HHS/ACF Moves to Strip Obsolete Rules from Child Support and Block Grant Programs

Child Support Enforcement: Final Rule

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services has issued a final rule amending regulations governing the Child Support Enforcement Program under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. The rule targets provisions across eight parts of the Code of Federal Regulations — 45 CFR parts 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 307, 308, and 309 — covering State Plan Approval and Grant Procedures, State Plan Requirements, Standards for Program Operations, Federal Financial Participation, Program Performance Measures, Standards, Financial Incentives and Penalties, Computerized Support Enforcement Systems, Annual State Self-Assessment Review and Report, the Tribal Child Support Enforcement (IV-D) Program, and Computerized Tribal IV-D Systems and Office Automation. The rule is effective November 30, 2026.

ACF explains in the rule's own text that the Child Support Enforcement Program is a Federal-State-Tribal partnership, established in 1975, designed to help children receive financial support from noncustodial parents through services including locating noncustodial parents, establishing paternity, establishing and enforcing support orders, and collecting and distributing child support payments. The agency states that many of the regulations being removed were originally adopted during periods of substantial statutory expansion of the Title IV-D program, when ACF sought to provide introductory program descriptions, restate newly enacted statutory requirements, promote national consistency during early implementation, or codify administrative practices not yet well established among State agencies.

The rule's stated rationale is that those original justifications no longer hold. According to the rule, the Title IV-D program has matured substantially, and State and Tribal agencies now operate within a well-established statutory and administrative framework supported by decades of program guidance, policy issuances, automated systems requirements, and operational practice. The rule further states that Congress has amended Title IV-D numerous times to codify core program requirements directly in statute, reducing the independent regulatory effect of certain provisions. ACF concludes that retaining regulations that restate statutory text, provide historical or descriptive information without imposing substantive obligations, or address matters more appropriately administered through sub-regulatory guidance and technical assistance, is no longer necessary to ensure effective administration of the program. The rule also states that rescinding such regulations is consistent with Executive Order 14219, Ensuring Lawful Governance.

The rule's statutory authority rests on section 1102 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1302), which authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish regulations necessary for efficient administration, and on section 455(f) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 655(f)), which authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations governing grants to Tribes and Tribal organizations operating child support programs.

Block Grants: Proposed Rule

In a parallel action published the same day, ACF issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to amend 45 CFR part 96, the regulatory framework governing seven major HHS block grant programs: the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Preventive Health and Health Services, Community Mental Health Services (MHBG), Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services (SUBG), Maternal and Child Health Services, Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Part 96 was originally published on July 6, 1982, and establishes uniform procedures for grant applications, awards, payments, financial management, audit requirements, and enforcement mechanisms across these programs. Written comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before November 30, 2026.

ACF organizes the proposed removals into three categories. The first covers provisions containing transitional language tied to fiscal years that have long passed. The agency states that retaining this language clutters the Code of Federal Regulations with text that no longer governs any current conduct, creates confusion for grantees attempting to identify their present obligations, and burdens agency staff who must explain why time-bound language remains on the books. The second category covers duplicative provisions — regulations that restate requirements already enacted in statute. ACF states these add no operative requirement beyond what Congress has already enacted, and that their continued presence in part 96 creates a risk that subsequent statutory amendments will produce a mismatch between statutory text and its regulatory paraphrase. The third category covers provisions that, according to the agency, are better suited to sub-regulatory formats — described in the document as reading like a Frequently Asked Questions document or as overly prescriptive technical material belonging in programmatic instruction rather than the CFR.

The NPRM states that the proposed provisions, once finalized, are intended to be severable, so that invalidation of any particular provision by a court would not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The statutory authority cited spans Title XX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.), the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.), the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.), and the Department's general administrative authority under 5 U.S.C. 301.

What to Watch

Both actions share November 30, 2026 as a key date: the Child Support final rule takes effect on that date, and the Block Grants NPRM comment period closes on that date. Stakeholders in State and Tribal child support agencies and in the seven affected block grant programs should note these concurrent deadlines.

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