(a) Every applicant for family independence benefits who has a child by a parent who is alive but not living in the home at the time of approval for family independence must be immediately referred to the designated child support official of the department. The department shall be responsible for taking all steps necessary to identify, locate, and obtain support payments from absent parents.

(b) The department shall establish a scale of suggested minimum contributions to assist courts in determining the amount that an absent parent should be expected to pay toward the support of a dependent child. The scale shall include consideration of gross income, shall authorize expense deductions including deductions for taxes for determining net income, shall designate other available resources to be considered and shall specify the circumstances which should be considered in reducing liability on the basis of hardship. Copies of this scale shall be made available to courts, county attorneys, circuit solicitors, and to the public. It is intended that the scale formulated pursuant to this section be optional, and that no court or support official be required to use it.

(c) In all cases in which the whereabouts of the absent parent is known, the department shall, immediately upon approval of the application for assistance, notify the absent parent of the filing of the application and of his responsibility to complete and return a written statement of his current monthly income, his total income over the past twelve months, a description of real and personal property owned by him, together with an estimate of its value, the number of dependents for whom he is providing support, the amount he is contributing regularly toward the support of all children for whom application for aid to families with dependent children has been made, his Social Security number, his itemized monthly living expenses and such other information as the department determines to be pertinent in determining his ability to support his children.

The absent parent shall complete and return such statement to the department within ten days after notification by the department. The department may request the absent parent to report for a personal interview.

If the absent parent statement is not completed within ten days after notification, the department shall cause prompt personal service to be made. If the written statement is not completed and returned within ten days after personal service, the department shall immediately refer the matter for prosecution for nonsupport.

(d) When the department has obtained sufficient information concerning the absent parent, it shall immediately determine his ability to support his children and shall obtain a court order specifying an appropriate amount of support in accordance with the scale of suggested minimum contributions as provided in subsection (b). If the absent parent is residing out of the county, but within the State, and his whereabouts are known, the department shall obtain the court order in the court of competent jurisdiction as set forth in § 14-21-830. Court orders of support shall in all cases specify that the payment of support shall be made directly to the department as reimbursement for assistance and not to the spouse of the absent parent. The support rights assigned to the State shall constitute an obligation owed to the State by the individual responsible for providing such support. Such obligation shall be deemed for collection purposes to be collectible under all applicable state and local processes. The amount of such obligations shall be:

(1) The amount specified in a court order which covers the assigned support rights;

(2) If there is no court order, an amount determined by the State in accordance with a formula approved by subsection (b);

(3) Any amounts collected from an absent parent under the plan shall reduce, dollar for dollar, the amount of his obligation. A debt which is a child support obligation assigned to the department under this section is not released by a discharge in bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Act.

(e) Failure of the absent parent to comply with his support obligation shall be referred to the court having jurisdiction of the matter for appropriate proceedings.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to relieve the department from complying with the provisions of Section 402 (a) (11) of the Social Security Act.

(g) Material falsification of information on the statement provided pursuant to Subsection (d) shall constitute a misdemeanor.

(h) In the case of an individual not otherwise eligible for collection services, a fee may be imposed in accordance with federal law, regulations, and guidelines.

(i) The department may submit to the Department of Revenue for collection and set off any debt for past-due support, including health care expenses, owed to the department or owed to an individual not otherwise eligible for collection services who has made application to the department. The debt for past-due support must be at least sixty days in arrears and is in excess of twenty-five dollars as provided in § 12-7-2240. At the time of the submission, the department shall notify the debtor that his state tax refund will be subject to a debt for past-due support. The notice shall set forth the name of the debtor, the amount of the claimed debt, the intention to set off the refund against the debt, the taxpayer’s opportunity to give written notice to contest the set off within thirty days of the date of mailing of the notice, the appropriate office of the department to which the application for a hearing must be sent, and the fact that failure to apply for a hearing in writing within the thirty-day period will be considered a waiver of the opportunity to contest the set off. If the debtor makes written application to contest the set off within thirty days of notification, the department shall provide an opportunity for a hearing and is responsible for refunding any monies wrongfully collected. If no application is made, the debtor’s refund must be used to set off the amount owed. From the amount transferred from the Department of Revenue, the department shall reimburse the Department of Revenue for expenses incurred in administering this program. In the case of an individual not otherwise eligible for collection services, a fee must be imposed by the department to cover all costs. The department shall request that the Department of Revenue send to the department notice of the home address, corrected social security number, or additional Social Security numbers, if more than one is used, of any taxpayer whose name is submitted to the Department of Revenue under this subsection.

(j) The department may submit to the Internal Revenue Service and the State Department of Revenue, for federal and state tax refund offsets, the name of any obligor who is delinquent in paying court-ordered child support and who qualifies for submittal under federal or state law even if the obligor is in compliance with a court order requiring periodic payments toward satisfaction of the delinquency or even if the delinquent amount has been placed in abeyance by court order.