N.M. Admin. Code § 8.102.420.14 - CHILD SUPPORT
A. Assignment:
By state statute, Subsection F of Section
27-2-28 NMSA 1978, any participant
who signs an application automatically assigns the participant's child support
rights to the HCA. The assignment shall be made with respect to the child for
whom NMW is provided and shall be valid as long as the participant receives NMW
payments on the child's behalf. The assignment shall also include any spousal
support for which the applicant is or may become eligible.
B. Cooperation:
(1) The adult responsible for each child
included in the benefit group must cooperate with the child support services
division (CSSD) in obtaining child support for any dependent child included in
the NMW benefit group. Failure to do so will result in payment sanctions. The
adult shall be required to cooperate regardless of whether the adult is
included in the benefit group.
(2)
Failure to cooperate shall result in the personal ineligibility of the
participant refusing to cooperate and in a payment sanction against the benefit
group, as described in
8.102.620.10 NMAC.
(3) The determination as to whether the
participant has cooperated with CSSD shall be made by CSSD based on CSSD
requirements. The cooperation requirement may be partially or fully waived by
CSSD upon demonstration of good cause by the specified relative as indicated in
Subsection E of
8.102.420.14 NMAC.
(4) The caretaker relative must transmit to
CSSD any child support, spousal or medical support payment which the caretaker
relative receives directly.
C. Determining that cooperation exists: A
caretaker relative who, on the application and certification forms, indicates a
willingness to cooperate and who provides basic information determined by CSSD
as necessary to establish and pursue support shall be considered to have met
the cooperation requirement until such time as CSSD reports to the caseworker
that the participant is failing to cooperate.
D. Action upon receiving notice of
noncompliance: On notification by CSSD of failure to cooperate, the caseworker
shall take immediate action to issue a conciliation notice or to impose a
noncompliance sanction.
E. Good
cause:
(1) In some situations, it is not in
the best interests of the child or parent to pursue support or to require that
the caretaker relative cooperate with CSSD in pursuing such support. Caretaker
relatives therefore must be:
(a) notified that
the requirement to cooperate may be waived;
(b) informed of the requirements involved in
the waiver; and
(c) given an
opportunity to request a waiver that would exempt them from the cooperation
requirement.
(2) If a
caretaker relative requests a waiver of the cooperation requirement, assistance
shall not be delayed pending determination of good cause, nor may enforcement
of support begin or continue while the waiver of the requirement is under
consideration. An applicant who makes a waiver request shall not be included in
the benefit group until the necessary corroborative information and documents
are provided to ISD.
(3) Granting a
good cause exemption: The decision whether to grant a good cause exemption
shall be made according to the following methods.
(a) Domestic violence exemption: Exemption
status shall be reviewed based on the following criteria.
(i) The New Mexico family violence option in
the NM TANF state plan allows for exemption from cooperation with CSSD
requirements due to a domestic violence environment. The ISD caseworker shall
exempt a participant from cooperation requirements with CSSD where a trained
domestic violence counselor has certified that cooperation would make it more
difficult to escape the domestic violence or would unfairly penalize the
participant in light of current experiences.
(ii) CSSD shall exempt a participant from
cooperation requirements with CSSD when the participant has demonstrated by
reliable medical, psychological or mental reports, court orders or police
reports that they are subject to or at risk to domestic violence.
(iii) Upon approval of exemption the
caseworker shall submit a memo regarding exemption status to CSSD and ISD
central office.
(b) Other
good cause exemptions: All other good cause exemptions, including but not
limited to and exemption due to a domestic violence environment that is not
certified by a trained domestic violence counselor, from cooperation with CSSD
requirements shall be made by the director of the CSSD or designee.
(4) Notification:
(a) Approval: The caseworker shall send a
written notice to the client whether the waiver has been granted and when it
will be reviewed. The letter shall also tell the client whether CSSD has
determined that support can be pursued without danger or risk to the client or
child.
(b) Denial: If CSSD decides
that good cause does not exist, the caseworker shall notify the client that the
request has been denied and that the client is expected to cooperate fully in
pursuing support, within 10 working days of the day the notice was issued. The
notification shall also inform the client that a client has 60 days in which to
request an administrative hearing, but that the client is expected to begin
cooperating within 10 days after the date of the letter.
Notes
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