Washington Administrative Code

(1) The division of child support (DCS) provides payment processing and records maintenance services (called "payment services only") to parties to a court order who are not receiving a public assistance grant when:(a) A Washington superior court order, tribal court order, admini…

(1) When a custodial parent (CP) or physical custodian (also called the CP) applies for or receives cash assistance on behalf of a minor child, the family authorizes the division of child support (DCS) to provide full support enforcement services to the family.(2) These services …

(1) If you are not receiving public assistance, you can apply for support enforcement services. Your case is called a nonassistance case. A nonassistance case receives the same level of services as a case that was opened because of the payment of public assistance.(2) Generally, …

(1) If you are not a resident of the state of Washington but you are applying for services, you must swear or affirm that there is not an open IV-D case in another state.(2) The division of child support (DCS) may decline the application for nonassistance support enforcement serv…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) may deny an application which is incomplete, contains unclear or inconsistent statements, is not supported by necessary documents, or requests services DCS cannot or does not provide.(2) DCS may deny an application from a nonresident as pro…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) provides full support enforcement services for every IV-D case.(2) DCS provides either full or limited nonassistance support enforcement services for recipients of medicaid-only benefits as provided in WAC 388-14A-2005(4).(3) Some cases do …

(1) A custodial parent applying for or receiving cash assistance on behalf of a minor child assigns the family's rights to support as provided in WAC 388-14A-2035, below.(2) A person applying for nonassistance support enforcement services does not assign support rights, but agree…

(1) When you receive public assistance you assign your rights to support to the state. This section applies to all applicants and recipients of cash assistance under the state program funded under Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act.(2) As a condition of eligibility for…

(1) As a condition of eligibility for assistance, a family member must assign to the state the right to collect and keep, subject to the limitation in WAC 388-14A-2035(3):(a) Any support owing to the family member or to any other person for whom the family member has applied for …

Permanently assigned arrears accrue only under the following conditions:(1) For those periods prior to the family receiving assistance, for assistance applications dated before October 1, 1997; and(2) For those periods while a family receives assistance, for assistance applicatio…

(1) Temporarily assigned arrears are arrears owed to the family at the time TANF started, for TANF periods beginning before October 1, 2008. These arrears remain temporarily assigned during the assistance period.(2) Temporarily assigned arrears convert to conditionally assigned a…

(1) Conditionally assigned arrears are any temporarily assigned arrears that remain on a case after the family stops receiving TANF.(2) These arrears remain conditionally assigned during TANF periods beginning on or after October 1, 2008.(3) If federal tax refund offset collectio…

(1) You must cooperate with the division of child support (DCS) when you receive public assistance unless the department determines there is good cause not to cooperate under WAC 388-422-0020.(2) As described in WAC 388-14A-2080, DCS may close a nonassistance case if the custodia…

(1) If you receive public assistance, there may be penalties, called sanctions, for not cooperating with the division of child support (DCS). These sanctions and the noncooperation process are described in WAC 388-14A-2075. You may be sanctioned if:(a) You do not go to scheduled …

(1) If a custodial parent (CP) receiving public assistance fears that the establishment or enforcement of support may result in harm to the CP or the children, the CP may be excused from the cooperation requirements. The CP must contact the community services division (CSD) to cl…

(1) The community services division (CSD) decides whether you have good cause not to cooperate with the division of child support (DCS). You must tell CSD if you want to claim good cause.(a) CSD determines good cause under WAC 388-422-0020.(b) You may claim good cause at the time…

(1) For custodial parents receiving public assistance, there are two kinds of good cause granted by the community services office (CSO):(a) When the CSO determines that support establishment or enforcement cannot proceed at all because of a risk of danger to the custodial parent …

(1) If the community services division (CSD) grants you good cause level A the division of child support (DCS) closes the case and does not take any action to establish or enforce support for the children covered by the good cause finding.(a) DCS does not reopen the case while yo…

(1) If the community services division (CSD) grants you good cause level B, the division of child support provides support enforcement services without requiring the custodial parent (CP) to provide information or cooperate with DCS in any way.(2) When DCS advises the prosecutor …

WAC 388-14A-2075(1) When the division of child support (DCS) or its representatives believe that a custodial parent (CP) who receives cash assistance or medical assistance is not cooperating as defined in WAC 388-14A-2040, DCS sends a notice to the CP and to the community service…

(1) The circumstances under which the division of child support (DCS) may close a case depend on whether the application for services was made directly to DCS or to another governmental entity.(2) WAC 388-14A-2081 discusses closure of a case when one of the parties submitted an a…

When the application for services was made directly to the division of child support (DCS) by one of the parties, including when DCS opened the case as the result of an application for public assistance in the state of Washington, the case must remain open unless DCS determines t…

(1) When the application for services was originally made by a party to the child support enforcement agency of another state, tribe, territory, country or political subdivision thereof, which then requested support enforcement services from the division of child support (DCS), D…

WAC 388-14A-2085(1) The division of child support (DCS) may deny a request to close a support enforcement case when:(a) There is a current assignment of support or medical rights on behalf of the children in the case;(b) There is accrued debt under a support order that has been a…

(1) The reason for case closure determines whether the division of child support (DCS):(a) Sends a notice of intent to close;(b) Sends a notice of case closure; or(c) Notifies the other jurisdiction.(2) DCS mails a notice of intent to close by regular mail to the last known addre…

(1) Only the person who applied for support enforcement services, also known as the recipient of services, may request a hearing to challenge closure of a case.(2) If the recipient of services requests a hearing, the other party may participate in the hearing.(3) The closure of a…

After support enforcement services are terminated, the division of child support (DCS) returns support money to the noncustodial parent except if the case remains open as a payment services only (PSO) case as described in WAC 388-14A-2000(1).(2) If DCS, as the initiating jurisdic…

(1) When the division of child support (DCS) determines that a support obligation, established by order of a superior court of this state, has been satisfied or is no longer legally enforceable, DCS sends a notice of its intent to file a satisfaction of judgment to the last known…

(1) Under RCW 26.23.120, all information and records, concerning persons who owe a support obligation or for whom the division of child support (DCS) provides support enforcement services, are private and confidential.(2) DCS discloses information and records only to a person or …

(1) Address information is sometimes referred to as whereabouts information, meaning information giving someone's home, work, school or day care location.(2) The last known address of, or employment information about, a party to a court or administrative order for, or a proceedin…

(1) You can make a request for disclosure of most DCS records either orally or in writing. If you are requesting whereabouts information, see subsection (2).(2) You must submit a request for disclosure of a parent or child's address in writing or in person, with satisfactory evid…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) must respond to a public disclosure request within five days, under RCW 26.23.120 and WAC 388-01-090.(2) "Respond" can mean:(a) Providing the requested documents;(b) Acknowledging receipt of the request and giving an estimate of how long it…

(1) Prior to disclosing the address of the custodial parent (CP) or a child, DCS mails a notice to the last known address of the CP, except as provided under WAC 388-14A-2115. The notice advises the CP that:(a) A request for disclosure has been made;(b) DCS intends to disclose th…

(1) Any party to a support order may authorize the division of child support (DCS) to release his or her address to the other party with no prior notice.(2) An authorization to release an address must be:(a) In writing;(b) Notarized; and(c) Effective for any period designated by …

(1) If you are a party to an administrative support order, you may request a support order summary from the division of child support (DCS). The support order summary includes the following information:(a) The noncustodial parent's residential address, employer's address, Social …

(1) The notice and hearing process in WAC 388-14A-2114 and 388-14A-2140 do not apply to requests for address information of the noncustodial parent (NCP).(2) The NCP may request notice before whereabouts info is released to the custodial parent by notifying the division of child …

(1) The division of child support (DCS) does not follow the notice and hearing process of WAC 388-14A-2114 and 388-14A-2140 if:(a) Disclosure is denied under WAC 388-14A-2135;(b) The CP has provided a written release as provided in WAC 388-14A-2115;(c) The NCP has not filed a wri…

When a party objects to a notice mailed under WAC 388-14A-2114, the division of child support may:(1) Deny disclosure if the objection provides information based on which DCS would have denied disclosure under WAC 388-14A-2135; or(2) Request that the office of administrative hear…

(1) The division of child support (DCS) denies a request for address information without going through the notice process under WAC 388-14A-2114 if: (a) The department has determined, under WAC 388-422-0020, that the custodial parent (CP) has good cause for refusing to cooperate;…

In any administrative hearing requested under WAC 388-14A-2114 (1)(b)(ii):(1) The parent requesting address disclosure and the other party to the order or action are independent parties in the hearing.(2) The office of administrative hearings (OAH) sets the hearing as a phone hea…

WAC 388-14A-2150(1) WAC 388-01-080 authorizes the division of child support (DCS) to charge copying and postage costs for responses to requests for public records.(2) The amount DCS charges depends on the format requested and the method of delivery. See the DSHS website for more …

WAC 388-14A-2155(1) If your request for division of child support (DCS) records is denied, you may file an appeal with the economic services administration (ESA) public disclosure unit, P.O. Box 45445, Olympia WA 98504-5445.(2) If ESA denies your appeal, you may pursue the other …

(1) Under 42 U.S.C. §666 (a)(7), the division of child support (DCS) may report to consumer reporting agencies the name and identifying information of any noncustodial parent (NCP) who is delinquent in support and the amount of overdue support owed by that parent. Consumer report…

(1) Under RCW 74.20.040, the division of child support (DCS) must impose an annual fee of thirty-five dollars for each case in which:(a) The custodial parent (CP) has never received TANF, Tribal TANF or AFDC as the custodian of minor children; and(b) DCS has collected and disburs…

(1) WAC 388-14A-2200 describes the cases that qualify for the thirty-five dollar annual fee.(2) A custodial parent (CP) seeking to be excused from payment of the fee may provide proof that he or she is exempt from the fee because he or she received TANF, Tribal TANF or AFDC from …

(1) The United States Postal Service has made temporary changes to its certified mail signature gathering procedures to limit direct contact with recipients. As long as these special signature gathering procedures remain in effect, the division of child support (DCS) will conside…

(1) When there is no order setting the amount of child support a noncustodial parent (NCP) should pay, the division of child support (DCS) serves a support establishment notice on the NCP and the custodial parent (CP). A support establishment notice is an administrative notice th…