How to Fill Out and Submit an Absent Parent Information Form

The Absent Parent Information Form is how you give the child support agency the identifying details it needs to find a noncustodial parent, establish paternity if that hasn’t been done, and pursue a support order. If you receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), certain Medicaid benefits, or Title IV-E foster care benefits, completing the form is a condition of keeping your benefits, and refusing cuts your cash grant by at least 25%.¹ Parents who don’t receive public assistance can file the same form voluntarily to get help locating the other parent and collecting support. Either way, the quality of what you write on this form sets the pace of your case.

Who Files This Form

There are two paths. The first is mandatory. When you apply for TANF, Medicaid, or Title IV-E foster care benefits, the state refers your case to the child support enforcement agency and requires you to cooperate in establishing paternity or a support order. Federal rules direct the state to refer every family with a child whose paternity isn’t established or who needs an order established, modified, or enforced.² The Absent Parent Information Form is how you cooperate.

The second path is voluntary. Any parent or legal guardian can apply for child support services whether or not they receive public benefits. Federal regulations require every state to make applications readily accessible: one must be provided the same day you ask in person, or within five business days if you request one by phone or online.³

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull together everything you know about the other parent before you begin. Caseworkers run each piece of data through employment databases, tax records, motor vehicle registries, and correctional systems. More fields filled in means fewer follow-up requests and a faster case. Most versions of the form ask for the following.

Full legal name and any aliases, including maiden names, nicknames, and spelling variations.
Social Security number. This is the single most useful identifier, because the agency uses it to match records across state and federal databases. If you don’t have the full number, write down as many digits as you can.
Date of birth, which helps distinguish the person from others with the same name.
Last known address and phone number. Even an outdated address gives investigators a starting point.
Current or most recent employer, including business name, address, and phone number. Employment data drives wage withholding once a support order is in place.
Physical description: height, weight, hair color, eye color, and identifying marks such as tattoos or scars. These help a process server confirm the right person when delivering legal papers.
Vehicle information: make, model, color, year, and license plate if known.
Names of relatives or close friends. The agency may contact these people as alternative leads when direct searches stall.⁴
Military or incarceration status, either of which routes the search to specialized federal or correctional databases.

Some forms also ask where and when the child was conceived. That question isn’t idle: the answer helps the agency establish jurisdiction for paternity proceedings in the correct state.

Filling In the Fields

Write clearly on a paper form, and double-check that names and numbers match official records. A transposed digit in a Social Security number can send the entire search down the wrong path.

If you genuinely don’t know a piece of information, write “unknown” in that field rather than leaving it blank. A blank space looks like you skipped the question; “unknown” signals you made the effort and simply don’t have the answer. Caseworkers reviewing your form distinguish between the two.

Pay close attention to the employment section. If the other parent changes jobs frequently, list every employer you’re aware of, starting with the most recent, and include approximate dates when you can. The agency cross-references employer names against state workforce records and quarterly wage reports, so even a partial employer name from two years ago can produce a current match.

The physical-description fields matter more than you might expect. When a parent has moved without leaving a forwarding address, a process server working from a photograph and description may be the only way to confirm identity and deliver legal papers. Recall details accurately. Approximate height and weight are better than a guess rounded to a stereotype.

If Cooperating Would Put You or Your Child at Risk

You can request a good cause exemption if cooperating with child support enforcement would endanger you or your child. The exemption applies most often in domestic violence situations, but it also covers cases where the child was conceived through sexual assault or where adoption proceedings are underway. Each state sets its own criteria and process for granting these waivers, though all must comply with the federal framework under 45 CFR 264.30.⁵

Bring documentation to support the claim: a protective order, police reports, medical records, or a statement from a domestic violence shelter or social services agency. Some states will accept your own written statement if third-party documentation isn’t available, as long as the agency has no independent reason to doubt the claim. Ask about the good cause process at your initial interview rather than waiting for the agency to raise it.

If you participate in your state’s Address Confidentiality Program, tell your caseworker. These programs assign a substitute mailing address so your actual location doesn’t appear in public records, which matters because child support case files can sometimes be accessed by the other parent’s attorney.

What Happens If You Refuse to Cooperate

For TANF recipients, refusing to cooperate has real financial consequences. Federal law requires the state to cut your family’s cash assistance by at least 25%. Some states go further and deny the entire family’s benefits.¹ In most states, the penalty targets the noncooperating adult: your portion of the grant is removed from the calculation, but the children’s share continues. The reduction stays in effect until you cooperate or receive an approved good cause exemption.

The child support agency first determines that you’ve failed to cooperate, then notifies the TANF agency, which applies the sanction. You’ll typically receive written notice and a chance to explain before the cut takes effect. If you’ve been sanctioned and later decide to cooperate, the penalty usually ends the following month.

Where and How to Submit the Form

You have three ways to get the completed form to the agency.

In person. Bring the form to your local child support office or social services office. Ask the clerk to stamp a copy as proof of filing, which protects you if there’s ever a dispute about whether you cooperated on time.
By mail. Send the form to the address on the application packet. Use certified mail or keep a tracking receipt so you can prove when you sent it.
Online. A growing number of states offer electronic enrollment portals where you can complete and submit the application digitally, and some let you upload supporting documents at the same time.

Federal regulations give the agency 20 calendar days from receipt of a completed application to open your case. In that window the agency establishes a case record, reviews what you’ve provided, and decides next steps, which may be requesting more information from you, attempting to locate the other parent, or referring the case for paternity or support proceedings.³

What the Agency Does With Your Information

Once your case is open, the information you provided feeds into the State Parent Locator Service, which searches motor vehicle records, state tax files, workforce agency data, law enforcement records, and correctional facility databases. If the state search comes up short, the case escalates to the Federal Parent Locator Service. The FPLS maintains two national databases: the Federal Case Registry, which tracks all child support cases and orders nationwide, and the National Directory of New Hires, which stores employment, wage, and unemployment data. It can also pull records from the IRS, Social Security Administration, and Department of Defense.⁶

A caseworker may contact you for a follow-up interview to clarify details or ask whether you’ve learned anything new about the other parent’s whereabouts. Respond promptly: delays on your end slow the entire case. Once the noncustodial parent is located, the agency begins legal proceedings to establish paternity if needed and obtain a court-ordered support amount.

There’s no single timeline for when you’ll see a first payment. A parent whose employer and address you already know will be located and served far faster than one who moved out of state years ago. Cases that still need paternity established add steps. Expect several months at minimum between application and first payment in most situations.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 608 – Prohibitions; Requirements
2
eCFR. 45 CFR 264.30 – What Procedures Exist to Ensure Cooperation With the Child Support Enforcement Requirements
3
eCFR. 45 CFR 303.2 – Establishment of Cases
4
Office of Child Support Enforcement. Child Support Handbook – Finding the Noncustodial Parent
5
eCFR. 45 CFR 264.30 – What Procedures Exist to Ensure Cooperation With the Child Support Enforcement Requirements
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 653 – Federal Parent Locator Service