717-5          CASE PROCESSING

Unless a good cause claim has been made, when an application is approved or a child added to a case and there is a noncustodial parent, the caseworker must complete the following EIS Eligibility Information System screens as thoroughly as possible:

• Absent Parent Identification (APID) screen, including assigning each noncustodial parent an ID number;

• Child Support Reference (CSR1 and CSR2);

• Specified Relative/Deprivation (SPRD); and

• CSEA Screen  

The screens should be completed from available information if the CSSD Child Support Services Division 1603a has not been returned, unless a good cause claim has been made.

Preliminary Good Cause Decision:  If the applicant has indicated an intent to claim good cause, a referral to CSSD Child Support Services Division should not be made until the good cause claim has been filed and decided.  In the meantime, the CSEA screen should be coded indicating a decision is underway (using the PD code in the coop field) so that benefits can be issued.  

• If a good cause claim is denied, the caseworker should then complete all related screens.  

• If the claim is approved, information is not completed on the APID screen, the CSEA screen is coded for good cause, and a referral to CSSD Child Support Services Division is not made.

Transfer to new case number: If a new case is being opened for a child who was previously on another case, some but not all of the noncustodial parent information attached to that child will automatically transfer to the new case number.  The caseworker must update the information for the noncustodial parent so that an appropriate referral is sent to CSSD Child Support Services Division.

Example:   

A Temporary Assistance case consisting of mom and her 7-year son, Johnny, is closed for excess resources.  Johnny’s father later gets custody and applies for assistance and a new case number is established.  The noncustodial (absent) parent information on Johnny’s father that was previously recorded on EIS Eligibility Information System as part of the mother’s case is automatically transferred to the new case number.   In order for an appropriate referral to be made to CSSD Child Support Services Division, the noncustodial parent information for the father must be removed from the new case number, and new information entered about Johnny’s mother.

Using the same case number:  If a case closes and is registered to the same number at a later date, the APID screen may still have the noncustodial parent information that was entered previously. All noncustodial parent screens must be updated.

If the applicant has not requested a good cause determination the case is referred to CSSD Child Support Services Division.

If the applicant has requested a good cause determination:

• If the good cause determination is approved, the case worker leaves non-custodial parent information on the APID screen, the CSEA screen is coded for good cause, and a referral to CSSD Child Support Services Division is not made.

• If the good cause determination is not approved, the caseworker must  update all CSSD Child Support Services Division related screens as needed and refer the case to CSSD Child Support Services Division.