2160 Cooperation With and Referral to Child Support Services - As a condition of eligibility in the TANF, Child Care and food assistance programs, the caretaker who is applying for or receiving assistance shall cooperate with the agency in establishing the paternity of a child born out-of-wedlock with respect to whom assistance is requested or received and in obtaining support payments for such caretaker and for a child with respect to whom said assistance is claimed. Cooperation with Kansas Child Support Services is required even if the individual has child support services through a different state.

NOTE: For food assistance, cooperation with Child Support Services is required of custodial natural or adoptive parents who live with his or her child and there is a parent absent from the home. It also applies to other relatives to the 5th degree of kinship who are living with and exercising parental control over a child under the age of 18 with a parent absent from the home.

See 2165 for effect on eligibility for failure to cooperate. For purposes of establishing paternity, the legal parent is presumed to be the biological parent. For TANF and food assistance purposes, for situations in which the alleged father is in the home, but paternity must be established, see 2167. For Child Care, there is no requirement that paternity be formally established as specified in 2167. If the parents were not married, verification methods such as obtaining a birth certificate listing both parents or a statement from the father voluntarily acknowledging paternity are acceptable. The prudent person concept shall be used.

2161 Cooperation - CSS is responsible for determining whether the caretaker has cooperated in establishing paternity and/or in obtaining support. EES is responsible for determining whether the caretaker has good cause for refusing to cooperate. Cooperation is defined as:

1. Appearing at the local CSS office or the Court Trustee Office as necessary to provide information or documentation relative to establishing paternity of a child born out-of-wedlock, identifying and locating the absent parent, and obtaining support payments;
    

2. Appearing as a witness at court or other proceedings necessary to achieve the CSS objectives;
    

3. Forwarding to the CSS unit any support payments received from the absent parent which are covered by the support assignment (TANF only);
    

4. Providing information, or attesting to the lack of information, under the penalty of perjury; and
    

5. Establishing an agreement with CSS for repayment of assigned support which was received directly and retained by the caretaker relative and maintaining payments under the terms of such a repayment agreement (TANF only).
    

NOTE: EES is to notify CSS of those cases in which there is suspected noncooperation such as when the client retains assigned support. See 6220 (4) (TANF only).