1. (1) Certain federal payments are eligible for intercept through the administrative offset program. Federal payments that are available for intercept include:

   1. (a) Federal Retirement payments.
   2. (b) Vendor payments.
   3. (c) Miscellaneous payments including expense reimbursement payments and travel payments.

2. (2) Payments which are excluded from the administrative program include:

   1. (a) Benefit payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
   2. (b) Payments made by the Department of Education under Title IV of the Higher Education Act.
   3. (c) Social Security payments.
   4. (d) Railroad Retirement payments.

3. (3) The custodial parent is informed at the time of application for non-TANF child support services of the criteria for the administrative offset program. Additionally, the applicant is informed that:

   1. (a) A $10.00 certification fee will be deducted from any money collected by the intercept on behalf of a custodial parent unless the case is Medicaid-only or a TANF case;
   2. (b) There is no guarantee that the offset will net any money.
   3. (c) Any money collected as a result of the offset will first be applied to assigned arrearages owed by the noncustodial parent.
   4. (d) The custodial parent is personally responsible for repaying money paid in error.
   5. (e) The custodial parent must inform the child support agency of any address changes.

Author: Clifford Smith

Statutory Authority: P.L. 93-647; P.L. 98-378; 42 U.S.C. §651 et seq.; §9 of P.L. 96-611; 42 U.S.C. §663; §5011 of P.L. 101-508; 42 U.S.C. §664; 45 C.F.R. 205-235; 45 C.F.R. 301-307; Alabama State Plan – Child Support Enforcement Program; Code of Ala. 1975, §§30-3D-101 through 902, 38-2-6, 38-10-1 through 12, 40-18-100 through 109.

History: Succedent emergency amendment effective July 20, 1999. New Rule: Filed September 3, 1999; effective October 8, 1999. Amended: Published October 30, 2020, effective December 14, 2020.