Child Support Good Cause Claimed

Each TAFDC client must have the requirements for cooperating with child support enforcement efforts explained to them. Including, good cause exceptions to cooperation with the child support requirements and exploring whether good cause exists. Every client must also receive the Assignment of Support Rights, Cooperation with Child Support, or Good Cause Claim form (T-A34/36) as well as the Information about Support Assignment, Cooperation and Good Cause notice.

If the client wants to claim a good cause exception for cooperating with child support enforcement efforts, they are responsible for:

  • Identifying the appropriate reasons that qualify as good cause, including the name of the child, and the name of the absent parent, if possible    
  • signing the Good Cause Claim section on the T-A34/36 and
  • providing the verifications necessary to substantiate the good cause claim and/or requesting help from you to get verifications

Whenever a client claims a good cause exception to cooperating with the child support requirements, you must:

  • review all good cause exceptions with the client so they can make an accurate claim,
  • identify the reason for good cause with the client and if necessary, make a referral to the Domestic Violence (DV) Specialist

    • Important: Relative caregivers may claim good cause when it is not in the best interests of the child to pursue child support. Verification of good cause is never required for these households and must always be approved.

  • assist client in obtaining verifications and make referrals as appropriate
  • ask the client if they need help understanding any of the information on the Assignment of Rights, Cooperation with Child Support and Good Cause Claim form or the Information about Support Assignment Cooperation and Good Cause notice,
  • explain to the client where they will need to sign the form, how to indicate good cause and that they need to return the form.

Enter Good Cause Claim in BEACON

To enter the client’s good cause claim on the Absence page:

  1. go to the Assessed Person Nonfinancial workflow in the Case Maintenance workflow
  2. go to the Absence page
  3. click the Cooperation tab
  4. click the No radio button in the child support cooperation field
  5. in the Safety/Good Cause field, in response to the question: “Is the client claiming good cause?” click the Yes radio button 
  6. enter the Start date for the good cause claim, usually the current date
  7. select the appropriate reason for the good cause claim from the Reason drop-down box:
    1. Adoption decision pending
    2. Adoption proceedings pending
    3. Conception result: incest/rape
    4. Physical/Emotional or DV Risk
    5. Relative Caregiver
    6. Other
  8. in answer to the question: “Is there a history/threat of DV associated with the absent parent”, click the Yes or No radio button to record the client’s response and

    1. Note: A date must not be entered in the Scheduled end field until good cause is approved. Once approved, the scheduled end date is not to be greater than the reevaluation end date, when good cause must be reviewed and documented in a BEACON narrative. However, when the good cause reason is incest/rape the end date is to be the child's 18th birthday and it does not need to be reviewed. At reevaluation, good cause does not need to be re-verified unless information is received that indicates a need to reconsider eligibility for good cause. For relative caregivers good cause must be reviewed at each reevaluation, but it never needs to be verified.

  9. click Save and complete all other Absence page tabs.

When the good cause reason selected is either Conception result: incest/rape or Physical/Emotional or DV risk, the client will appear on the statewide Absence Safety/Good Cause Review view and the DV Reviewed check box on the Safety/Good Cause field will be enabled.  The DV Review box can only be selected by a DV Specialist or Coordinator and certain Central Office Staff.

Reminder: If a good cause claim is Conception result: incest/rape, or Physical/Emotional or DV risk, make sure the Yes radio button in the domestic violence situation field is clicked on the Domestic Violence page in the Program Administration workflow.

When the Yes radio button on the Cooperation tab is clicked for ‘Is there a history/threat of DV question’, the client will then appear on the Absence Safety/Good Cause Review view and the DV Reviewed check box on the Safety/Good Cause field will be enabled even if the client is not claiming good cause.

See Absent Parent: Domestic Violence for details on the Absence Safety/Good Cause Review view and the DV Reviewed check box.

Important: If an applicant/client makes a good cause claim while speaking with a DV Specialist, the DV Specialist will coordinate with the client’s case manager, who will enter the claim in BEACON, obtain the appropriate client signatures, and request verification as applicable.

Reminder: Even though good cause must be verified, except for relative caregivers, do not wait until verification is received to add information about the claim to the Cooperation tab. Mark the tab at the time of the claim. Once marked, the Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement (DOR/CSE) will not work on pursuing child support.  

Go to the Verification tab in the Electronic Case Folder (ECF). The most common acceptable verifications for good cause will be listed on the Verification tab, based upon information which is prepopulated from the responses data-entered during the good cause claim interview on the Cooperation tab in the Safety/Good Cause field.

For any claim of good cause, all pertinent documentation and the T-A34/36 must be available in the case record as Reviewed and Entered. If DOR/CSE becomes aware from the client of a potential good cause situation, DOR/CSE will:

  • temporarily suspend action to establish paternity or a support order and will take no new enforcement action
  • advise the client to go to DTA within 14 days to officially claim good cause and
  • resume the child support efforts at the end of the 14 days only if the Absence page in BEACON has not been updated with the client’s good cause claim

Important: No matter DOR/CSE's prior awareness, if the client contacts you to make a good cause claim, you must update the Cooperation tab immediately. This helps protect the client’s safety by preventing DOR/CSE from resuming the child support efforts at the end of the 14 days. You must also have the client sign the Good Cause Claim section on the T-A34/36 form.

Related Topics

Child Support Policy and Procedures

Last Update: November 17, 2022