Child Support Works Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4998 To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to allow States to receive Federal matching payments for mandatory work activity pro- grams for noncustodial parents, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 10, 2020 Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to allow States to receive Federal matching payments for mandatory work activity programs for noncustodial parents, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Support Works 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Dec 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4998.IS S4998 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4998 IS SEC. 2. STATE OPTION FOR MANDATORY WORK ACTIVITY 1 PROGRAMS FOR NONCUSTODIAL PARENTS. 2 (a) STATE PLAN OPTION.—Section 454(13) of the 3 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 654(13)) is amended— 4 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(13)’’; 5 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(B) provide, at the option of the State and 8 subject to subsection (g) of section 455, mandatory 9 work activity programs for noncustodial parents de- 10 scribed in paragraph (2) of that subsection who are 11 ordered to participate in work activities in accord- 12 ance with procedures required under section 13 466(a)(15);’’. 14 (b) PAYMENT REQUIREMENTS.—Section 455 of such 15 Act (42 U.S.C. 655) is amended by adding at the end the 16 following new subsection: 17 ‘‘(g) In the case of a State that elects under section 18 454(13)(B) to provide mandatory work activity programs 19 for noncustodial parents in cases subject to enforcement 20 under the State plan who are ordered to participate in 21 work activities in accordance with procedures required 22 under section 466(a)(15), amounts expended by the State 23 for such programs shall be included in the total amounts 24 expended by the State during a quarter for purposes of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Dec 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4998.IS S4998 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4998 IS payments under subsection (a)(1)(A) subject to the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(1) The total amount paid under subsection 3 (a)(1) to a State for amounts expended on such pro- 4 grams in any quarter shall not exceed an amount 5 equal to 2 percent of the total amount expended by 6 the State during the quarter for the operation of the 7 plan approved under section 454 (excluding any 8 amounts expended on such programs). 9 ‘‘(2) The programs are provided only for non- 10 custodial parents who— 11 ‘‘(A) have a current child support order; 12 ‘‘(B) are unemployed, underemployed, or 13 not making regular child support payments; 14 and 15 ‘‘(C) meet such other eligibility criteria as 16 the State may establish.’’. 17 (c) OPTION TO REQUIRE TANF OR SNAP WORK 18 ACTIVITIES.—Section 466(a)(15) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 19 666(a)(15)) is amended— 20 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 21 by inserting ‘‘(and, if the State has elected under 22 section 454(13)(B) to provide mandatory work activ- 23 ity programs for noncustodial parents described in 24 section 455(g)(2), in any case subject to enforce- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Dec 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4998.IS S4998 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4998 IS ment under the State plan that involves such a non- 1 custodial parent)’’after ‘‘with respect to a child re- 2 ceiving assistance under a State program funded 3 under part A’’; and 4 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘(or, in 5 the case of a noncustodial parent described in sec- 6 tion 455(g)(2), to participate in such work activities 7 (as so defined) or in activities that would satisfy the 8 work requirements that would apply to the noncusto- 9 dial parent under subsection (d) or (o) of section 6 10 of the Food and Nutrition Act if the noncustodial 11 parent were eligible for benefits under the supple- 12 mental nutrition assistance program established 13 under that Act and were required to satisfy such 14 work requirements)’’ after ‘‘(as defined in section 15 407(d))’’. 16 SEC. 3. EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF WORK ACTIV- 17 ITY PROGRAMS FOR NONCUSTODIAL PAR- 18 ENTS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 413 of such Act (42 20 U.S.C. 613) is amended— 21 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub- 22 section (i); and 23 (2) by inserting after subsection (g), the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Dec 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4998.IS S4998 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4998 IS ‘‘(h) EVALUATION OF WORK ACTIVITY PROGRAMS 1 FOR NONCUSTODIAL PARENTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con- 3 duct research to determine the effects of work activ- 4 ity programs for noncustodial parents funded under 5 section 455(g) and required in accordance with sec- 6 tion 466(a)(15) on child support payments, employ- 7 ment, earnings, and other factors, as determined by 8 the Secretary. 9 ‘‘(2) METHODOLOGY.—The research conducted 10 under paragraph (1) shall employ random assign- 11 ment when feasible, or, when random assignment is 12 not feasible, other research methods that allow for 13 the strongest possible causal inferences.’’. 14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 15 (1) Section 403(a)(1)(B) of such Act (42 16 U.S.C. 603(a)(1)(B)) is amended by striking 17 ‘‘413(h)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘413(i)(1)’’. 18 (2) Paragraph (3) of subsection (i) of section 19 413 of such Act (as redesignated by paragraph 20 (1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 413(h) of 21 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Dec 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4998.IS S4998 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS