PAYMENT PROCESSING

PAYMENT PROCESSING

CS 603P $50.00 Refund to AFDC Households

03/95 Revised 12/10/15 Training Completed 04/24/12 Last Reviewed 08/04/25

Beginning in October 1984 through February 1997, the first $50.00 received towards a IV-A current support debt was issued to the family as an incentive payment. These payments were called the $50.00 “disregard” or “pass-through” payment.

In August 1996, the United States Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, also known as Welfare Reform. This Act did not provide Federal money to fund the pass-through program after October 1, 1996. The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) continued to fund the program until February 1997.

General Information

1. The $50.00 pass-through payment was issued on approximately the 15^th of the month by the Office of Family Support (OFS, later renamed the Department of Workforce Services (DWS)). The pass-through was based on payment information ORSIS provided to PACMIS (the system in place prior to eRep) about the current support payments received on a debt for an assistance case during a previous month.

2. The pass-through payment was $50.00 or the amount of the current support paid, whichever was less.

a. If the TANF (formerly known as AFDC) client was the custodial parent (CP) on more than one case and each noncustodial parent (NCP) paid a current support payment for the month, only one $50.00 pass-through payment would be issued.

b. If the current support obligation was less than $50.00, the pass-through payment was issued for the amount of current support paid even if additional payments were collected toward arrears owed.

3. Pass-through payments were issued from current support payments received for October 1984 through February 1997, regardless of when the payment was posted.

EXAMPLE: A current support payment posted in August 1997 to an assistance case with a receipt date of February 1997 generated a pass-through payment. A payment received in August 1997 with a March 1997 receipt date did NOT generate a pass-through payment.

a. A pass-through payment was issued separately from the financial assistance grant.

b. The payment did not affect the amount of the grant or eligibility for the family to receive assistance.

4. The $50.00 pass-through program operated differently in the old computer system than it did in ORSIS.

5. Arrearage payments (such as federal or state tax intercept) were not reported to PACMIS to generate a pass-through payment.

6. Garnishment payments that were not posted to current support did not generate a pass-through payment.

Support Exceeds the Grant

During the $50.00 pass-through period, the system compared the assistance issued plus the pass-through payment received during the prior month to the current support collected during the prior month. If the support collected exceeded the amount of assistance and the pass-through payment issued, the Customer Service Unit (CSU) disbursed the difference to the CP in the form of a PSG (Support Exceeds the Grant) payment.

Retained Support Cases

1. Credit is given for the $50.00 pass-through payment for support payments received and retained by a TANF CP during October 1984 through February 1997. The credit is subtracted from the amount of the CP’s debt on the overpayment referral.

2. The credit is given only for the month in which the support was received.

EXAMPLE 1: The NCP paid the CP $200.00 during February and the current support obligation is $200.00. The CP would get credit for the $50.00 against his/her debt for February. An overpayment referral would be made for $150.00.

EXAMPLE 2: The NCP paid the CP $600.00 during January and the current obligation was $200.00, the CP would get credit for $50.00 against his/her debt for January, but no credit for the arrearage months. The overpayment referral would be made for $550.00.