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42 U.S. Code § 653. Federal Parent Locator Service
(a) Establishment; purpose
(1)
The Secretary shall establish and conduct a Federal Parent Locator Service, under the direction of the designee of the Secretary referred to in section 652(a) of this title, which shall be used for the purposes specified in paragraphs (2) and (3).
(2) For the purpose of establishing parentage or establishing, setting the amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations, the Federal Parent Locator Service shall obtain and transmit to any authorized person specified in subsection (c)—
(A) information on, or facilitating the discovery of, the location of any individual—
(i)
who is under an obligation to pay child support;
(ii)
against whom such an obligation is sought;
(iii)
to whom such an obligation is owed; or
(iv)
who has or may have parental rights with respect to a child,
including the individual’s social security number (or numbers), most recent address, and the name, address, and employer identification number of the individual’s employer;
(B)
information on the individual’s wages (or other income) from, and benefits of, employment (including rights to or enrollment in group health care coverage); and
(C)
information on the type, status, location, and amount of any assets of, or debts owed by or to, any such individual.
(3)
For the purpose of enforcing any Federal or State law with respect to the unlawful taking or restraint of a child, or making or enforcing a child custody or visitation determination, as defined in section 663(d)(1) of this title, the Federal Parent Locator Service shall be used to obtain and transmit the information specified in section 663(c) of this title to the authorized persons specified in section 663(d)(2) of this title.
(b) Disclosure of information to authorized persons
(1) Upon request, filed in accordance with subsection (d), of any authorized person, as defined in subsection (c) for the information described in subsection (a)(2), or of any authorized person, as defined in section 663(d)(2) of this title for the information described in section 663(c) of this title, the Secretary shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, provide through the Federal Parent Locator Service such information to such person, if such information—
(A)
is contained in any files or records maintained by the Secretary or by the Department of Health and Human Services; or
(B)
is not contained in such files or records, but can be obtained by the Secretary, under the authority conferred by subsection (e), from any other department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States or of any State,
and is not prohibited from disclosure under paragraph (2).
(2) No information shall be disclosed to any person if the disclosure of such information would contravene the national policy or security interests of the United States or the confidentiality of census data. The Secretary shall give priority to requests made by any authorized person described in subsection (c)(1). No information shall be disclosed to any person if the State has notified the Secretary that the State has reasonable evidence of domestic violence or child abuse and the disclosure of such information could be harmful to the custodial parent or the child of such parent, provided that—
(A)
in response to a request from an authorized person (as defined in subsection (c) of this section and section 663(d)(2) of this title), the Secretary shall advise the authorized person that the Secretary has been notified that there is reasonable evidence of domestic violence or child abuse and that information can only be disclosed to a court or an agent of a court pursuant to subparagraph (B); and
(B) information may be disclosed to a court or an agent of a court described in subsection (c)(2) of this section or section 663(d)(2)(B) of this title, if—
(i)
upon receipt of information from the Secretary, the court determines whether disclosure to any other person of that information could be harmful to the parent or the child; and
(ii)
if the court determines that disclosure of such information to any other person could be harmful, the court and its agents shall not make any such disclosure.
(3)
Information received or transmitted pursuant to this section shall be subject to the safeguard provisions contained in section 654(26) of this title.
(c) “Authorized person” definedAs used in subsection (a), the term “authorized person” means—
(1)
any agent or attorney of any State or Indian tribe or tribal organization (as defined in subsections (e) and (l) of section 5304 of title 25), having in effect a plan approved under this part, who has the duty or authority under such plans to seek to recover any amounts owed as child and spousal support (including, when authorized under the State plan, any official of a political subdivision);