SESSION OF 2023
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2179
As Amended by House Committee of the Whole

Brief*
HB 2179, as amended, would continue the existing
statutory requirement that parents cooperate with child
support services administered by the Department for Children
and Families (DCF) as a condition of receiving a child care
subsidy and maintain the periods of ineligibility for a child
care subsidy for non-cooperation. The bill would require the
Secretary for Children and Families (Secretary), or the
Secretary’s designee, to review a parent’s child support
compliance at certain specified times.
The bill would also make technical amendments to
remove duplicative language defining “non-cooperation” and
to replace references to “child care benefits” with “child care
subsidy” in continuing law that governs the assignment of
support rights to the Secretary by applicants and recipients of
a child care subsidy when cooperating with child support
services. Additionally, the bill would make a technical
amendment to the title to better reflect the bill content.

Timing of Child Support Compliance Reviews
The bill would require the Secretary, or the Secretary’s
designee, to review the child support compliance of parents
applying for or receiving a child care subsidy, upon
application for a child care subsidy, after 12 months of
continuous eligibility for the subsidy and following such 12
months of continuous eligibility when the Secretary renews or
redetermines a parent’s eligibility for the subsidy.
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
Periods of Ineligibility
The periods of ineligibility for a child care subsidy for a
parent’s failure to comply with child support services would be
the same as in current law, with an additional condition that
non-compliance reviews would occur at the specific times
outlined in the bill.
The periods of ineligibility for a child care subsidy for
non-compliance with child support services in continuing law
are:
● First penalty, three months and cooperation with
child support services prior to regaining eligibility;
● Second penalty, six months and cooperation with
child support services prior to regaining eligibility;
● Third penalty, one year and cooperation with child
support services prior to regaining eligibility; and
● Fourth penalty, ten years.

Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Appropriations at the request of Representative Ballard.

House Committee on Welfare Reform
In the House Committee hearing, the Deputy Secretary
for Children and Families provided proponent testimony,
stating the bill would address a conflict between state and
federal law. The Deputy Secretary noted, under current state
law, families are disqualified from receiving child care
assistance benefits for progressive periods of time if they fail
to cooperate with child support services. She noted, under
federal law, DCF must provide 12 full months of continuous

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eligibility following the determination and issuance of child
care assistance benefits. The Deputy Secretary stated the
disruption of benefits if an individual is found non-cooperative
with child support services is in violation of the federal
requirement. The Deputy Secretary noted DCF requested
introduction of this bill in response to a letter of Preliminary
Notice of Possible Non-compliance from the federal
Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and to avoid a
penalty resulting in the loss of federal funds.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of Child Care Aware of Kansas, Kansas
Action for Children, Kansas Children’s Service League, The
Family Conservancy, and United Community Services of
Johnson County.
Opponent testimony was provided by a representative
of Opportunity Solutions Project, stating mandatory child
support enforcement as a condition for receiving benefits is
good policy. The representative noted the letter sent to DCF
by the federal ACF in March 2022 contained several options
for compliance with federal regulations, including the option of
assessing the penalty for non-compliance after the full 12
months of eligibility. The representative noted that option
would allow for a continuity of benefits, while complying with
state regulations.
The House Committee amended the bill to maintain the
periods of ineligibility for a child care subsidy based on a
parent’s non-cooperation with child support services in
current law, with the exception that reviews to determine child
support compliance would be limited to specific times. [Note:
At the time the House Committee took action on the bill, the
Deputy Secretary indicated this amendment would address
the agency’s concerns regarding compliance with federal
law.]
The House Committee also returned to the language in
current statute stating that child care subsidy applicants and
recipients are deemed to have assigned rights to child
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support payments to the Secretary when cooperating with
child support services, replacing references to “child care
benefits” with “child care subsidy” in that statute for the
consistent use of terms.

House Committee of the Whole
The House Committee of the Whole made a technical
amendment to the title of the bill to ensure the title accurately
reflects the bill content.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, DCF indicates
elimination of child support cooperation would have an effect
on the child care assistance caseload. Families who have
previously been denied benefits due to non-cooperation
would now be eligible to receive this assistance. On average,
DCF has closed or denied 13 cases (22 children) per month
for not cooperating with child support services. The effect of
these closures becomes cumulative each month as benefits
are approved for a 12-month period.
DCF indicates the fiscal effect of these changes on the
projected child care caseload would be total additional child
care benefits for FY 2024 of $865,488 and $2,576,902 for FY
2025. DCF notes the requirement to cooperate with child
support may have kept some eligible families from accessing
child care subsidy benefits. It is unknown how many families
may not have applied because of this cooperation
requirement, so these families are not included in these
estimates.
DCF notes the bill would change the eligibility
requirements and would require changes to the Economic
and Employment Services eligibility system. DCF estimates
the one-time cost of changes to the eligibility system would

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be $500,000. The bill is not expected to have a significant
effect on costs related to child support services. Federal
funds from the Child Care Development Fund are available to
fully cover the additional expenses based on the current
federal award amounts. Any fiscal effect associated with
enactment of the bill is not reflected in The FY 2024
Governor’s Budget Report.
Public assistance; child care assistance; non-cooperation with child support;
disqualifications; child care subsidy


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Statutes affected:
As introduced: 39-709, 21-5701
As Amended by House Committee: 39-709, 21-5701
{As Amended by House Committee of the Whole}: 39-709, 21-5701