California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - September 29, 1996

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has determined that the jurisdiction of CDSS judges to adjudicate child support collection and/or distribution issues is limited to action/inaction(s) during the 90 days preceding the filing of a hearing request. This CDSS determination is based on Manual of Policies and Procedures (MPP) §§22-009.1 and 22-071.1.

First, the CDSS determined that counties are not required to issue adequate notice(s) concerning child support collection and/or distribution because MPP §22-071.1, which lists all actions for which adequate notice must be issued, does not list child support collection and/or distribution. Secondly, the CDSS determined that because adequate notice is not required, MPP §22-009.11, which defines the date of the action as the date an adequate notice was mailed, does not apply to hearings disputing child support collection and/or distribution issues. The CDSS then determined that MPP §22-009.1 requires that a hearing request disputing child support collection and/or distribution must be filed within 90 days after the action or inaction with which the claimant is dissatisfied.

In summary, there is only jurisdiction if a hearing request was filed within 90 days after the disputed child support collection and/or distribution.

However, MPP §22-009.12 may extend jurisdiction beyond the 90 days preceding the filing of the hearing request back to the first on the month during which the 90 day period began. For example, if a claimant files a hearing request on June 25 claiming the county’s collection and/or distribution of child support affects current aid, jurisdiction exists to adjudicate child support collection and/or distribution issues back to March 1 (i.e., jurisdiction extends back 90 days from June 25 to March 27, and then back to March 1).