OKDHS - OAC 340:25-5-350.3. Payment of support through Centralized Support Registry

340:25-5-350.3. Payment of support through Centralized Support Registry

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Revised 7-1-09

(a) Centralized Support Registry. Oklahoma Child Support Services (OCSS) operates a Centralized Support Registry (Registry), also known as the State Disbursement Unit, for the receipt, recording, allocation, distribution, and disbursement of support payments. • 1 OCSS operates the Registry under Sections 410 and 413 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes, Sections 302.51 and 303.100 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and Sections 654b and 657 of Title 42 of the United States Code.

(1) This Section applies to both IV-D and non-IV-D cases unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(2) When a non-IV-D child support case has an income assignment in place, the Registry processes child support payments received from unemployment compensation benefits as income assignments per federal and state law. • 2

(b) Support payments.

(1) Support payments must be paid as instructed in writing by OCSS to the Registry.
(2) OCSS offices may accept support payments when:
- (A) a noncustodial parent offers a payment in connection with a court action; or
- (B) a payment is made as part of a settlement agreement on a lien or levy on real or personal property. • 3

(c) Method of payment. OCSS may require payors and persons to provide information needed to identify and properly allocate and distribute payments and to submit payments to the Registry in accordance with Section 413 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

(1) Support payment amounts are converted from a foreign country's order amount to a United States (U.S.) dollar amount at the time the order is registered and that exchange rate remains in place until the child support order is modified or the arrears are confirmed.
(2) OCSS:
- (A) allocates and distributes support payments under OAC 340:25-5-351;
- (B) modifies or enforces international orders under OAC 340:25-5-285;
- (C) safeguards case information and records received from payors and persons. Information and records concerning IV-D and non-IV-D recipients of services through the Registry are confidential under Section 183 of Title 56 of the Oklahoma Statutes except as provided in OAC 340:25-5-67;
- (D) sends custodial persons a quarterly written notice of the amount of current support, arrears, and interest collected, and the amount of collections paid to the custodian. Custodial persons may also obtain this information over the Internet or by telephoning OCSS as described in OAC 340:25-1-2.1;
- (E) reserves the right to refuse to accept a personal or business check or direct debit after receiving a dishonored personal or business check, direct debit, electronic funds transfer (EFT), or other negotiable instrument from the same payor or on the same case; and
- (F) considers the date of collection the date that payments are received by the Registry.
(3) When OCSS refuses to accept a personal or business check, direct debit, EFT, or other negotiable instrument from a payor under (2)(E) of this subsection, the payor:
- (A) must submit the payment by cashier’s check, certified check, money order, or online using a debit or credit card;
- (B) is added to the OCSS Returned Payments List;
- (C) remains on the Returned Payments List until OCSS receives the equivalent of 12 months of payments unless:
  - (i) the payment is returned due to missing endorsement;
  - (ii) payor provides prior notification that payment will be returned and remits a replacement payment within ten days of notification in the manner required by OCSS; • 4
  - (iii) returned payment is insufficient funds caused by an OCSS Financial Institution Data Match levy; or
  - (iv) the reason for returned payment is deemed by OCSS to be out of payor’s control;
- (D) must request removal from the Returned Payments List by contacting OCSS as described in OAC 340:25-1-2.1.
(4) OCSS notifies the payor by mail:
- (A) of the reason for the returned payment;
- (B) that the payor has been placed on the Returned Payments List;
- (C) that the payor must submit payments as outlined in (3)(A) of this subsection; and
- (D) how the payor can be removed from the Returned Payments List.
(5) When OCSS removes the payor from the Returned Payments List and subsequently has another payment returned, payor is added back to the Returned Payments List and remains there indefinitely. • 4

(d) EFT support payments. Noncustodial parents, employers, and other payors may register to make electronic payments through OCSS' online child support payment system (WebPay) at https://www.okdhs-paycs.com/Login.aspx.

(1) To transfer child support payments electronically, noncustodial parents, employers, and other payors must:
- (A) call OCSS at the telephone numbers provided in OAC 340:25‑1‑2.1 to set up the EFT process;
- (B) have a valid e-mail account;
- (C) have access to the Internet;
- (D) be a legal owner of:
  - (i) a bank account held at a financial institution within the U.S.; or
  - (ii) a VISA or MasterCard credit or debit card held at a financial institution within the U.S.; and
- (E) register to use WebPay. • 5
(2) WebPay payments do not replace federally mandated income withholding and will not stop or cancel income withholding orders for noncustodial parents.
(3) OCSS may adjust and release payroll deductions that have been electronically transferred from a noncustodial parent's wages. When an adjustment cannot be processed in time to effect the change on the next scheduled electronic funds transfer, employers do not refund money to the employee, make adjustments to subsequent EFT payments, or take any other action to correct the amount deducted. • 6
(4) OCSS reserves the right to:
- (A) limit use of WebPay by imposing limits, hold times, or other measures if OCSS believes that suspicious activity has occurred or may occur on a payor's account; • 5
- (B) close a WebPay account and impose fees and charges if a scheduled payment transaction is returned for any reason;
- (C) add payor to Returned Payments List under (c)(3) of this Section; and
- (D) specify what payment formats are used to conduct the electronic transfer of funds between businesses to state child support entities.
  - (i) Formats for electronically transferring funds and their identifying information have been developed by the Bankers Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Council of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA). These formats specify how employers and payroll companies electronically send the information and the capabilities that states must have to receive the information.
  - (ii) Cash Concentration and Disbursement (CCD) and Corporate Trade Exchange (CTX) payment formats are used within the NACHA network to transfer funds between businesses to state child support entities.
  - (iii) Addenda Records are used to transmit personally identifying information about noncustodial parents such as Social Security numbers along with their payments. Addenda Records identify the employer sending the payment and the payor to receive credit for the payment. A CCD entry accompanied by an Addenda Record is referred to as a CCD+.
  - (iv) OCSS accepts CCD+ and CTX formats from employers sending child support payments.
  - (v) OCSS does not accept Prearranged Payment and Deposit (PPD) formats because PPD formats lack the EDI Addendum Record. • 5

(e) Payment issuance. Under Section 654 of Title 42 of the United States Code and Section 302.38 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, OCSS issues payments to the custodial person only by transferring funds electronically, also known as direct deposit, or through debit cards. In interstate cases, OCSS issues payments to the initiating state IV-D agency by electronic funds transfer and only issues payments by paper warrant to initiating states that do not have an electronic funds transfer system.

(1) Payments issued by debit card.
- (A) When an Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) customer already has a debit card, at the point of OCSS’ initial child support payment issuance for a custodial person, a letter is mailed explaining that child support funds are added to the existing debit card account.
- (B) When an OKDHS customer has not been issued an Oklahoma debit card, at the point of OCSS initial child support payment issuance, a letter is mailed explaining the debit card activation process and that the debit card should be expected within ten business days. The custodial person must activate the debit card within 90 days of issuance.
  - (i) When a card is not activated, OCSS mails a second letter to the custodial person after 45 days and a third letter after 90 days. The letters explain the importance of activating the debit card and that when the card is not activated within 90 days, the payment is no longer available on the debit card.
  - (ii) Payments issued to a custodial person who has not activated the debit card are returned to OCSS after 90 days. When payments are returned to OCSS, payments are applied under OAC 340:25-5-350.4. When the payments have been distributed to other case balances or returned to the noncustodial parent, the payments are not redistributed to the custodial person.
(2) Payments issued by direct deposit. After receiving a debit card, the custodial person may enroll in direct deposit by calling the toll-free customer service telephone number located on the back of the debit card. There are no charges or fees for receiving child support payments by direct deposit. A custodial person must have a bank account held at a financial institution within the United States to receive direct deposit child support payments and normal banking charges may apply. • 7

(f) Forged endorsement on warrants.

(1) When a custodial person reports that a warrant has been fraudulently cashed, OCSS compares the payee's signature against the endorsement on the warrant and verifies that the signatures do not match.
(2) OCSS sends the following documentation that has been completed and signed by the payee to the OST:
- (A) Form 10AD044E, Affidavit of Lost or Destroyed Warrant;
- (B) Form 10AD045E, Affidavit of Forged Endorsement; and
- (C) Form 10AD046E, Investigation Questionnaire.
(3) OCSS issues a replacement warrant to the payee after OCSS receives the return of funds from the Oklahoma State Treasurer’s Office (OST) and the mandatory 60-day holding period imposed by the OST has lapsed.

(g) Overcollected support amounts. OCSS returns overcollected support amounts as described in OAC 340:25-5-350.1.

(h) Distribution errors. OCSS manages distribution errors as described in this subsection.

(1) OCSS is not responsible for overpayment, underpayment, nonpayment, misdirection of payment, or other distribution error caused by either incorrect payments or information submitted to OCSS, or OCSS receiving no information or payment. OCSS does not attempt to recover, redirect, forward, repay, or otherwise correct this type of error.
(2) When OCSS errs, OCSS recovers overpayments to parties or custodial persons in IV‑D and non-IV-D cases as described in OAC 340:25-5, Part 37.
(3) OCSS sends refunds to noncustodial parents by mailing a paper warrant.

INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:25-5-350.3

Revised 7-1-09

1.  Child support staff follow the Child Support Manual, Volume 9 available from the Oklahoma Child Support Services (OCSS) InfoNet, for information on receipt, recording, allocation, distribution, and disbursement of support payments.

2.  OCSS provides enforcement for IV-D cases only. OCSS does not provide enforcement for non-IV-D cases.

(1) Child support staff follow the Child Support Manual, Volume 11 - Non-IV-D, Non-IV-D chapter, for information on processing non-IV-D cases.

(2) Non-IV-D cases receiving an unemployment insurance benefit payment have a distribution code of K listed on the CFRRX payment screen on the automated Oklahoma Support Information System (OSIS).

3.  Child support staff convert any cash received to a money order or cashier’s check before sending the payment to the Centralized Support Registry.

4. Upon notification that there is a returned payment, child support staff immediately communicate this information to the Center for Finance and Budget so the payment issuance may be stopped. All replacement payments must be identified as replacement payments, either on the outside of the envelope or the face of the check, and mailed to the Center for Finance and Budget at the address provided in OAC 340:25-1-2.1.

5.  Online and electronic transactions.

(1) WebPay. For additional information on the terms and conditions of the CSED online child support payment system, WebPay, child support staff refer noncustodial parents, employers, and other payors to the WebPay site at https://www.okdhs-paycs.com/About/TermsAndConditions.aspx.

(2) Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EFT is a process that electronically transfers dollars from one bank account to another bank account at financial institutions located within the United States of America. EDI transfers information. EFT/EDI is used to simultaneously transfer child support payments and remittance information to state child support agencies.

(A) Formats for sending the information have been developed by the Bankers EDI Council of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA). These formats specify how employers and payroll companies will electronically send the information and the capabilities that states must have to receive the information.

(B) The Corporate Trade Exchange (CTX) format allows for the provision of 9,999 Addenda Records, which must carry a full x12 transaction set or United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT) message. The message, also known as transaction set, must be formatted correctly, including the envelope information and in the case of the Accredited Standards Committee x12 820, both Table 1 and Table 2 of the NACHA Operating Rules.

(C) For additional information on electronic formats of files, child support staff refer employers and other payors to NACHA available by telephone at 703-561-1100, or through the NACHA Web site at http://www.nacha.org.

(3) Electronic processing. When processing payments electronically to an initiating state, OCSS provides the initiating state with a list of cases OCSS is processing for that state.

(A) For each case, the initiating state confirms case status as active and verifies the accuracy of case information regarding noncustodial parent name, custodial person name, Social Security numbers, and case identifying number.

(B) If the initiating state identifies incorrect information, OCSS updates the case on OSIS.

(C) After case information is reconciled, the initiating state provides their banking information to OCSS and OCSS forwards the initiating state's banking information to the Oklahoma State Treasurer.

(D) OCSS updates OSIS to send all payments to the initiating state through EFT, which encompasses the direct:

(i) withdrawal of child support payments from a noncustodial parent's checking or savings account;

(ii) deposit of child support payments into a custodial person's checking or savings account; and

(iii) deposit of child support payments into an initiating state's banking account.

6.  When money is electronically transferred to OCSS in error and there are questions about the amount deducted, the Customer Assistance Response Effort (CARE) refers the customer to district office child support staff. Child support staff review the inquiry and make any necessary adjustments on OSIS and, in some cases, refund money to the employee.

7.  Child support staff refer custodial persons with debit card questions to the toll-free customer service telephone number located on the back of the debit card. Tips on how to use the debit card are provided with the card.

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