Document

Proposed Information Collection Activity; Income Withholding for Support

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend approval of the...

Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
  1. [Office of Management and Budget #: 0970-0154]

AGENCY:

Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION:

Request for public comments.

SUMMARY:

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to extend approval of the Income Withholding for Support (IWO), with changes, for an additional three years. The current OMB approval expires August 31, 2026.

DATES:

Comments due May 11, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ACF is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection described above. You can obtain copies of the proposed collection of information and submit comments by emailing . All requests should be identified by the title of the information collection.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description: The IWO is the required, standard form used to order, and notify, employers and income providers to withhold child support payments from an obligor's income. It is also used to notify employers and other income providers where to remit the payments, as well as other information needed to correctly withhold payments so that children and families receive the support to which they are entitled.

OCSE revised the IWO form to add checkboxes pertaining to detail for the respondent to check, if applicable; revised links; clarified language and definitions; changed Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) to OCSE; and added fields, such as a daily pay amount, to the record specifications.

Respondents: Courts, private attorneys, custodial parties, or their representatives, employers, and other entities that provide income to noncustodial parents.

Annual Burden Estimates: The burden estimates were updated to reflect current estimates for the annual number of respondents and responses over the next three years. The burden reduction accounts for decreases in the number of new hire reports submitted and decreases in the number of proactive matches generated from the Federal Case Registry for participants in child support cases. Additionally, more employers using electronic IWO (e-IWO) has decreased the burden with processing paper documents. Response times also reflect clearer instructions. Estimated burden was added to account for the time states will need to update programming as a result of proposed changes, but overall, the ongoing total estimated annual burden associated with this information collection has been reduced by 30 percent.

Information collection title Total number of respondents Total number of responses per respondent Average burden hours per response Annual burden hours
Income withholding for Support (Courts, private attorneys, custodial parties or their representatives) 3,439,580 1 5 minutes 286,632
Income withholding for Support of employment/income status (Employers and other income withholders) 1,214,289 5.23 2 minutes 211,691
Electronic income withholding for Support/termination of employment/income status (Employers and other income withholders) 48,978 41.56 30 seconds 16,963
State Programming 18 1 534 9,612
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours 524,898

Comments: The Department specifically requests comments on (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted within 60 days of this publication.

Authority:42 U.S.C. 666(a)(1), (a)(8), and (b)(6).

Mary C. Jones,

ACF/OPRE Certifying Officer.

[FR Doc. 2026-04740 Filed 3-10-26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4184-41-P

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Federal Register Citation

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91 FR 11979

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“Proposed Information Collection Activity; Income Withholding for Support,” thefederalregister.org (March 11, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-04740/proposed-information-collection-activity-income-withholding-for-support.