Inappropriate Referrals (May 2001)
Question: Mom's boyfriend went to the Family Support office to receive medical benefits for himself, the mom, their children together, and mom's children by another father. Child Support received the referral with boyfriend as the CP, with his SS# of course as the IV-A number. The NCP is paying support for his children, however all parties are upset that checks were being made out to the boyfriend. Contracting Officials Office has a problem with this also because the order for support names MOM as the person to receive support. If mom is made payee on the case, the only way a KAMES- interface would take place is if boyfriend's SS# remains in the system. If we do that, then we have given mom an incorrect SS#. I have talked to Family Support and they say since boyfriend applied for benefits, it is his name that must be on the case. Since this all started, boyfriend and mom have gotten married. Can you tell us the correct way to deal with this case?
Answer: The definition of a custodial parent can be found in 921 Kentucky Administrative Regulation (KAR) 1:001, Definitions. Section 1, number (8) states: “‘Custodial parent' means either a mother or father of a dependent child who is living in the home with the child."
Therefore, according to administrative regulation, the mother's boyfriend is not a custodial parent.
Information about custody can be found in Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 403.270 and KRS 405.020. The court can appoint a legal custodian (who is not the mother or the father) for the child, but this does not appear to be the case from the information you provided.
According to your information -- that is, your example of the problem that exists, the child support order names the mother as the person to receive support, and the child lives with the mother. Therefore, the mother is the child's custodial parent and the father is the child's noncustodial parent. Consequently, you should have a case on KASES with the mother as the custodial parent and the father as the noncustodial parent. You should have received a referral for this child with the mother listed as the custodial parent and the father listed as the noncustodial parent. The boyfriend does not enter into the equation for the child support case; neither does the fact that the boyfriend and the child's mother married each other. The boyfriend is not part of the child support case, just as a step parent is not part of a child support case, unless the step parent has legal custody of the child or has adopted the child.
Caseworker Clarification: So are we to change the name on our case to the mother, even though the boyfriend obtained the family support services and is the client on the referral, and on KAMES? I see the issue with who should be the client on our child support case; however, how do we get the information to interface from KAMES, if boyfriends name and SS# are on KAMES, and we have mom's SS# and name on KASES. Therein lies the problem we are having. Thank you again for your help and responses.
TSS Clarification: No, you are not to change the name on your case to the mother's name. You need to request a referral from IV-A, from the Division of Family Support, for this child with the child's mother as the custodial parent and the child's father as the noncustodial parent. When you receive the referral, you need to correctly establish a case on KASES for this child. The child needs to be removed from the case with the boyfriend/stepfather as the custodial parent. The boyfriend/stepfather cannot be the child's custodial parent unless he has legal (established by a court of law) custody of the child or unless he has adopted the child. What you have in your hypothetical case scenario is an inappropriate child support referral from IV-A. If you receive an inappropriate referral from IV-A, you request an appropriate referral if a referral can be made. There are other examples of inappropriate child support referrals, which include, but are not limited to:
· a referral for an unborn child,
· a referral for a noncustodial parent whose parental rights have been terminated, and
· a referral for a deceased noncustodial parent for whom child support action has never been initiated.