Privacy Act of 1974; Altered System of Records

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Privacy Act of 1974; Altered System of Records

AGENCY: Office of Child Support Enforcement, ACF, DHHS.

ACTION: Final notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is publishing a

notice to amend one of its Systems of Records, ``The Federal Parent

Locator System and Federal Tax Offset System (FPLS), DHHS/OCSE No. 09-

90-0074. We are also amending the routine uses for this system.

DATES: The amendments made by this notice are effective October 1,

1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Program

Operations Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for

Children and Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., 4th Floor East,

Washington, DC 20447, (202) 401-9271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that the Office of

Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is amending one of its Systems of

Records, ``The Federal Parent Locator System and Federal Tax Offset

System (FPLS)'', DHHS/OCSE No. 09-90-0074.

Information on this system was published for public comment at 62

FR 45659, August 28, 1997. The OCSE received no comments on the Federal

Register publication. OCSE usually receives written responses from a

number of sources. The responses are generally supportive. To the

extent feasible, OCSE takes all public comments into account when

preparing the final notice.

OCSE is also giving notice that OCSE is changing the name of this

system to the ``Federal Parent Locator and Federal Tax Refund/

Administrative Offset System'' (FPLS). Furthermore, the uses of the

FPLS are being expanded pursuant to Pub. L. 104-193, the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)

and pursuant to Pub. L. 104-134, the Debt Collection Improvement Act of

1996 (DCIA) and Executive Order 13019, dated September 28, 1996.

The system is divided into two subsystems: Parent Locator Service

and Tax Refund/Administrative Offset (TROP/ADOP). The Parent Locator

portion of the system is being expanded consistent with section 316 of

the PRWORA, which authorizes the establishment of a National Directory

of New Hires (NDNH) effective no later than October 1, 1997. The NDNH

will be comprised of three components. First, the NDNH will maintain

employment data on newly-hired employees (new hire reporting) submitted

by the State Directories of New Hires (SDNH) pursuant to section

453A(g)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (the Act) and by Federal

agencies pursuant to section 453A(B)(1)(c) of the Act. Second, the NDNH

will maintain quarterly wage information on individual employees,

submitted by States under the authority of sections 453A(g)(2)(B) and

303(h) of the Act, and section 3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code

(IRC) of 1986, as well as quarterly wage information on Federal

employees pursuant to section 453(n) of the Act. Third, the NDNH will

maintain unemployment compensation claims data submitted by States

under the authority of sections 453A(g)(2)(B)

[[Page 51664]]

and 303(h) of the Act, and section 3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue

Code of 1986. Federal agencies and States will transmit new hire and

quarterly wage and data electronically to the NDNH and States will

transmit claim information electronically as well.

The TROP/ADOP portion of the system is expanding the current use of

Federal tax refund intercepts to assist families in collecting past-due

child support, intercept certain other Federal payments owed by child

support obligors, and divert the payment to obligees/States for the

payment of past-due child support. Specifically, the TROP/ADOP will:

(1) combine the Federal Tax Refund Offset program with the

Administrative Program operated by Department of Treasury's Financial

Management Service (FMS); (2) periodically match cases from the TROP/

ADOP system with the NDNH; (3) conduct crossmatches with the State

Department for denial of passports; (4) conduct crossmatches for asset

identification with the Department of Treasury (Project 1099) against

States' obligor file(s); (5) disclose information to additional

sources; and (6) allow access to new authorized users.

The Social Security Act, as amended by PRWORA and the DCIA require

an expansion of the uses of the FPLS. The Parent Locator portion of the

FPLS will now be used to obtain and transmit information to any

authorized person, for the purpose of establishing parentage,

establishing, setting the amount of, modifying, or enforcing child

support obligations, investigating parental kidnapping cases, or making

or enforcing child custody or visitation orders. Additonally, PRWORA

replaced the AFDC programs with TANF programs, and routine uses are

being updated to reflect that change.

The Federal TROP/ADOP portion of the system will be used for the

purposes of: collecting past-due child support from Federal tax refunds

and from certain Federal payments otherwise owed to child support

obligors; identifying assets of obligors; and enforcing child support

orders by assisting the State Department in preventing delinquent

obligors from travelling outside the country by the denial, restriction

and/or revocation of passports.

Section 370 of PRWORA established a new section 452(k) of the Act

which requires that after October 1, 1997, the Secretary of HHS shall

transmit to the Secretary of the Department of State, certifications

from State child support enforcement (CSE) agencies of individuals who

owe arrearages of child support exceeding $5000 and that the Department

of State may revoke, restrict or deny passports to such individuals.

Project 1099 provides State CSE agencies access to all earned and

unearned income information reported to the Department of Treasury by

employers and financial institutions. This information is used to

locate noncustodial parents and to verify income and employment, which

is essential to establishing and enforcing child support obligations.

Sections 452 and 453 of the Social Security Act require the

Secretary of HHS to establish and conduct the Federal Parent Locator

Service, a computerized national location network which provides

address and social security number (SSN) information to State and local

child support enforcement agencies (CSEAs) for purposes of locating

parents to establish or enforce a child support order and to assist

authorized persons in resolving parental kidnapping and child custody

cases.

Pursuant to section 124(a) of the Family Support Act of 1988 (Pub.

L. 100-485), the FPLS obtained access to wage and unemployment

compensation claims information maintained for or by the Department of

Labor (DOL) or the State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs). In

January 1990, the FPLS began conducting periodic crossmatches in which

the names and SSNs of child support obligors are run against SESA wage

and unemployment files. OCSE is currently limited to 250,000 cases per

State per bi-weekly crossmatch. The information generated from

crossmatches between quarterly wage, claims and child support data,

both at the State level and in the more limited FPLS context, has

proven extremely beneficial for the location of child support obligors

and their wages. The inclusion of quarterly wage and unemployment

compensations claims data in the NDNH allows for a substantially higher

volume of interstate crossmatching than is currently possible.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

of 1996 requires the Secretary to develop an expanded Federal Parent

Locator Service to improve the States' ability to locate and collect

child support. The OCSE, within ACF, is charged with the task of

developing, implementing, and maintaining the FPLS. The Secretary will

house the expanded FPLS in the Social Security Administration's

National Computer Center. The Secretary and SSA believe that locating

the expanded FPLS there will provide the most efficient and cost-

effective mechanism for developing the expanded FPLS, as well as

ensuring state-of-the-art standards for system security and

confidentiality of the expanded FPLS data.

The expanded FPLS will include the NDNH (operational no later than

October 1, 1997), The Federal Case Registry (FCR) (operational no later

than October 1, 1998), and the capability to continue matching against

existing FPLS data sources, including but not limited to, the Internal

Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, Department of Defense/

Office of Personnel Management, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the

Federal Bureau of Investigation. The expanded FPLS will perform

crossmatches between the NDNH, the FCR, and specified additional

external databases. With these new expanded FPLS resources, the

interstate matching of child support obligors and employment, earnings,

and benefits data will flow more efficiently and quickly between

States.

In addition to performing automatic matching, the system accepts

and processes automated or manual information requests from State and

local CSE agencies as well as the FBI, the National Center for Missing

and Exploited Children, the State Department, and the Attorney General.

The following information is available from Federal agencies (including

the Postal Service) and the SESAs:

(1) The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides three types

of information on the noncustodial or custodial parent per locate

request. SSA can also provide social security number information

(including identification, verification, nonverification or correction)

pertaining to the noncustodial or custodial parent. When SSA is the

specified agency queried, SSA provides the name and address of

employers, address where the benefits check is being delivered, and

date of death, as well as SSN and address information;

(2) The SESAs provide two types of information. If the noncustodial

parent is employed, the SESAs provide the name and address of the most

recent employer and the amount of the wages earned in the previous

quarter. If the noncustodial or custodial parent is unemployed, the

SESAs provide the home address where the unemployment check is or was

most recently mailed;

(3) The Department of Treasury (Treasury) provides several types of

information. If the noncustodial or custodial parent has filed a tax

return in the last three years, Treasury provides the address reported

on the most recent return. Treasury also provides the SSNs of parents

listed on the tax return.

[[Page 51665]]

Additionally, the Project 1099 provides information to State CSE

agencies to access all earned and unearned income information reported

to the Treasury by employers and financial institutions. The FPLS

conducts matches on data from IRS forms 1098 and 1099;

(4) The Department of Defense (DoD) provides information on

noncustodial or custodial parents who are in the Army, Navy, Air Force,

and Marine Corps. DoD provides the military unit address, pay grade,

and date of separation from the service. FPLS conducts matches with

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) through DoD. OPM provides the name

and address of the payroll office for non-military and non-postal

noncustodial or custodial parents who work for the Federal government,

or receive retirement benefits;

(5) The Postal Service provides information on noncustodial or

custodial parents who are employed by the U.S. Postal Service; and

(6) The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides information on

those individuals who are receiving VA benefits. The VA indicates if

the noncustodial or custodial parent is receiving compensation,

pension, or educational benefits, the amount of the benefit, and where

the check is being delivered.

Furthermore, pursuant to the DCIA, and pursuant to Executive Order

13019, the Department of Treasury's FMS is charged with the

responsibility of increasing the collection of non-tax debts owed to

the Federal Government and/or States, and collecting past-due child

support through administrative offsets. The OCSE will match its records

against Federal payment certification records and Federal financial

assistance records maintained by FMS. The purpose is to facilitate the

collection of delinquent child support obligations from persons who may

be entitled or eligible to receive certain Federal payments or Federal

assistance. State CSE agencies submit names of delinquent child support

debts to the OCSE for submission to FMS.

These cases are sent on-line, dial-up access via personal computer,

tape and cartridge via mail, file transfer, or electronic data

transmission. OCSE serves as a conduit between State CSE agencies and

the FMS by processing weekly updates of collection data and

distributing the information back to the appropriate State CSE agency.

The information will be disclosed by OCSE to State CSE agencies for use

in the collection of child support debts, through locate, wage

withholding, or other enforcement actions.

The system of records is used for the collection of past-due child

support via administrative offset, (offset of certain funds payable to

an individual by the Federal Government.) (Not all Federal funds will

be subject to administrative offset; see 62 FR 36205, dated July 7,

1997.) The FMS serves as the lead agency in this debt collection

initiative. The FMS has a Debt Collection Operations System to maintain

records of individuals and entities that are indebted and will match

these records against the payment certification records of Federal

departments and agencies.

In addition, the system of records is used to determine which

delinquent obligors are appropriate for referral to the U.S. State

Department for revocation/restriction/denial of a U.S. Passport. OCSE

extracts cases with arrearages of $5,000 or greater from the certified

case file. These cases are electronically submitted to SSA with name

and SSN. SSA returns the file with date of birth, SSN, name, place of

birth, and sex. These cases are then forwarded to the State Department

via tape with date of birth, place of birth, sex, SSN, and name. These

files are matched against individuals who make application for

passport. Passports may be denied to those obligors owing $5,000 or

greater. The State Department's system is called the Consular and

Support System (CLASS) (State 26, Passport Records, published at 60 FR

148, August 2, 1995).

If there is a match, the Passport Office will notify the applicant

to contact the State CSE agency that submitted his/her name. If, as a

result of payment, the applicant's child support arrearage falls below

the $5,000 threshold, the CSE office will issue a Notice of Withdrawal

of Passport Denial requesting that the Passport Office issue a passport

to the noncustodial parent if otherwise qualified.

The FPLS system of records will be comprised of records that

contain the name of noncustodial or custodial parent or child, Social

Security number (when available), date of birth, place of birth, sex

code, State case identification number, local identification number

(State use only), State or locality originating request, date of

origination, type of case (TANF, non-TANF full-service, non-TANF locate

only, parental kidnapping), home address, mailing address, type of

employment, work location, annual salary, pay rate, quarterly wages,

medical coverage, benefit amounts, type of military service (Army,

Navy, Marines, Air Force, not in service), retired military (yes or

no), Federal employee (yes or no), recent employer's address, known

alias (last name only), offset amount, date requests sent to Federal

agencies or departments (SSA, Treasury, DoD/OPM, VA, USPS, FBI, and

SESAs), dates of Federal agencies' or departments' responses, date of

death, record identifier, employee date of hire, employee State of

hire, Federal EIN, State EIN, employer name, employer address, employer

foreign address, employer optional address, and employer optional

foreign address; employee SSN, employee name, employee wage amount,

reporting period, claimant SSN, claimant name, claimant address, SSA/VA

benefit amount, reporting period, State code, local code, case number,

arrearage amount, collection amount, adjustment amount, return

indicator, transfer State, street address, city and State, zip code,

zip code 4, total debt, number of adjustments, number of collections,

net amount, adjustment year, tax period for offset, type of offset,

State code, submitting State FIPS, locate code, case ID number, case

type, and court/administrative order indicator.

Safeguarding: All requests from the State IV-D Agency must certify

that: (1) They are being made to locate noncustodial or custodial

parents for the purpose of establishing paternity or securing child

support, or in cases involving parental kidnapping or child custody

determinations and for no other purpose; (2) the State IV-D agency has

in effect protective measures to safeguard the personal information

being transferred and received from the FPLS; and (3) the State IV-D

Agency will use or disclose this information for the purposes

prescribed in 45 CFR 302.70.

The records in the FPLS will be maintained in a secure manner

compatible with their content and use. All Federal and State personnel

and contractors will be required to adhere to the provisions of the

Privacy Act and the HHS Privacy Act regulations at 45 CFR part 5b. The

System Manager will control access to the data. Only authorized users

whose official duties require the use of such information will have

regular access to the records in this system. Authorized users are: (1)

Any State or Federal government department or agency charged with the

responsibility of locating custodial or noncustodial parents; (2) State

agencies under agreements covered by title IV-D of the Social Security

Act for the purposes of locating noncustodial and custodial parents in

connection with establishing or enforcing child support obligations;

(3) State agencies under agreements covered by section 463 of the Act

for the purpose of locating

[[Page 51666]]

custodial parents or children in connection with activities by State

courts and Federal attorneys and agents charged with making or

enforcing child custody and visitation determinations or conducting

investigations, enforcement proceedings or prosecutions concerning the

unlawful taking or restraint of children; and (4) agents and attorneys

of the United States involved in activities in States which do not have

agreements under Section 463 of the Act for the purpose of locating

custodial parents in connection with activities by State courts and

Federal attorneys and agents charged with making or enforcing child

custody and visitation determinations or conducting investigations,

enforcement proceedings or prosecutions concerning unlawful taking or

restraint of children.

All microfilm and paper files are accessible only by authorized

personnel who have a need for the information in the performance of

their official duties. Safeguards for automated records have been

established in accordance with the HHS Information Resources Management

Manual, Part 6, Automated Information Systems Security Program

Handbook.

Storage: Records are maintained on disk and magnetic tape, and hard

copy.

Retrievability: System records can be accessed by either a State

assigned case identification number or Social Security Number.

Data stored in computers will be accessed through the use of

``passwords'' known only to authorized users. Rooms where records are

stored are locked when not in use. During regular business hours rooms

are unlocked but are controlled by on-site personnel.

Information will not be disclosed to any person if the disclosure

would contravene the national or security interest of the United States

or the confidentiality of census data.

Information will not be disclosed to any person if the State has

notified the Secretary that the State has reasonable evidence of

domestic violence or child abuse and the disclosure of such information

could be harmful to the custodial parent or the child of such parent.

Information received or transmitted pursuant to this section shall

be subject to the safeguard provisions contained in section 454(26) of

the Act.

Retention and Disposal; Quarterly wage data supplied to the FPLS

will be retained for eight calendar quarters and then destroyed. New

hire information supplied to the FPLS will be kept in an active file

for two years. New hire information will then be stored for an

additional three years before being destroyed.

Tax refund and administrative offset information will be maintained

for six years in an active master file for purposes of collection and

adjustment. After this time, records of cases for which there was no

collection will be destroyed. Records of cases with a collection will

be stored on-line in an inactive master file.

Records pertaining to passport denial will be updated and/or

deleted as obligors meet satisfactory restitution or other State

approved arrangements.

Records of information provided by the FPLS to authorized users

will be maintained only long enough to communicate the information to

the appropriate State or Federal agent. Thereafter, the information

provided will be destroyed. However, records pertaining to the

disclosures, which include information provided by States, Federal

agencies contacted, and an indication of the type(s) of information

returned, will be stored on a history tape and in hard copy for five

years and then destroyed.

System Manager(s) and Address: Director, Program Operations

Division, Ofice of Child Support Enforcement, Department of Health and

Human Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., 4th Floor, Washington, DC

20447.

Record Access Procedures: Same as notification procedures.

Requesters should also specify the record contents being sought.

Contesting Record Procedures: Contact the official at the address

specified under system manage above, and identify record and specify

the information to be contested.

Record Source Categories: Information is obtained from departments,

agencies, or instrumentalities of the United States or any State.

Systems Exempted From Certain Provisions of the Privacy Act: None.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including

Categories of Users and the Purpose of Such Users:

The current routine uses for this system of records are:

(1) Request the most recent home and employment addresses and SSN

of the noncustodial parents from any State or Federal government

department, agency or instrumentality which might have such information

in its records; (2) Provide the most recent home and employment

addresses and SSN to State CSE agencies (including the FBI and the

Center for Missing and Exploited Children) for the purpose of locating

noncustodial parents in connection with establishing or enforcing child

support obligations; (3) Provide the most recent home and employment

addresses and SSN to State CSE agencies under agreements covered by

section 463 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 663) for the purpose

of locating noncustodial parents or children in connection with

activities by State courts and Federal attorneys and agents charged

with making or enforcing child custody determinations or conducting

investigations, enforcement proceedings or prosecutions concerning the

unlawful taking or restraint of children; (4) Provide the most recent

home and employment addresses and SSN to agents and attorneys of the

United States, involved in activities in States which do not have

agreements under section 463 of the Act for purposes of locating

noncustodial parents or children in connection with Federal

investigations, enforcement proceedings or prosecutions involving the

unlawful taking or restraint of children; and (5) provide to the State

Department the name and SSN of noncustodial parents in international

child support cases, and in cases inolving The Hague Convention on the

Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The PRWORA amends Federal law and authorizes new uses and

disclosures for the expanded FPLS. The new routine uses proposed for

this system are compatible with the stated purposes of the system and

include the following:

(1) Pursuant to section 453(j) (2)&(3) of the Social Security Act,

State agencies may access data in the NDNH for the purpose of

administering the Child Support Enforcement Program and the Temporary

Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program; (2) Pursuant to section

453(j)(4) of the Act, the Commissioner of Social Security may access

information in the NDNH for the purpose of verifying reported SSNs and

other purposes; (3) Pursuant to section 453(i)(3) of the Act, the

Secretary of the Treasury may access information in the NDNH for

purposes of administering advance payment of the earned income tax

credit and verifying a claim with respect to employment in a tax

return; (4) Pursuant to section 453(j)(5) of the Act, the Secretary of

Health and Human Services may provide researchers with access to the

new hire data for research efforts that would contribute to the TANF

and CSE programs.

Information disclosed may not contain personal identifiers; (5)

Under section 6103(el)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, records

may be disclosed to any agent of an agency that is under contract with

the State CSE

[[Page 51667]]

agency to assist in locating individuals for the purposes of

establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations; (6)

Under section 453(j) of the Act, records in the NDNH may be disclosed

to State CSE agencies in order to locate individuals for the purpose of

establishing paternity and for establishment, modification, or

enforcement of a support order; (7) Pursuant to section 453(a) of the

Act, records may be disclosed to State CSE agencies for the purpose of

locating individuals for the purpose of enforcing child custody and

visitation orders; (8) Pursuant to section 453(j) of the Act, new hire

information may also be disclosed to the State agency administering the

Medicaid, Unemployment Compensation, Food Stamp, SSI, and territorial

cash assistance programs for income eligibility verification, and to

State agencies administering unemployment and workers' compensation

programs to assist determinations of the allowability of claims; (9)

OCSE will disclose information to the Treasury Department for the

offset of certain Federal payments in order to collect past due child

support obligations. The Federal payments included in the

Administrative Offset System are: Federal salary, wage and retirement

payments; vendor payments; expense reimbursement payments; and travel

payments; and (10) Pursuant to section 452(k) of the Act, information

from the FPLS may be disclosed to the Secretary of State to revoke,

restrict, or deny a passport to any person certified by State CSE

agencies as owing a child support arrearage greater than $5,000.

Dated: September 26, 1997.

Anne F. Donovan,

Acting Deputy Director.

09-90-0074

SYSTEM NAME:

Federal Parent Locator and Federal Tax Refund/Administrative Offset

System (FPLS), HHS, OCSE.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:

None.

SYSTEM LOCATION:

Office of Child Support Enforcement, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW, 4th

Floor East, Washington, DC 20447;

Social Security Administration, 6200 Security Boulevard, Baltimore,

Maryland 21235.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:

Records will be maintained to locate individuals for the purpose of

establishing parentage, establishing, setting the amount of, modifying,

or enforcing child support obligations, or enforcing chid custody or

visitation orders: (1) Information on, or facilitating the discovery

of, or the location of any individual: (A) Who are under an obligation

to pay child support or provide child custody or visitation rights; (B)

against whom such an obligation is sought; and (C) to whom such an

obligation is owed including the individual's social security number

(or numbers), most recent address, and the name, address, and employer

identification number of the individual's employer; and (2) information

on the individual's wages (or other income) from, and benefits of,

employment (including rights to enrollment in group health care

coverage); and (3) information on certain Federal disbursements payable

to a delinquent obligor which may be offset for the purpose of

collecting past-due child support.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

The system will comprise records that contain the name of

noncustodial or custodial parent or child, Social Security number (when

available), date of birth, place of birth, sex code, State case

identification number, local identification number (State use only),

State or locality originating request, date of origination, type of

case (TANF, non-TANF full-service, non-TANF locate only, parental

kidnapping), home address, mailing address, type of employment, work

location, annual salary, pay rate, quarterly wages, medical coverage,

benefit amounts, type of military service (Army, Navy, Marines, Air

Force, not in service), retired military (yes or no), Federal employee

(yes or no), recent employer's address, known alias (last name only),

offset amount, date requests sent to Federal agencies or departments

(SSA, IRS, DoD/OPM, VA, USPS, FBI, and SESAs), dates of Federal

agencies' or departments' responses, date of death, record identifier,

employee date of hire, employee State of hire, Federal EIN, State EIN,

employer name, employer address, employer foreign address, employer

optional address, and employer optional foreign address; employee SSN,

employee name, employee wage amount, reporting period, claimant SSN,

claimant name, claimant address, SSA/VA benefit amount, reporting

period, State code, local code, case number, arrearage amount,

collection amount, adjustment amount, return indicator, transfer State,

street address, city and State, zip code, zip code 4, total debt,

number of adjustments, number of collections, net amount, adjustment

year, tax period for offset, type of offset, State code, submitting

State FIPS, locate code, case ID number, case type, and court/

administrative order indicator.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:

Sections 452 and 453 of the Social Security Act required the

Secretary of HHS to establishment and conduct the Federal Parent

Locator Service, a computerized national location network whch provides

address and SSN information to State and local Child Support

Enforcement Agencies (CSE).

Section 124(a) of the Family Support Act of 1988 authorized the

Secretary of HHS to obtain access to wage and unemployment compensation

claims information maintained for or by the Department of Labor (DOL)

or the State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs).

The FPLS is being expanded pursuant to: Social Security Act

amendments promulgated as section 316 of the Personal Responsibility

and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA); the Debt

Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA); and Executive Order 13019.

These provisions give the Secretary of Health and Human Services the

authority to expand the Federal Parent Locator Service to improve the

States' ability to locate and collect child support.

PURPOSE(S):

The purpose of the system is to expand the Federal Parent Locator

Service (FPLS) to improve States' ability to locate parents and collect

child support. A large database, the National Directory of New Hires,

will be established. Through this database, the interstate matching of

child support obligors and employment, earnings, and benefit data will

flow more efficiently and quickly between States. The National

Directory of New Hires (NDNH) will contain the following:

(1) New hire information on employees commencing employment in

either the public or private sector;

(2) Quarterly wage data on private and public sector employees; and

(3) Information on unemployment compensation benefits. Federal

agencies are also required to submit both new hire and quarterly wage

information. Names and social security numbers submitted for both new

hire and quarterly wage information will be verified by the Social

Security Administration to ensure that the social security number

provided is correct.

In October of 1998, a second database will be established, the

Federal Case

[[Page 51668]]

Register (FCR), which will be derived from State level case registry

information and will contain abstracts on all participants involved in

child support enforcement cases. The NDNH and the FCR will be matched

against each other on an on-going basis to determine if an employee is

a participant in a child support case anywhere in the country. If the

FPLS identifies a person as being a participant in a State child

support case, that State will be notified of the participant's current

employer.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES

OF USERS AND THE PURPOSE OF SUCH USES

The current routine uses in this system of records are maintained

to: (1) Request the most recent home and employment addresses and SSN

of the noncustodial or custodial parents from any State or Federal

government department, agency or instrumentality which might have such

information in its records; (2) Provide the most recent home and

employment addresses and SSN to State CSE agencies for the purpose of

locating noncustodial parents in connection with establishing or

enforcing child support obligations; (3) Provide the most recent home

and employment addresses and SSN to State CSE agencies under agreements

covered by Section 463 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 663) for

the purpose of locating noncustodial parents or children in connection

with activities by State courts and Federal attorneys and agents

charged with making or enforcing child custody determinations or

conducting investigations, enforcement proceedings or prosecutions

concerning the unlawful taking or restraint of children; and (4)

Provide the most recent home and employment addresses and SSN to agents

and attorneys of the United States, involved in activities in States

which do not have agreements under section 463 of the Act for purposes

of locating noncustodial parents or children in connection with Federal

investigations, enforcement proceedings or prosecutions involving the

unlawful taking or restraint of children; and (5) provide to the State

Department the name and SSN of noncustodial parents in international

child support cases, and in cases inolving he Hague Convention on the

Civil Aspects of International child Abduction.

The PRWORA amends Federal law and authorizes new uses and

disclosures for the expanded FPLS. The new routine uses for this system

are compatible with the stated purposes of the system and include the

following: (1) State agencies may access data in the NDNH for the

purpose of administering the Child Support Enforcement Program and the

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program; (2) The

Commissioner of Social Security may access information in the NDNH for

the purpose of verifying reported SSNs and other purposes; (3) The

Secretary of the Treasury may access information in the NDNH for

purposes of administering advance payment of the earned income tax

credit and verifying a claim with respect to employment in a tax

return; (4) The Secretary of Health and Human Services may provide

researchers with access to the new hire data for research efforts that

would contribute to the TANF and CSE programs. Information disclosed

may not contain personal identifiers; (5) Records may be disclosed to

any agent of an agency that is under contract with the State CSE agency

to assist in locating individuals for the purposes of establishing

paternity and for establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support

obligations; (6) Records in the NDNH may be disclosed to State CSE

agencies in order to locate individuals for the purpose of establishing

paternity and for establishment, modification, or enforcement of a

support order; (7) Records may be disclosed to State CSE agencies for

the purpose of locating individuals for the purpose of enforcing child

custody and visitation orders; (8) New hire information may be

disclosed to the State agency administering the Medicaid, Unemployment

Compensation, Food Stamp, SSI, and territorial cash assistance programs

for income eligibility verification, and to State agencies

administering unemployment and workers' compensation programs to assist

determinations of the allowability of claims; (9) OCSE will disclose

information to the Treasury Department for the offset of certain

Federal payments in order to collect past due child support

obligations. The Federal payments included in the Administrative Offset

System are: Federal salary, wage and retirement payments; vendor

payments; expense reimbursement payments; and travel payments; and (10)

Pursuant to section 452(k) of the Act, information from the FPLS may be

disclosed to the Secretary of State to revoke, restrict, or deny a

passport to any person certified by State CSE agencies as owing a child

support arrearage greater than $5,000.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:

None.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING,

AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

STORAGE:

FPLS records are maintained on disc and computer tape, and hard

copy.

RETRIEVABILITY:

System records can be accessed by either a State assigned case

identification number or Social Security Number.

SAFEGUARDS:

1. Authorized Users: All requests from the State IV-D Agency must

certify that: (1) They are being made to locate non-custodial and

custodial parents for the purpose of establishing paternity or securing

child support, or in cases involving parental kidnapping or child

custody and visitation determinations and for no other purpose; (2) the

State IV-D agency has in effect protective measures to safeguard the

personal information being transferred and received from the Federal

Parent Locator Service; and (3) the State IV-D Agency will use or

disclose this information for the purposes prescribed in 45 CFR 302.70.

2. Physical Safeguards: For computerized records electronically

transmitted between Central Office and field office locations

(including organizations administering HHS programs under contractual

agreements), safeguards include a lock/unlock password system. All

input documents will be inventoried and accounted for. All inputs and

outputs will be stored in a locked receptacle in a locked room. All

outputs will be labeled ``For Official Use Only'' and treated

accordingly.

3. Procedural and Technical Safeguards: All Federal and State

personnel and contractors, are required to take a nondisclosure oath. A

password is required to access the terminal. All microfilm and paper

files are accessible only by authorized personnel who have a need for

the information in the performance of their official duties.

These practices are in compliance with the standards of Chapter 45-

13 of the HHS General Administration Manual, ``Safeguarding Records

Contained in Systems of Records,'' and the Department's Automated

Information System Security Program Handbook.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

Quarterly wage data supplied to the FPLS will be retained for eight

calendar quarters and then destroyed. New hire information supplied to

the FPLS will

[[Page 51669]]

be kept in an active file for two years. New hire information will then

be stored for an additional three years before being destroyed.

Tax refund and administrative offset information will be maintained

for six years in an active master file for purposes of collection and

adjustment. After this time, records of cases for which there was no

collection will be destroyed. Records of cases with a collection will

be stored on-line in an inactive master file.

Records pertaining to passport denial will be updated and/or

deleted as obligors meet satisfactory restitution or other State

approved arrangements.

Records of information provided by the FPLS to authorized users

will be maintained only long enough to communicate the information to

the appropriate State or Federal agent. Thereafter, the information

provided will be destroyed. However, records pertaining to the

disclosures, which include information provided by States, Federal

agencies contacted, and an indication of the type(s) of information

returned, will be stored on a history tape and in hard copy for five

years and then destroyed.

SYSTEM MANAGER(s) AND ADDRESS:

Director, Division of Program Operations Office of Child Support

Enforcement Administration for Children and Families 370 L'Enfant

Promenade, SW., 4th Floor East Washington, DC. 20447.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:

To determine if a record exists, write to the System Manager listed

above. The requester must provide his or her full name and address.

Additional information, such as your Social Security Number, date of

birth or mother's maiden name, may be requested by the system manager

in order to distinguish between individuals having the same or similar

names.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:

Write to the System Manager specified above to attain access to

records. Requesters should also reasonably specify the record contents

they are seeking.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURE:

Contact the official at the address specified under system manager

above, and reasonably identify the record and specify the information

to be contested and corrective action sought with supporting

justification to show how the record is inaccurate, incomplete,

untimely or irrelevant.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

Information is obtained from departments, agencies, or

instrumentalities of the United States or any State.

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:

None.

[FR Doc. 97-26049 Filed 10-1-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4184-01-P