New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services
Subchapter A - General Welfare
Article 5 - Miscellaneous
Part 347 - Establishment of Parentage and Enforcement of Child Support
Section 347.2 - Definitions

(a) Alleged parent. An alleged parent is an individual who may be the child's genetic parent but who has not yet been legally declared to be the parent.

(b) Arrears.

Arrears are unpaid support owed by an individual who is obligated to pay under an order of support and is comprised of support arrears and past due support.

(c) Assigned arrears.

Assigned arrears are those arrears that are subject to an assignment of support rights and, for purposes of public assistance, do not exceed the cumulative unreimbursed assistance paid to the family on the date the family leaves public assistance.

(d) Assistance paid to the family.

Assistance paid to the family is assistance determined pursuant to section 369.2 of this Title, including assistance paid to the family under the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, and section 370.2 of this Title.

(e) Birth parent. A birth parent is the parent who gave birth to the child.

(f) Cash medical support.

Cash medical support means an amount ordered to be paid toward the cost of health insurance provided by a public entity or by a parent through an employer or organization and/or for other health care expenses not covered by insurance.

(g) Child.

For purposes of determining the pass-through and disregard of assigned support collections, a child is any individual under the age of 21 who is a member of the public assistance household.

(h) Conditionally-assigned arrears.

Conditionally-assigned arrears are arrears that were temporarily-assigned to the State under an assignment executed on or after October 1, 1998, but before October 1, 2009, and which became conditionally-assigned when the family left public assistance. Conditionally-assigned arrears are owed to the family unless the arrears are collected through Federal income tax refund offset in accordance with section 346.9 of this Title.

(i) Cumulative excess support payment.

A cumulative excess support payment is a payment made to the family when the total amount of the assigned support collections exceed the total unreimbursed assistance over the life of the public assistance case. The cumulative excess support payment is equivalent to the amount of such excess.

(j) Current-assistance case.

A current-assistance case is any child support case that is currently receiving public assistance.

(k) Disbursement.

Disbursement is the actual dispensing or paying out of the support collection based on a specified distribution.

(l) Disregard.

Disregard is an amount equivalent to the pass-through payment made to a family that is excluded from income pursuant to section 352.31 of this Title for purposes of determining eligibility for, and the amount of, public assistance provided to the family.

(m) Distribution.

Distribution is the allocation or apportionment of a support collection.

(n) Excepted portion.

The excepted portion is the portion of an amount collected on behalf of a family in a current-assistance case during a month which does not exceed the pass-through amount.

(o) Excess current support payment.

Through June 30, 2009, an excess current support payment is paid to the family when the amount of assigned support collections for a given month, minus any pass-through payments, is greater than the total amount of countable public assistance issued to the family for that month.

(p) Family.

Family includes members of the public assistance household, or family in receipt of public assistance, for purposes of determining the pass-through and disregard of assigned support collections.

(q) Family arrears.

Family arrears are arrears that are owed to the family, and may include never-assigned arrears, unassigned pre-assistance arrears, and unassigned during-assistance arrears.

(r) Federal share.

Federal share is the portion of the amount collected which does not exceed the cumulative unreimbursed assistance resulting from the application of the Federal medical assistance percentage in effect for the fiscal year in which the amount is distributed.

(s) Former-assistance case.

A former-assistance case is any child support case that formerly received public assistance.

(t) Foster care case.

A foster care case is a child support case receiving only services to establish, modify, or enforce a foster care assignment of support rights pursuant to section 426.8 of this Title or for children who are otherwise in receipt of non-assigned foster care services.

(u) Gamete donor. A gamete donor is an individual who donates sperm or eggs used in assisted reproduction.

(v) Intended parent. An intended parent is an individual who intends to be legally bound as the parent of a child resulting from assisted reproduction. The intended parent may be married to the birth parent.

(w) Legally responsible relative.

A legally responsible relative is any person who is legally obligated to furnish support for a child, or spouse and child.

(x) Medical assistance-only case.

A medical assistance-only case is a child support case receiving services to establish, modify, or enforce only a medical assistance assignment pursuant to Part 360 of this Title.

(y) Never-assigned arrears.

Never-assigned arrears are:

(z) Never-assistance case.

A never-assistance case is any child support case that has never received public assistance.

(aa) Noncustodial parent or absent parent.

A noncustodial parent or absent parent includes the genetic/biological parent, legal parent, stepparent or adoptive parent of any child where such parent is reported to be absent from the child's household. With respect to a child in foster care, a noncustodial parent, or absent parent, also includes a genetic/biological parent, legal parent, stepparent or adoptive parent of any child where such parent was present in the child's household when the child entered foster care.

(ab) Office.

Office refers to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

(ac) Parentage. For the purposes of Parts 346 and 347, parentage includes the establishment of a parent-child relationship pursuant to the following statutes: Articles 5, 5A, 5B, and 5C of the Family Court Act; section 4135-b of the Public Health Law; and section 111-k of the Social Services Law.

(ad) Pass-through payment.

Pass-through payment is an assigned support collection applied to current support that is paid to the family rather than retained to reimburse assistance paid to the family.

(ae) Payments to families.

For purposes of distribution and disbursement, payments to families are support payments made by the support collection unit or directly to the resident parent, legal guardian or caretaker relative having custody of or responsibility for the child or children.

(af) Permanently-assigned arrears.

Permanently-assigned arrears are arrears that are or were assigned under an assignment of support rights in effect on September 30, 1998; and under an assignment entered into on or after October 1, 1998, arrears which accrued during the period that the family received public assistance.

(ag) Post-assistance arrears.

Post-assistance arrears are arrears that accrued after the family's most recent period of public assistance.

(ah) Pre-assistance arrears.

Pre-assistance arrears are arrears that accrued prior to each period that the family received public assistance.

(ai) Public assistance.

For purposes of this Part, public assistance refers to the State administered programs as determined pursuant to section 369.2 and section 370.2 of this Title.

(aj) Public assistance household.

For purposes of determining the amount of pass-through payment and disregard of assigned support collections, public assistance household is the public assistance case.

(ak) Putative Father Registry. The Putative Father Registry is the State registry where the following documents acknowledging parentage are filed:

(al) Required monthly support obligation.

The required monthly support obligation is the basic child support obligation converted to a monthly amount, adjusted to recover any assigned costs for the provision of legal services to an applicant pursuant to section 347.17 of this Part, or for any deduction from the support obligation for the custodial parent's pro rata share of cash medical support as directed by the court.

(am) Required support obligation.

The required support obligation is the basic child support obligation, adjusted to recover any assigned costs for the provision of legal services to an applicant pursuant to section 347.17 of this Part, or for any deduction from the support obligation for the custodial parent's pro rata share of cash medical support as directed by the court.

(an) Retroactive support.

Retroactive support is the amount of support established by the court as support arrears/past due support for the period of time from the effective date of the order of support, which is the earlier of the date of filing the petition or the date the children became eligible for public assistance, to the date the order of support is issued.

(ao) State parent locator service.

The State parent locator service is the database within the office's automated child support management system used for processing automated location searches for noncustodial parents, alleged parents, and intended parents.

(ap) State share.

The State share is 100 percent of the amount collected which does not exceed the cumulative unreimbursed assistance, minus the Federal share.

(aq) Support.

Support is the legal obligation of a parent to contribute to the support and care of a child or child and spouse pursuant to an order of support.

(ar) Support collection.

A support collection is a sum paid pursuant to an order of support for child or combined child and spousal support.

(as) Temporarily-assigned arrears.

Temporarily-assigned arrears are pre-assistance arrears that were assigned to the State on or after October 1, 1998, and before October 1, 2009, for which the temporary assignment converts to a conditional assignment when the family leaves public assistance.

(at) Unassigned during-assistance arrears.

Unassigned during-assistance arrears are all previously-assigned arrears exceeding the cumulative unreimbursed assistance paid to the family when the family leaves public assistance and which accrued during the receipt of public assistance.

(au) Unassigned pre-assistance arrears.

Unassigned pre-assistance arrears are all previously-assigned arrears exceeding the cumulative unreimbursed assistance paid to the family when the family leaves public assistance and which accrued prior to the receipt of public assistance.

(av) Unreimbursed assistance.

Unreimbursed assistance is the cumulative, or total, amount of public assistance paid to a family for all months that has not been repaid by assigned support collections, and which may be recovered, up to the total amount of the assigned support obligation.