HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 1087 Child Support
SPONSOR(S): Caruso
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/SB 536
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee 18 Y, 0 N Curry Brazzell
2) Appropriations Committee 28 Y, 0 N Perez Pridgeon
3) Health & Human Services Committee 18 Y, 0 N Curry Calamas
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Title IV-D refers to Title IV, Part D of the Social Security Act, which is the federally funded, state administered child
support enforcement program. The Department of Revenue (DOR) is Florida’s designated Title IV -D agency and is
responsible for administering the child support program within the state. As Florida’s federal Title IV -D agency, DOR
collects and enforces child support. The bill makes several changes to the child support program.
The bill amends section 61.181, F.S., regarding the processing of fees for non-Title IV-D child support cases as
follows:
 Requires each depository to impose and collect fees for payments for all non -Title IV-D cases required to be
processed by the State Disbursement Unit (SDU); removes requirement for the SDU to collect and transmit
fees for non-Title IV-D payments to the depository; and prohibits depository fees from being imposed on
payments for IV-D cases.
 Revises the method for calculating the fee allocation between deposits for the Clerk o f Court Child Support
Collection (CLERC) Trust Fund, the clerk of court, and the Department of Revenue to address an
inconsistency in current language.
 Requires that moneys remitted to DOR by the depository be remitted no less often than monthly through t he
Clerk of the Court Revenue Remittance System operated under s. 28.245, F.S.
 Streamlines reporting to the Title IV-D agency.
The bill also:
 Authorizes a child support obligor who is delinquent on their child support payments to enter in to a payment
agreement with a deferred start date when the obligor is participating in good faith job training.
 Removes the current exceptions in law that prohibits treating incarceration as voluntary unemployment in
establishing or modifying a support order when determining the support amount under the child support
guidelines.
 Authorizes DOR to commence an administrative proceeding to determine paternity or paternity and child
support based on an affidavit or written declaration completed by a nonparent caregiver of th e child who has
knowledge of the child’s paternity.
 Requires DOR to file a record of payments received from a Title IV-D agency or a court outside of the state
with the appropriate clerk of the court. The payment record must show that the obligor made a pa yment in
another state pursuant to a DOR administrative order. The clerk must review the payment record, update its
payment accounts, and apply the appropriate credit.
 Updates cross-references, re-organizes material in current law to improve logical flow, and deletes
references to past dates.
The bill has no fiscal impact on state and local governments. The proposed changes will not increase net fee
collection or individual fee amounts, and are therefore not subject to the requirements of Article VII, Sect ion 19 of
the Florida Constitution.
Provides an effective date of July 1, 2023, except for section 4 which is effective upon becoming law.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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 FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Child Support
Title IV-D Cases
Title IV-D (Title IV-D or IV-D) refers to Title IV, Part D of the Social Security Act, which is the federally
funded, state administered child support enforcement program. 1 The IV-D program is administered by
the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), within the United States Department of Health
and Human Services. The OCSE oversees the national child support program and partners with state
and local child support agencies to encourage parental responsibility so that children receive financial,
emotional, and medical support from both parents, even when they live in separate households. 2 The
OCSE does not provide services directly to families, but helps state child support agencies develop,
manage, and operate their child support programs effectively and according to federal law. 3
As Florida’s Title IV-D agency,4 the Department of Revenue (DOR) is responsible for collecting and
enforcing child support.5 The Child Support Program provides child support services to over one million
children and collects over a billion dollars in child support each year. 6 The Child Support Program
works with parents, employers, financial institutions, the Internal Revenue Service, state and local
agencies, and courts throughout the state to receive timely child support payments and also works with
families and partners to:7
 Locate parents, employers, and assets;
 Establish paternity;
 Establish and modify child support orders;
 Receive and distribute child support payments;
 Monitor and take action to help parents comply with child support orders; and
 Educate and assist parents and the public.
Child support services are available even if a parent lives in another state or country. To receive the no-
cost services from the Child Support Program, families either complete an application for services or
are automatically referred by the Department of Children and Families because a parent is receiving
cash or food assistance. A court order is not required to receive services.
DOR offers child support services in all but two Florida counties, partnering with the State Attorney's
Office for services in Miami-Dade County and the Manatee County Clerk of Court for services in
Manatee County.8
Non-Title IV-D Cases
1
42 U.S.C. ss. 651, et. seq.
2 Id.
3 U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), An Office of the Administration for
Children & Families, About the Office of Child Support Enforcement, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/about (last visited February 25, 2023).
4 S. 409.2557(1), F.S.
5 S. 61.13, F.S.
6 Florida Department of Revenue (DOR), About the Child Support Program, at https://floridarevenue.com/childsupport/about_us/
Pages/about_us.aspx (last visited February 25, 2023). Also see DOR, Child Support Program Overview 2022, at
https://floridarevenue.com/childsupport/Documents/pdf/CS-1003x_CSP_Overview_Presentation_External_2022_FFY_2020 -21.pdf (last
visited February 25, 2023).
7 Id.
8 Florida Department of Revenue (DOR), About the Child Support Program, at https://floridarevenue.com/childsupport/about_us/
Pages/about_us.aspx (last visited February 25, 2023).
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 Non-Title IV-D cases are private child support cases in which neither parent receives public assistance
or has applied for DOR’s services. In private child support cases, a parent is court ordered to make
periodic payments directly to the other parent. If payment is made by an income deduction order,
payments are remitted by the employer to the State Disbursement Unit and disbursed to the payee
named in the order.9 Non-Title IV-D child support cases are not handled by DOR.
Child Support Depository
The child support depository is the central governmental depository that is responsible for maintaining
child support accounts. Specifically, the depository performs depository functions to receive, record,
report, disburse, monitor, and otherwise handle child support and alimony payments required to be
processed by the State Disbursement Unit (SDU).10 The SDU is required by federal law to collect and
disburse child support payments ordered by the court.11 Pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security
Act, the SDU provides one central address for the collection and disbursement of child support
payments in cases enforced by DOR.12
Each clerk of the circuit court operates a child support depository. 13 Pursuant to s. 61.1826(2), F.S.,
DOR and each clerk depository must enter into a standard, uniform cooperative agreement mutually
developed by DOR and the Florida Association of Court Clerks (FACC) to provide federal
reimbursement to the clerks for work performed in support of the state’s child support program. DOR is
required to contract with FACC and the depositories for the operation and maintenance of the Clerk of
Court Child Support Collection (CLERC) System, which includes electronic data transmissions to DOR
and the SDU.14 The CLERC system is an application owned and operated by FACC that clerks use to
establish and manage child support payment accounts. 15 The system supports the daily operation of
the SDU by transmitting data to and from the clerks to DOR’s automated system and the SDU through
FACC’s Central Site.16
Depository Fees for Non-Title IV-D Cases
For eligible costs attributed to Title IV-D cases, which are handled by DOR, the clerk of court
depositories receive federal matching funds under the cooperative agreements with the agency.17
Federal funding for payment processing in non-Title IV-D cases is limited to income withholding
payments received by the SDU.
There are two types of depository fees assessed on non-Title IV-D child support payments:18
 For payments in private cases that are not required to be processed through the SDU, but are
processed by the depository (payments in non-Title IV-D cases not made by income deduction),
the depository shall impose and collect a fee on each payment made for receiving, recording,
reporting, disbursing, monitoring, or handling alimony or child support payments as required by
the statute.
 For payments in private child support cases that are required to be processed through the SDU
(payments in non-Title IV-D cases made by income deduction), the SDU must, on each
payment received, collect a fee, and transmit to the depository in which the case is located 40
9 See ss. 61.1301, and 61.1824(1)(b), F.S.
10 S. 61.046(4), F.S.
11 The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, (Pub. Law 104 -193) requires each state to establish
and operate a State Disbursement Unit. Noncompliance with federal law could result in a loss of federal funds for the state’s child
support enforcement program. Also see s. 61.1826, F.S.
12 The Florida State Disbursement Unit was established pursuant s. 61.1824, F.S.
13 S. 61.181(1)(a), F.S.
14 Ss. 61.181(1)(b)1. and 61.1826(3), F.S.
15 S. 61.046(2), F.S.
16 DOR, Agency Bill Analysis HB 1087 (2023), p. 3.
17 S. 61.1826(2), F.S.
18 S. 61.181(2)(a), F.S.
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 percent (40%) of the fee (or service charge) for the depository’s administration, management
and maintenance of the case.
The fee for both payment types is four percent (4%) of the support payment not to exceed $5.25.19 Part
of this fee must be remitted monthly to DOR for deposit into the Child Support Enforcement
Collection System Trust Fund (Trust Fund)20 to be used for the CLERC System operated by FACC.
The Trust Fund money must be used exclusively for the development, implementation and operation of
the CLERC system used by the depositories.21 DOR’s obligation to fund CLERC and the automation of
the depositories is limited to the state share of funds available in the Trust Fund. DOR contracts with
FACC, as required by the statute, for data processing services necessary for the operation of the child
support program and for the purpose of paying FACC the state’s share of the Trust Fund balances for
operation and maintenance of CLERC.22
Section 61.181, F.S., provides two different methods for calculating the allocation of the fee that is
deposited into the Trust Fund. Section 61.181(2)(b)(1), F.S., provides that the CLERC’s allocation of
the fee is 75 percent (75%) of the additional one percent (1%) increase in the fee from three percent
(3%) to four percent (4%). However, s. 61.181(2)(b)2, F.S., calculates the allocation as:
 For each support payment of less than $33, 18.75 cents.
 For each support payment between $33 and $140, an amount equal to 18.75 percent of the fee
charged.
 For each support payment in excess of $140, 18.75 cents.
The two methods in statute for calculating the part of the fee that goes to the Trust Fund are
inconsistent, and as a result, the clerks started using a hybrid of the two methods to calculate the
CLERC’s allocation. The current practice of using the hybrid method for collecting, retaining,
distributing, accounting for, and reporting clerk fees in private cases on payments received directly by
the depository and by the SDU have been in place for many years. This practice is also consistent with
how the CLERC system is programmed and is reflected in DOR’s current contract with FACC (Contract
CC700) for services in support of the depositories and the SDU. 23
Delinquent Child Support Payments
Suspension of Driver License and Registration
Under current law, the driver license and motor vehicle registration of a child support obligor who is 15
days delinquent in making legally ordered child support payments may be suspended. 24 DOR is
authorized to initiate driver license suspension for nonpayment of child support for cases in which the
department is providing child support services. To initiate the suspension of a driver license for
nonpayment of child support, DOR must provide notice to the obligor. However, an obligor may avoid
the license and registration suspension if, within 20 days of the notice, the obligor:
o Pays the delinquency;
o Contacts DOR to work out a payment agreement if the obligor is unable to pay the
delinquency in full; or
o Files a petition contesting the action in circuit court.25
If a license is suspended for nonpayment, it can be reinstated when the obligor pays the delinquency,
enters into a payment agreement or obtains a court order for reinstatement. 26
19 S. 61.181(2)(b)(1), F.S.
20 S. 61.1811, F.S. The Child Support Enforcement Collection Trust Fund was created to be used to deposit DOR’s share of the
depository fees generated in s. 61.181(2)(b), F.S.
21 S. 61.181(2)(b)1, F.S.
22 Id.
23 DOR, Agency Bill Analysis HB 1087 (2023), p. 3.
24 S. 61.13016, F.S.
25 Id.
26 Id.
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 Incarceration Treated as Voluntary Unemployment
Federal Title IV-D regulations require that state child support guidelines must provide that incarceration
may not be treated as voluntary unemployment when establishing or modifying support orders.27
Current state law prohibits treating incarceration as voluntary unemployment when a support order is
established or modified, except when incarceration is for intentional nonpayment of child support or an
offense against a child or person who is owed child support. 28 However, the court may deviate from the
child support guideline amount as specified in statute.29 Previous federal rulemaking proposed to allow
states to exclude such cases. However, this proposed rule was withdrawn by the Office of Child
Support Enforcement (OCSE) in November 2021.30
The OCSE objects to Florida’s inclusion of exceptions to the federal rule and has informed DOR that it
will not approve Florida’s Title IV-D State Plan for compliance with federal child support guidelines
requirements unless the exceptions are removed from Florida law. 31 Without an approved Title IV-D
State Plan, the state is ineligible to receive federal Title IV-D matching funds and performance-based
federal incentive payments. The Child Support Program’s State Fiscal Year 2022-23 appropriations for
these funds are $174.6 million and $42.2 million, respectively. Not having an approved Title IV-D State
Plan also results in a penalty to the Title IV-A TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) Grant.
For the first year of noncompliance, the penalty is 1-2% of TANF funds; for the second year, the penalty
is 2-3% of TANF funds and for the third and subsequent years, the penalty is 3-5% of the amounts
otherwise payable to the state. Florida’s TANF Grant is $560.5 million. 32
As a condition of the state’s Title IV-D State Plan and continued receipt of federal Title IV-D matching
funds, the state must c