
WHEREAS , the Office of the Corporation Counsel has for
a number of years performed a significant service to families
in our community through support enforcement activities
encompassing establishment of paternity of children born out
of wedlock and securing and enforcing support for them;
initiation and enforcement of support under the Uniform
Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (inter-state and inter-
county) and enforcement of support orders relating to divorce
and other matrimonial actions, all pursuant to statutory
mandate; and
WHEREAS , the County of Hawaii has historically absorbed the
entire cost for the aforesaid support enforcement activities
notwithstanding the fact that a considerable percentage of the
families serviced either have been or would have to be welfare
recipients if the said services had not been rendered, thereby
affording appreciable relief to the State welfare rolls ; and
WHEREAS , the Office of the Corporation Counsel became
apprised of the provisions of certain 1974 Federal regulations
and a 1975 Federal law, namely, P .L. 93-647 , which allows
75 per cent matching funds for support enforcement services ,
and that such services will be performed pursuant to a Plan of
Cooperation between the County of Hawaii by its Corporation
Counsel and the State Department of Social Services and Housing;
and
WHEREAS , the Office of the Corporation Counsel , seeking to
avail itself of the aforesaid 75 per cent reimbursement,
initiated negotiations with the State Department of Social
Services and Housing, which under the provisions of PL 93-647
would have to be the responsible legal agency; and
WHEREAS , Act 137 , passed by the 1975 Legislative Session,
designated the State Office of the Attorney General as the
support enforcement office in all Department of Social Services
and Housing support matters , and said Attorney General 's office
has sought through ongoing negotiations to delegate such
authority to the Office of the Corporation Counsel by means of
an Appointment and Authorization to Pursue Non-Support Claims
Pursuant to Act 137 , SLH 1975 ; and
WHEREAS , under the proposed Plan of Cooperation between
the County of Hawaii and the State, the Office of the
Corporation Counsel shall continue to carry on the same
activities it has been carrying on in the past (but on an
expanded scale) and in addition, shall also assist the State
in enforcing support as between husbands and wives still
married, but separated, monitor and take follow-up actions as
necessary to insure payment, maintain statistical data on
results of court actions , etc. ; and
WHEREAS, the aforesaid support enforcement services will
be reimbursible by the Federal Government to the extent of
75 per cent of said operations ; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the County of Hawaii :
That the Council approves in principle the provisions of
support enforcement services , and authorizes the Honorable Mayor
Herbert T. Matayoshi to sign a Plan of Cooperation, the final
draft of which should be substantially similar to the Plan of
Cooperation attached hereto.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk be directed to
forward a copy of this Resolution to the Honorable
Herbert T. Matayoshi, Mayor.
Dated at Hilo, Hawaii , this 17th day of December, 1975 .
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CHAIR. &N, COUCOUNCIL
INTRODUCE' BY:
COUN L MEMBER
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OUNC I L M.FMB •S , CO• TY OF HAWAII
ROLL CALL VOTE
COUNTY COUNCIL - -
County of Hawaii Carpenter AYESENOES A/E
Hilo, Hawaii
De Luz X
Fujii X
I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by the vote indicated to Hisaoka x
the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the County of Hawaii on. 'x
Kawahara
December 17, 1975 Lai x
Levin x
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ATTEST: Yadao x
Yamada x
kik _ A-- ience:
Ted T. Suzuki Robert M. Yamada .
COUNTY CLERK CHAIRMAN & PRESIDING,OFFICER M.B. No. '� fi
508
RESOLUTION NO.
HPL
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PLAN OF COOPERATION
This AGREEMENT entered into on the date set forth
below, by and between the CITY 'MD COUNTY OP HONOLULU, herein--
after sometimes referred to as the "Law Enforcement Agency, "
and the STATE OF HAWAII , DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES ANID
HOUSING , hereinafter referred .to as "Department; "
WITNESSETH :•
WHEREAS, under Act 137 , Session Laws of Hawaii
1975 , the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii is autho-
rized to pursue all child nonsupport claims at - the request
of and on behalf of the Department; and •
- WHEREAS, the Attorney General is desirous of and
the Department is willing , to contract with the City and
• County of Honolulu (Department of the Corporation Counsel)
to undertake the above legal functions in view of the latter ' s
experience and competence in performing similar functions in
a related field;
WHEREAS , the City and County of Honolulu through
the Department of the Corporation Counsel is willing to under-
take the functions in consideration of the compensation to
be paid by the Department as hereinafter set forth;
NOW, THEREFORE , the parties here-to agree as follows :
I
Purpose
The purpose of this Plan is to establish procedures
for the securing of financial support for minor children
including, but not limited to, the location of absent parents ,
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the establishment of paternity of children born out-of-wedlock ,
the determination of an absent parent ' s ability to support his
Minor children, and the securan ce of compliance with support
• agreements and court orders .
II
Confidentiality
• Subject to the provision of § 346-10 , JIRS , the courts
and Law Enforcement Agency shall have access to case records .
This information shall he used only im promotion or support of
the administration of the child support program, including the
identification and location of putative or deserting parents ,
the establishment of paternity and securing support, and be
made available only to authorized State or federal agencies .
III
Responsibilities of Department
The Department shall have the following responsi-
bilities :
1. To refer public assistance , as well as nonpublic
assistance cases involving absent parents , to the Law Enforce-
ment Agency whenever the whereabouts of said absent parent is
determined to be in another county or state, or whenever :
a. The absent parent fails or refuses to make
a contribution in accordance with his financial ability.
b. Legal action is necessary to establish
paternity.
c. Legal action is necessary to obtain a
court order of support.
d. Legal action is necessary to enforce
divorce or separation orders of support.
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2. To locate putative. or deserting fathers and
to provide the Law Enforcement Agency with pertinent informa-
tion needed to locate putative or deserting fathers to
establish paternity and secure or enforce support, including
last known address and last known place of employment.
3. To assist the courts and the Law Enforcement
Agency in carrying out programs of establishing paternity
and securing support for children receiving aid and born out-
of-wedlock or deserted or abandoned by their parents .
4. To use reciprocal arrangements with other states
and counties to obtain or enforce court orders for support,
and to cooperate with the Law Enforcement Agency with regard
to reciprocal actions.
5. To be solely responsible for the reimbursement
to the Law Enforcement Agency for their assistance in support
of such programs , said reimbursement to be limited to 75 percent
of project cost; provided that the Department shall become
obligated to reimburse the Law Enforcement Agency only upon
the determination of the U.S. Department of Health, Education
and Welfare that this program is entitled to federal financial
participation under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.
The remaining 25 percent of project cost is to be borne by
the Law Enforcement Agency. Reimbursement is to be made in
accordance with Section VI of this Agreement.
6. To cooperate with the state welfare agencies
responsible for the child support programs in other states ,
in locating the parent of a child against whom a support
petition has been filed in another state , and in attempting
to secure the parent' s compliance with a court• order for
support, when such parent is now residing in the State of
Hawaii.
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7. To provide for collection of child support
payments , allocation of those payments over the accrued
obligation, computation and distribution of bonus payments
to families and incentive payments to the City and County
of Honolulu, if any, and for the collection, maintenance ,
and reporting of all related fiscal data .
8. To require clients in paternity, URESA, divorce ,
nonsupport enforcement actions who are recipients of financial
aid to assign their receipts of support to the Department ; how-
ever, such assignments shall be required only if , and so long
as , the individual remains a recipient.
9. To advise applicants and recipients of financial
aid that they must cooperate with all attempts to establish
paternity and to obtain support for their dependent children.
10. Serve upon the absent parent a Notice of Child
Support Debt due and owing to the Department, accrued or
accruing in an amoui'it equal to the amount of public assistance
paid to or for the benefit of his minor dependent children ,
provided that where there is a court order of support, the
• debt shall be limited to the amount provided by such order.
11. To make staff available as necessary to testify
in any legal action to establish paternity or to obtain or
enforce a court order of support.
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Responsibilities of Law Enforcement Agency
The Law Enforcement Agency shall have the following
responsibilities , but only to the extent that such responsi-
bilities are necessary, to perform the functions contracted
for herein :
1. To secure support for any child deserted or
abandoned by his parent , from such parent or other legally
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- liable person, by seeking voluntary, . stipulated orders of
• support by the absent parent to provide financial support
in accordance with his or her ability, or by taking necessary
action under appropriate statutes to insure payment of support
. by means of support orders , settlements , wage assignments or
• other forms of property transfers .
2. To assure to whatever extent possible that the
amount of the support obligation is determined after considera-
tion of the following criteria :
a. all earnings , income and resources of the
absent parent, including real and personal property ;
b. the earnings potential of the absent parent;
c. the reasonable necessities of the absent
parent;
d. the ability of the absent parent to borrow;
e. the needs of the child for whom the support
is sought;
f. the amount of support which would be required
to remove the child from the financial aid program;
g. the existence of other dependents.
3. To undertake efforts which will lead to the
legal determination of paternity and liability for support
of children born out-of-wedlock, including investigation and
development of evidence through the use of polygraph and
•
blood tests when necessary.
4. To review evidence and to determine the adequacy
of such evidence of prosecution of cases.
5. To conduct or obtain pre-trial depositions and
other pre-trial discovery when necessary.
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6. To undertake efforts to locate the absent parent ,
including the use of. the Department ' s Parent Locator Service
and the clearance procedures established by the Federal Parent
Locator Service to secure the address of parents of children
whose location is unknown and who arc failing to comply with
existing court orders for support payments or against whom
petitions for orders of support have been filed.
7 . To utilize any and all reciprocal arrangements
with other states and counties to obtain or enforce court
orders for support.
8. To monitor and take follow-up actions as neces-
sary to insure payment of support obligation.
9 . To supply staff upon request to the county
welfare department to participate in tr_airing welfare employees .
10. To establish and make available for program re-
view or audit by authorized State and federal officials , case
records for any case in which the Law Enforcement Agency claims
reimbursement pursuant to this Plan; which records shall con-
• tarn all information collected pertaining to the case , including
but not limited to the following:
a. The referral document received from the
Department or the application for services from an individual;
b. A record of any contacts with any individual
provided services and with any absent parent, and the date and
reason therefor and the results of such contact ;
c. A record of any utilization of local and
State resources for location of absent parents;
• d. A record of any action to: 1) refer a case
to the welfare department of any other state if there is reason
to believe that the absent parent might be present in such
state;
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• 2) establish support obligations , obtain
court orders of support, and review the amount
of those orders as change in circumstances may
warrant;
3) establish paternity by acknowledgment
or by court order;
4) enforce support obligations within 30
days of delinquency to obtain current support
obligations as well as arrearages by contempt
proceedings , garnishment, attachment, execution,
or any other enforcement or collection remedy
permitted by law; and
5) any applications to utilize the federal
courts or for collection of delinquent payments
by the Secretary of the United States Treasury
Department.
e. A record of any communications to and from
the Department, the welfare department of any other state, the
• Federal Parent Locator Service; and
f. A notation of the closing of the case, the
date thereof, and the reason for taking the action.
11. To collect, retain and report statistical data
relating to the number of paternity and child support cases
referred to it by the Department, said data to include on a
monthly basis the following information, at a minimum:
a. with respect to establishment of paternity,
the number of cases opened, the number of cases in which
4 paternity was acknowledged or established by court order, and
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r! ,'r the number of cases closed without establishing paternity;
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b. with respect to obtaining court orders of
support, the number of cases opened, the number of cases in
which a court order of support was entered, and the number
of cases closed without entry of an order of support; and
c. with respect to enforcing court orders of
support, the number of cases opened or reopened, the number
of cases in which the order was enforced, and the number of
cases closed without enforcement or collection.
12. To assure that all support paid by parents to
individuals who are recipients of financial aid shall be dis-
bursed by the Chief Clerk , First Circuit Court , to the
Department; however, such disbursement shall continue only
so long as said individual remains a recipient.
13. To inform the pepartment of any case of sus-
pected welfare fraud in violation of Section 346-34 , JIRS ,
which the Law Enforcement Agency may discover in the course
of provision of paternity and child support services.
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14 . To chane those individuals who do not receive
financial aid an application fee for child support collection
or paternity determination services available under this Plan,
provided any such fee schedule does not conflict with federal
law.
15. To request reimbursement from the Department
for service of process fees in those cases where the Law
Enforcement Agency would normally be required to pay such
costs.
16. To receive payment for services rendered herein
in accordance with said Schedule A.
V
Enforcement
It is recognized that the Law Enforcement Agency
shall have primary responsibility fox: enforcing the obligation •
of parents to support their minor children. Upon referral ,
the Law Enforcement Agency shall promptly take appropriate
action to enforce said obligation.
VI
Reimbursement for Services
1. Payment for services rendered will be made on
a monthly basis subject to the provisions of Section III--5
of this Agreement. As promptly as possible at the end of
each month, the Law Enforcement Agency will submit a bill
for actual cost of services for the month past to the Depart-
ment. The bill is to be prepared showing each major cost
category and amount, the total cost incurred , and the net
reimbursable amount (at 75 percent) .
2. The Department shall reimburse the Law Enforcement
Agency for the net amount of the bill within two weeks from the
receipt of such bill .
3. Costs reimbursable under this Agreement is to
be determined in accordance with Appendix C, 45 C.F.R. 74 . 175
and such other Code of federal legislations pertaining to
Title IV, Child Support Enforcement Program. .
VII
Incentive Payments
1. As additional consideration for services rendered
by the Law Enforcement Agency pursuant to this Plan, the Depart-
ment shall to the extent permitted by federal law pay to the
City and County of Honolulu an incentive payment for enforce-
ment and collection of .support obligations assigned to the •
Department by recipients of aid.
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2. The incentive payment shall be in an amount
equal to 25 percent of any amount collectedwhich is retained
by the Department to reduce or repay assistance payments and
which represents payment on the support obligation owed for
12 months ; and an amount equal to 10 percent of any such amount
collected and retained which is attributable to the support
obligation owed for any month after the first 12 months for
which collections are made. The amount to be retained by the
Department is the amount of the required support obligation
for the month in which the support payment is collected.
less 40 percent of the first $50 of such amount which is paid
by the Department as a bonus to the family.
3. The Department shall calculate and pay the
incentive , if any, to the City and County of Honolulu within
60 days from the end of the month in which the collection was
made; and should the Department receive from any other state
similar incentive payments for services provided such states
by the Law Enforcement Agency, the Department shall promptly
pay such sums to the City and County of Honolulu.
VIII
Period of Performance
1. Subject to Section IX of this Agreement, the
services to be performed under this Agreement shall commence
as of July 1 , 1975 and terminate on June 20 , 1976 .
IX
Amendment and Termination
This Agreement may be amended from time to time at
the request of either party with respect to any matter includ-
ing, but not limited to, scope of services or responsibilities
and amount of reimbursements . Such 'r.equest shall be in writing .
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If no agreement is reached following such a request within 30
days thereof , either party may thereupon terminate this Agree-
ment, the date of such termination being not less than. 45 days
after notification of such intention is mailed to the other
party. .
X
Effective Date •
1. This contract shall not become effective unless
and until the Law Enforcement Agency receives from the Depart-
ment the funds to carry on its operation pursuant to the terms
of the within Agreement.
2. This contract shall not become effective unless
and until the Department receives notification from the Department
of Health, Education and Welfare that this program is entitled
to Federal Financial Participation under Title IV--D of the
Social Security Act.
XI
•
Term of Agreement
The term of this Agreement, subject to the provisions
of Part IX (Amendment and Termination) , may be renewed there-
after from year to year upon mutual agreement of the parties
hereto. •
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IN .WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed
these presents on the date opposite their signatures below.
CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU
Date : BY
FRANK F. FASI , Mayor •
•
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
AND DOUSING, STATE OF HAWAII
Date : By
ANDREW CRAIG Director. off'
Social Services and Housing
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
•
Deputy Corporation Counsel
•
APPROVED AS TO FORM: .
Deputy Attorney General
State of Hawaii
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