ESTABLISH ORDER

CS 1354P Children in Care (CIC) Referral to the Attorney general’s Office (AGO) for Order Establishment

12/06/04 Revised 09/04/24 Training Completed 09/18/24 Last Reviewed 10/03/24

NOTE: CIC-specific procedures contained in this section.

Introduction

At times, it is necessary and appropriate to refer a case that has no support order to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). Refer to the sections below to determine when to create a referral to the AGO on a pre-order case.

Individuals who work at the Office of Recovery Services/Children in Care (ORS/CIC) and attorneys with the AGO who handle CIC cases do not represent the respondent(s) or his/her interests. The respondent(s) should seek private counsel for representation of his/her interests.

Refer to CS 350P Federal Regulations and State Laws and CS Appendix T-P Federal Performance Standards for IV-D Child Support for more information.

Criteria for Referral

Refer a pre-order case to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) if at least one of the criteria listed below applies.

1. The juvenile court grants a hearing after:

a. CIC issues a participation, default, or reconsideration order and the respondent(s) exercises his/her appeal rights and requests judicial review;

b. The respondent requests a hearing regarding their CIC case; or,

c. Either the respondent(s) or CIC requests a judicial review of an administrative order.

2. The court requests CIC participate in a judicial action.

3. The juvenile court order does not order the parents to pay child support while the child(ren) is in the care or custody of the state.

4. A guardianship case meets the review criteria and the juvenile court has terminated its jurisdiction.

5. CIC needs the juvenile court to provide clarification of a juvenile court order in order to continue with establish/enforcement actions.

EXAMPLE 1: The child is in a guardianship placement, there is no existing support order, and the juvenile court order does not require support to be paid while the child is placed with an individual other than the parents.

EXAMPLE 2: The juvenile court order orders more than one party to pay child support (e.g. the aunt and the parents) and after consulting with AGO, it remains unclear whom the juvenile court judge intended to pay support.

6. CIC joins Child Support Services (CSS) in an action in district court.

7. The parent(s) of the child in care is a minor.

Procedures for AGO Referral

Once you have determined that a referral needs to be made to the AGO for order establishment, take the steps listed below:

1. If the “Notice of Agency Action” (NAA) has not already been sent for service prior to the AG referral, send the NAA in correlation with the AG referral in order to meet federal timeframes for process service.

Once the NAA response timeframes have expired, the Presiding Officer (PO) will consult with the AG handling the case to determine whether to proceed with an administrative order at that time or to wait for the pending judicial action to result in a support order.

If an administrative order is established and a judicial order is established changing the monthly child support provision, the judicial order will supersede the administrative order child support provision from the date the judicial order is effective forward. If paternity was established in the administrative order, the judicial order does not disestablish or void the paternity unless specifically stated.

2. Review resources for any judicial action that may be pending or has been completed and has not been imaged into Content Manager. Narrate the results of the search.

3. Update ORSIS appropriately.

4. Complete the appropriate referral forms. Determine if the respondent’s case information has been safeguarded.

NOTE: The referral form must be completed for a case to be referred to the AGO. If the referral form is omitted, or if questions on the form are left blank, the referral is not considered complete and the referral packet will be returned to the agent.

5. If there is a pending judicial action, verify that the name listed on the judicial action is listed on ORSIS.

6. Write a narrative detailing the action being taken.

7. Prepare the referral packet. The referral packet should include the following documents either as a paper or an imaged form:

a. A completed “Attorney Referral Form”

b. A copy of the “Notice of Agency Action: Child Support” that was previously prepared and sent for service to both parents.

c. A copy of the juvenile court order.

d. Genetic test results (if previously obtained on this case, or if done on any other cases involving the same mother and children).

e. Any out-of-state birth certificates, hospital records, or any other legal and personal documents of relevance.

f. Any documents showing that paternity has been previously established (if applicable).

g. Any documentation in support of previously-ordered support credit (i.e. a copy of the order).

h. Any financial declarations (i.e. the Financial Statement and supporting documentation).

i. Any documentation in support of present family credit (current spouse income, marriage certificate, birth certificates, evidence of paternity establishment, etc.).

j. Other items which may be unique to your office (e.g., prepared legal documents, service fee check for long-arm, etc.).

k. The “Income Worksheet.”

l. The appropriate Utah guidelines worksheet.

NOTE: This document will always be a paper copy included in the referral packet.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

l.

m. The original “Worksheet Income Verification Affidavit” signed by the agent and notarized by a Notary Public.

NOTE: This document will always be a paper copy with an original signature and notary included in the referral packet.

n. A photo (e.g. driver’s license photo) for process service.

6.

7.

8. Send the referral packet to the AGO. Place the referral form and any paper documents in an envelope and forward to the AGO.

NOTE: If the parents have separate cases and the AGO requests a referral packet for the other parent’s case, create a referral packet and forward it to the AGO.

Monitor all judicial referrals made to the AGO in order to ensure that federal timeframe standards are being met on the case.

Agent Responsibilities at Hearing

An ORS agent is assigned to attend the court hearing with the AG. The responsibilities of the agent include providing court documents at the request of the AG and offering testimony during the hearing proceeding. At the hearing, three copies of each document should be provided to the AG: a separate copy for the AG, judge, and the respondent(s).

Procedures – AGO Action Completed

When you are notified that the AGO action is complete, access ORSIS to determine if an action code has been added appropriately. If the appropriate field has not been completed, you must contact the AGO to add an action code in ORSIS to close the referral (see exceptions below). An AG referral is closed when the appropriate fields have been added. The referral is no longer visible on ORSIS after being closed.

NOTE: The referral can no longer be closed by an agent.

Determine the action taken by the AGO. Determine the action taken from the AGO’s narrative.

EXCEPTIONS: There are two exceptions.

• If ORSIS has been coded appropriately, the AGO has requested that the agent complete new locate actions. Once you have located the appropriate case participant and updated ORSIS, create a new AG referral to complete the previously requested action.

• If ORSIS has been coded appropriately, the AGO has not completed the requested action. When the appropriate code is added, the AG referral will remain open. Review the case to determine if any further action is necessary. If not, contact the AGO to add an action code in ORSIS to close the referral.

When the AGO action is complete, the AGO will scan and import the order directly into the assigned agent’s mailbox in Content Manager. The assigned agent is responsible to ensure that the order and all other additional documents have been received and are attributed appropriately. If there are other cases that may be affected by the order, the agent must also attribute the order to those cases and notify the assigned worker, if appropriate, that a new order has been received and attributed to his/her case. Documents returning from the AGO that should be imaged include:

1. Any judicial enforcement orders;

2. A “purge agreement”, if appropriate;

3. Any Findings of Fact; and,

4. Any proofs of payments that are provided, if appropriate.