ORS 412.024: Assignment of support rights; cooperation required for establishing parentage of child or obtaining support; exceptions; sanctions; rules.

(1) An applicant or recipient of aid, except for recipients of aid under the JOBS Plus Program established in ORS 411.878, must assign to the state any rights to support that may be due from any other person to a family member for whom the applicant is applying for or receiving aid. If aid is paid and received for the support of a child, the rights to child support that any person may have for the child are deemed to have been assigned by operation of law to the state. Notice of the assignment by operation of law shall be given to the applicant at the time of application for public assistance, and shall be given to any obligee who may hold some interest in such support rights by depositing a notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the last-known address of such person. Assignment of support rights to the state shall be as set forth in rules adopted by the Department of Human Services and the Department of Justice. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, an applicant or recipient who receives aid shall cooperate with the Department of Human Services and the Department of Justice in establishing the parentage of the applicant’s or recipient’s child born out of wedlock and in obtaining support or other payments or property due the applicant or child. An applicant or recipient is not required to cooperate if there is good cause or some other exception to the cooperation requirement that takes into account the best interest of the child. The Department of Human Services shall adopt rules defining good cause, other exceptions to cooperation and noncooperation by an applicant or recipient, and setting the sanction for noncooperation. The sanction may include total ineligibility of the family for aid, but in no situation may the sanction be less than a 25 percent reduction of the monthly grant amount. At the time an applicant applies for aid, the Department of Human Services shall inform the applicant, in writing, of the requirement of and exceptions to cooperation and the sanctions for noncooperation, and shall inform recipients, in writing, whenever eligibility for aid is redetermined. (3) This section shall apply to recipients of aid pursuant to the temporary assistance for needy families program as long as the aid is funded in whole or in part with federal grants under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act. [Formerly 418.042; 2009 c.80 §7; 2011 c.604 §5; 2015 c.765 §13; 2025 c.592 §138]