093_HB0700eng

 
HB0700 Engrossed                     LRB093 05497 MKM 05588 b

 1        AN ACT in relation to public aid.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The Illinois Public Aid Code  is  amended  by
 5    changing Section 10-1 as follows:

 6        (305 ILCS 5/10-1) (from Ch. 23, par. 10-1)
 7        Sec.   10-1.  Declaration  of  Public  Policy  -  Persons
 8    Eligible for Child Support Enforcement Services  -  Fees  for
 9    Non-Applicants  and  Non-Recipients.) It is the intent of the
10    Illinois Public Aid this Code  that  the  financial  aid  and
11    social  welfare  services  herein  provided supplement rather
12    than supplant the primary and continuing  obligation  of  the
13    family  unit for self-support to the fullest extent permitted
14    by the resources available to it. This primary and continuing
15    obligation applies whether the family  unit  of  parents  and
16    children or of husband and wife remains intact and resides in
17    a  common  household  or  whether the unit has been broken by
18    absence of one or more members of the unit.   The  obligation
19    of  the  family unit is particularly applicable when a member
20    is in necessitous circumstances and  lacks  the  means  of  a
21    livelihood compatible with health and well-being.
22        It is the purpose of this Article to provide for locating
23    an  absent  parent  or  spouse, for determining his financial
24    circumstances, and for  enforcing  his  legal  obligation  of
25    support,  if  he  is  able to furnish support, in whole or in
26    part.  The Illinois  Department  of  Public  Aid  shall  give
27    priority   to  establishing,  enforcing  and  collecting  the
28    current support obligation, and then to past due support owed
29    to the  family  unit,  except  with  respect  to  collections
30    effected  through the intercept programs provided for in this
31    Article.
 
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 1        The child support enforcement services provided hereunder
 2    shall be furnished dependents of an absent parent  or  spouse
 3    who  are applicants for or  recipients of financial aid under
 4    this Code.  It is not, however, a  condition  of  eligibility
 5    for  financial aid that there be no responsible relatives who
 6    are reasonably  able  to  provide  support.  Nor,  except  as
 7    provided  in  Sections 4-1.7 and 10-8, shall the existence of
 8    such relatives or  their  payment  of  support  contributions
 9    disqualify a needy person for financial aid.
10        By accepting financial aid under this Code, a spouse or a
11    parent  or  other  person  having custody of a child shall be
12    deemed to have made assignment to the Illinois Department for
13    aid under  Articles  III,  IV,  V  and  VII  or  to  a  local
14    governmental  unit  for  aid  under Article VI of any and all
15    rights, title, and interest in any support obligation  up  to
16    the  amount of financial aid provided.  The rights to support
17    assigned to the Illinois Department of Public  Aid  or  local
18    governmental  unit  shall  constitute  an obligation owed the
19    State or  local  governmental  unit  by  the  person  who  is
20    responsible   for   providing   the  support,  and  shall  be
21    collectible under all applicable processes.
22        The Illinois Department of Public Aid shall also  furnish
23    the child support enforcement services established under this
24    Article  in  behalf  of persons who are not applicants for or
25    recipients of financial aid under  this  Code  in  accordance
26    with  the  requirements  of  Title  IV,  Part D of the Social
27    Security Act.  The Department may  establish  a  schedule  of
28    reasonable fees, to be paid for the services provided and may
29    deduct  a  collection  fee,  not  to exceed 10% of the amount
30    collected, from such collection. The Illinois  Department  of
31    Public  Aid  shall  cause  to  be  published  and distributed
32    publications reasonably calculated to inform the public  that
33    individuals  who  are  not  recipients  of  or applicants for
34    public aid under this Code are eligible for the child support
 
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 1    enforcement services under this Article X.  Such publications
 2    shall set forth an explanation, in plain language,  that  the
 3    child  support enforcement services program is independent of
 4    any public aid program under the Code and that the  receiving
 5    of  child support enforcement services in no way implies that
 6    the person receiving such services is receiving public aid.
 7    (Source: P.A. 92-590, eff. 7-1-02.)