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| Bureau of Child Support EnforcementBureau of Child Support Enforcement The Title IV-D child support program was created in 1975 and provided a basis for the delivery of child support services nationally. For many states, the IV-D program represented the first time child support services would be provided by the state, and early efforts were focused primarily on recovering Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) related benefits. Pennsylvania, however, has a tradition of providing child support services that dates back to 1937, well before the creation of the IV-D program. Like many states, child support services were provided through the courts to provide collection and enforcement services on a case by case basis. Pennsylvania has Domestic Relations Sections (DRS) in each of the 67 county based trial courts. The current IV-D program is operationally based in the county DRSs under the Court of Common Pleas and is judicially oriented in nature. Within this context, federal legislation designed to establish administrative alternatives for service delivery has resulted in a mix of judicial and administrative procedures that provide the basis for delivering child support services. The IV-D program is grounded in both federal and state statutes as well as judicial rules and procedures. The Bureau of Child Support Enforcement (BCSE) within the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) is the single state agency charged with administering the IV- D program in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The federal statutory basis for the program is U.S. Public Law 93-647, Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. The state statutory basis is in Title 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated (23 Pa. C.S.A.). The policies and procedures that govern most aspects of the child support program in Pennsylvania are the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in 45 CFR, Parts 232 and 301 to 308; Chapter 55 of the Pennsylvania Code; and the Pennsylvania Rules of Court, Actions for Support in the Rules of Civil Procedure, 42 Pa. C.S.A. Rule 1910 et seq. Additionally, existing policies and procedures may be affected by case law as well as court and judicial proceedings. Contact: Daniel N. Richard, Director |  | |||||||||
| Last modified on: June 27, 2008 | |||||||||||
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