§ 111-C — Functions, powers and duties of social services officials

§ 111-c. Functions, powers and duties of social services officials.\n1. Each social services district shall establish a single organizational\nunit which shall be responsible for such district's activities in\nassisting the state in the location of absent parents, establishment of\nparentage and enforcement and collection of support in accordance with\nthe regulations of the department.\n 2. Each social services district shall:\n a. obtain assignments to the state and to such district of support\nrights of each applicant for or recipient of public assistance required\nto execute such an assignment as a condition of receiving assistance;\n b. report to the state all recipients of public assistance with\nrespect to whom a parent has been reported absent from the household;\n c. obtain information regarding the income and resources of absent\nparents whose whereabouts are known, and shall have access to the\nstatement of net worth filed pursuant to section four hundred\ntwenty-four-a of the family court act and supporting documentation in\nany case where support collection services are being provided as may be\nnecessary to ascertain their ability to support or contribute to the\nsupport of their dependents;\n d. enforce support obligations owed to the state and to the social\nservices district pursuant to subdivision two of section one hundred\neleven-b of this title; and disburse amounts collected as support\npayments in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the\nregulations of the department, including the disbursement to the family\nin receipt of public assistance of up to the first one hundred dollars\nfor one child, and up to the first two hundred dollars for two or more\nchildren, collected as current support;\n e. make periodic reports and perform such other functions in\naccordance with the regulations of the department as may be necessary to\nassure compliance with federal child support program requirements.\n f. confer with a potential respondent, respondent or other interested\nperson in a proceeding under article four, five, five-A or five-B of the\nfamily court act in an attempt to obtain support payments from such\npotential respondent or respondent;\n g. obtain from respondent, when appropriate and in accordance with the\nprocedures established by section one hundred eleven-k of this chapter,\nan acknowledgement of parentage or an agreement to make support\npayments, or both;\n h. report periodically to consumer reporting agencies (as defined in\nsection 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f))\ninformation regarding past-due support owed by the parent owing support.\nSuch information must be made available whenever a parent who owes\npast-due support, and shall indicate the name of the parent and the\namount of the delinquency. However, such information shall not be made\navailable to (i) a consumer reporting agency that the office determines\ndoes not have sufficient capability to systematically and timely make\naccurate use of such information, or (ii) an entity that has not\nfurnished evidence satisfactory to the office that the entity is a\nconsumer reporting agency. In determining whether a consumer reporting\nagency lacks sufficient capability to systematically and timely make\naccurate use of such information, the office may require such agency to\ndemonstrate its ability to comply with the provisions of section three\nhundred eighty-j of the general business law and any other requirements\nthe office may prescribe by regulation. A social services official, at\nleast ten days prior to making the information available to a consumer\nreporting agency, must provide notice to the parent who owes the support\ninforming such parent of the proposed release of the information to the\nconsumer reporting agency and informing such parent of the opportunity\nto be heard and the methods available for contesting the accuracy of the\ninformation.\n 3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the social services official shall\nnot be required to establish the parentage of any child born\nout-of-wedlock, or to secure support for any child, with respect to whom\nsuch official has determined that such actions would be detrimental to\nthe best interests of the child, in accordance with procedures and\ncriteria established by regulations of the department consistent with\nfederal law.\n 4. a. A social services district represents the interests of the\ndistrict in performing its functions and duties as provided in this\ntitle and not the interests of any party. The interests of a district\nshall include, but are not limited to, establishing parentage, and\nestablishing, modifying and enforcing child support orders.\n b. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provision of child\nsupport services pursuant to this title does not constitute nor create\nan attorney-client relationship between the individual receiving\nservices and any attorney representing or appearing for the district. A\nsocial services district shall provide notice to any individual\nrequesting or receiving services that the attorney representing or\nappearing for the district does not represent the individual and that\nthe individual has a right to retain his or her own legal counsel.\n c. A social services district may appear in any action to establish\nparentage, or to establish, modify, or enforce an order of support when\nan individual is receiving services under this title.\n