Name Change From Office of Child Support Enforcement to Office of Child Support Services

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES <SUBAGY>Administration for Children and Families</SUBAGY> <CFR>45 CFR Parts 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 307, 308, 309, and 310</CFR> <RIN>RIN 0970-AD06</RIN> <SUBJECT>Name Change From Office of Child Support Enforcement to Office of Child Support Services</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Office of Child Support Services (OCSS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Direct final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In an effort to make child support regulations consistent with recent rulemaking and updated Tribal child support processes and reporting, this direct final rule (DFR) makes technical updates reflect the current name of the child support program, Office of Child Support Services (OCSS). This is a conforming update to align with the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> notice changing the office's name in the Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority that was published on June 5, 2023, and updates based on the Elimination of the Tribal Non-Federal Share Requirement final rule issued on February 12, 2024. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective March 3, 2025, without further action unless adverse comment is received by January 30, 2025. If significant adverse comment is received, ACF will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> You may submit comments, identified by Regulatory Information Number (RIN) number, by one of the following methods: • <E T="03">Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.</E> Follow the instructions for submitting comments. • <E T="03">Mail:</E> Written comments may be submitted to: Office of Child Support Services, <E T="03">Attention:</E> Director of Policy and Training, 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20201. <E T="03">Instructions:</E> All submissions received must include the agency name and RIN for this rulemaking. All comments received will be posted without change to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> including any personal information provided. <E T="03">Docket:</E> Go to the Federal Rulemaking Portal at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> for access to the rulemaking docket, including any background documents and the plain-language summary of the rule of not more than 100 words in length required by the Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2023. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Tavaughn McKenny, Program Specialist, OCSS Division of Policy and Training, at <E T="03">ocss.dpt@acf.hhs.gov</E> or (202) 565-0129. Telecommunications Relay users may dial 711 first. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Submission of Comments</HD> Comments should be specific, address issues raised by the rule, and explain reasons for any objections or recommended changes. This rule will be effective on the date shown in the <E T="02">DATES</E> section unless OCSS receives significant adverse comment on or before the deadline for comments. Significant adverse comments are comments that provide strong justifications for why the rule should not be adopted or for changing the rule. OCSS does not expect to receive any significant adverse comments because it is adopting the name change already announced in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> and making technical updates to 45 CFR part 309. If OCSS receives any significant adverse comments, it will publish a document in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> withdrawing this rule before the effective date. Although we will not acknowledge receipt of individual comments, we will review and consider all comments that are relevant and received during the comment period. We will respond to these comments in the withdrawal if the rule is withdrawn. If OCSS receives no significant adverse comments, the rule will be effective 60 days after publication without further notice. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Statutory Authority</HD> This DFR is published under the authority granted to the Secretary of Health and Human Services by section 1102 of the Social Security Act (the Act) (42 U.S.C. 1302). Section 1102 of the Act authorizes the Secretary to publish regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, as may be necessary to the efficient administration of the functions with which the Secretary is responsible under the Act. This DFR is also authorized by section 452(a) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), which gives the Secretary of HHS the statutory authority to change the name of the child support program. This DFR is further published in accordance with section 455(f) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 655(f)) which authorizes the Secretary to make child support funding available to Tribes and Tribal organizations operating child support programs and to issue regulations establishing requirements for Tribal child support programs. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> In 1975, Congress established the child support program under title IV-D of the Social Security Act (Pub. L. 93-647). The child support program is administered at the federal level by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and functions in 54 states and territories and over 60 Tribes. When the child support program began, its primary focus was collecting child support to recover welfare costs, but that has changed significantly over time. Today, the program is focused on delivering family-centered child support services that improve the long-term financial and emotional support of children, by collecting and facilitating consistent child support payments based on noncustodial parents' ability to pay. This evolution has been guided by the changing needs of families, by Federal legislation, and by research and data that contribute to OCSE's understanding of the standards and requirements necessary to establish an effective child support program. On June 5, 2023, ACF published a notice in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> , 88 FR 36587, <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> updating the office's Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority to announce that the Office of Child Support Enforcement is now the Office of Child Support Services. This name change reflects the program's commitment to serve the whole family and provide services that promote family self-sufficiency, so children receive reliable support from both parents. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  See Name Change Announcement—Office of Child Support Enforcement; Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority (88 FR 36587) at <E T="03">https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-06-05/pdf/2023-11815.pdf.</E> </FTNT> On February 12, 2024, ACF published a final rule in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> , 89 FR 9784, <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> to announce the Elimination of the Tribal Non-Federal Share Requirement. The final rule provided additional support to Tribes to administer their Tribal IV-D programs, however, a few changes are required in related regulations in 45 CFR 309.75(e) to align with the final rule. Additionally, as the Tribal IV-D program continues to evolve, updated Tribal processes and reporting necessitate updates to 45 CFR part 309. <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  See Final Rule—Elimination of the Tribal Non-Federal Share Requirement (89 FR 9784) at <E T="03">https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-02-12/pdf/2024-02110.pdf.</E> </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Justification</HD> The purpose of this rule is to change the name of the child support program in 45 CFR chapter III, parts 301 through 310, and make required technical updates to 45 CFR part 309. The name of the child support program was changed from OCSE to OCSS on June 5, 2023. However, all child support regulations throughout 45 CFR chapter III refer to the child support program as OCSE. OCSS needs to change all references to the child support program in 45 CFR chapter III from OCSE to OCSS to align with the name change of the child support program. Additionally, technical updates are required to remove paragraphs one through four in 45 CFR 309.75(e) for alignment with the Elimination of the Tribal Non-Federal Share Requirement final rule. Technical updates are also required to align § 309.130(a)(2) with OCSS's current process for making awards, and to align §§ 309.20(b), 309.130(b)(3), 309.135(d), 309.160, and 309.170(b) introductory text, (b)(1), (2), and (7), and (c) with updated Tribal IV-D reporting, including Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved data collection forms, and to allow for Tribal IV-D program applications to be submitted electronically. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Summary Description of the Regulatory Provisions</HD> The following is a summary of the regulatory provisions included in this direct final rule and, where appropriate, how these provisions differ from the provisions currently reflected in 45 CFR chapter III. The final rule makes a nomenclature change, to remove the name “Office of Child Support Enforcement” wherever it appears throughout 45 CFR chapter III, within titles, images, sections, and paragraphs, and replace it with the name “Office of Child Support Services”. This name change promotes family self-sufficiency, emphasizing the need for children to receive reliable support from both parents. The term “Office of Child Support Enforcement” is replaced with “Office of Child Support Services” in 45 CFR chapter III as shown in the following table: <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,tp0,i1" CDEF="xs25,r50"> <TTITLE> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Part</CHED> <CHED H="1">Sections</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">301</ENT> <ENT>301.1, 301.13.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">303</ENT> <ENT>303 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 45k characters. 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