The definitions found in § 301.1 of this chapter are also applicable to this part. In addition, for purposes of this part:

Terms Used In 45 CFR 305.1

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.

(a) The term IV-D case means a parent (mother, father, or putative father) who is now or eventually may be obligated under law for the support of a child or children receiving services under the title IV-D program. A parent is a separate IV-D case for each family with a dependent child or children that the parent may be obligated to support. If both parents are absent and liable or potentially liable for support of a child or children receiving services under the IV-D program, each parent is considered a separate IV-D case. In counting cases for the purposes of this part, States may exclude cases closed under § 303.11 and cases over which the State has no jurisdiction. Lack of jurisdiction cases are those in which a non-custodial parent resides in the civil jurisdictional boundaries of another country or federally recognized Indian Tribe and no income or assets of this individual are located or derived from outside that jurisdiction and the State has no other means through which to enforce the order.

(b) The term Current Assistance collections means collections received and distributed on behalf of individuals whose rights to support are required to be assigned to the State under title IV-A of the Act, under title IV-E of the Act, or under title XIX of the Act. In addition, a referral to the State’s IV-D agency must have been made.

(c) The term Former Assistance collections means collections received and distributed on behalf of individuals whose rights to support were formerly required to be assigned to the State under title IV-A (TANF or Aid to Families with Dependent Children, AFDC), title IV-E (Foster Care), or title XIX (Medicaid) of the Act.

(d) The term Never Assistance/Other collections means all other collections received and distributed on behalf of individuals who are receiving child support enforcement services under title IV-D of the Act.

(e) The term total IV-D dollars expended means total IV-D administrative expenditures claimed by a State in a specified fiscal year adjusted in accordance with § 305.32 of this part.

(f) The term Consumer Price Index or CPI means the last Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers published by the Department of Labor. The CPI for a fiscal year is the average of the Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending on September 30 of the fiscal year.

(g) The term State incentive payment share for a fiscal year means the incentive base amount for the State for the fiscal year divided by the sum of the incentive base amounts for all of the States for the fiscal year.

(h) The term incentive base amount for a fiscal year means the sum of the State’s performance level percentages (determined in accordance with § 305.33) multiplied by the State’s corresponding maximum incentive base on each of the following measures:

(1) The paternity establishment performance level;

(2) The support order performance level;

(3) The current collections performance level;

(4) The arrears collections performance level; and

(5) the cost-effectiveness performance level.

(i) The term reliable data, means the most recent data available which are found by the Secretary to be reliable and is a state that exists when data are sufficiently complete and error free to be convincing for their purpose and context. State data must meet a 95 percent standard of reliability effective beginning in fiscal year 2001. This is with the recognition that data may contain errors as long as they are not of a magnitude that would cause a reasonable person, aware of the errors, to doubt a finding or conclusion based on the data.

(j) The term complete data means all reporting elements from OCSE reporting forms, necessary to compute a State’s performance levels, incentive base amount, and maximum incentive base amount, have been provided within timeframes established in instructions to these forms and § 305.32(f) of this part.