Peoria Standard

The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Child Support Advisory Committee met Aug. 23 to make changes to the Parentage Act.

Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the department:

Child Support Advisory Committee Meeting August 23, 2016 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) By video conference and teleconference Committee Members Present: Margaret Bennett, Scott Black(via phone), Shirley Williams for The Honorable Dorothy Brown (via phone), Mischelle Causey-Drake (via phone ), Darryl Apperton (via phone), The Honorable Kelly Burke (via phone), Kirk Harris (via phone), The Honorable Judge Pamela Loza, Nicole McKinnon(via phone), Claude Robinson, Julio Rodriguez (via phone), Margaret Stapleton, Zeophus (Zee) Williams, The Honorable Judge Diane Winter (via phone) and Richard Zuckerman (via phone) Committee Members Absent: The Honorable Patricia Bellock, The Honorable Dorothy Brown, James Dimas, The Honorable La Shawn Ford, Geraldine Franco, Sequane Lawrence, The Honorable Robert Martwick, The Honorable Sidney Mathias and The Honorable Cynthia Soto HFS Staff Present: Pam Lowry, Gina Hemphill, Irene Curran, Norris Stevenson, Sharon Shapiro, Ralph Abt, Roxy Schuman, Hillary Johns, Mike Vespa and Mary Bartolomucci Public Guests: Mick Gerhardt and Christina Hotchkin • Welcome to CSAC members - Pam Lowry Pam Lowry welcomed meeting participants via video conference. • Remarks – Pam Lowry ? Roll call of committee members was done by Maggie Bennett. ? Introduction of state employees and members of the public ? All committee members, attendees and members of the public were asked to sign in ? April 19, 2016 meeting notes were unanimously approved. • CSAC Quarterly Numbers – Pam Lowry Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, Division of Child Support Services provides these numbers quarterly for review. The numbers are trending slightly upward but overall variation is minor. Paternity establishment numbers cannot be reported until the end of the year. For the paternity establishment percentage, states have to perform at 90% or above. If performance falls below 90%, states have one year to bring the performance back to the expected level. In 2014, we were 1% under. In 2015, we achieved 90%. Generally, we measure ourselves against past performance and the nation. Our performance is consistent with the national benchmarks. The self-assessment for the year was met. • Status of Income Shares Legislation – Maggie Bennett Maggie introduces The Honorable Kelly Burke via the phone to talk. Income Shares legislation HB 3982 went through committee as introduced. The only change made was the request to change the effective date to July 2017.The questions that were brought had more to do with mechanics. Maggie Bennett and The Honorable Judge Loza testified. It went very well. Tech changes to Parentage Act HB 4447. There were big changes made to the Parentage Act. It was well drafted. There were not a lot of questions or discussion from the Committee, House and Senate. Changes were technical and much more seamless than other versions. • 2016 Technical Changes to the Parentage Act of 2015 Legislation – Maggie Bennett The technical corrections to the Parentage Act were signed by Governor Rauner on August 12, 2016. Article 7, a child of assisted reproduction was also passed by the General Assembly and was also signed by Governor Rauner on August 12, 2016. The Parentage act is now complete. • Workgroup Reports – Margaret Bennett 1. Guidelines Outreach Workgroup: This workgroup will now be removed from the list. It has passed legislation. 2. Process Improvement related to legal referrals: Zee Williams (chair) Scott Black Michelle Causey-Drake Kirk Harris Kevin Murphy – (represented Dawn Porter (Dorothy Brown’s representative) There have been meetings with the states attorney’s office and HFS staff to increase the number of legal action referrals that are received from HFS as well as increasing the number of legal action referrals that are filed. 3. Responsible Fatherhood and Practices that acknowledge Inability to pay: Margret Stapleton (chair) Sequane Lawrence Geraldine Franco Darryl Apperton Kirk Harris Kim McCullough Margret Stapleton stated that they are working on SB 2340 with Senator Lightford. This bill would increase the amount of child support passed through and disregarded for TANF families from up to $50.00 per month for all families to up to $100 for families with one child and up to $200 for families with 2 or more children. 4. Drafting the Electronic Child Support Calculator Worksheet for Income Shares: Maggie Bennett (chair) Pamela Loza Nicole McKinnon Diane Winter Richard Zuckerman This group will review and make applications using the Iowa software for free. • Irene Curran introduced Kim McCullough Kim is the Assistant Director for HFS. Kim would like to be on the Responsible Fatherhood and Practices that Acknowledge Inability to Pay work group. • New Business – Committee Members ? Maggie Bennett – Now that we have passed the Income Shares legislation we have eight months to complete and pass the tech corrections to the Income Shares Legislation. ? Pam Lowry – Income Shares bill and trailer bill. Prior to the Affordable Care Act the standard was to ask for insurance by parent that has insurance through their employer. Now it will be the party that claims the child as an exemption for income tax purposes. This will most likely be the parent with the majority of parenting time. We will be working with Division of Medical Programs to establish a premium amount for medical assistance cases, for purposes of establishing cash medical support. ? Nicole McKinnon – Insight into what is forthcoming in Cook County. • Public Comment – Members of the Public One member of the public asked how to find the info on the web site. • Closing Motion to adjourn was offered and approved. • Meeting Adjourned