OPINION
MERRITT, Circuit Judge.
Plaintiff Linda Clark brings this class action lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming deprivations of her rights and the rights of those similarly situated under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 651, et seq. Plaintiff specifically claims that the Defendants, Portage County, Ohio, and the officials of the Portage County Child Support Enforcement Agency, failed to provide the enforcement services required to collect outstanding child support payments in violation of Title IV-D. The question before us is whether the applicable sections of Title IV-D, 42 U.S.C. § 654 and 45 C.F.R. §§ 303.3 and 303.6, create a private right of action under which an individual may seek relief. We conclude that they do not. As a result, and for the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the decision of the district court granting summary judgment for the Defendants.
The Plaintiff and her husband, James Clark, divorced in 1984. Since that time, she has had considerable difficulty collecting child support payments due from her ex-husband for her two children, now ages 25 and 20. As a result of his repeated efforts to avoid these obligations, the Plaintiff is owed over $20,000 in back child support. Beginning in 1991, the Plaintiff, a Portage County, Ohio resident, engaged in a frustrating battle with the Portage County Child Support Enforcement Agency, with the Plaintiff repeatedly asking the Agency to take legal action pursuant to a court order requiring Mr. Clark to make support payments of $90 per week. In its opinion, the district court thoroughly detailed the unfortunate struggles of the Plaintiff, and they do not need to be reiterated here. See Clark v. Portage County, No. 5:99-CV-1240 (N.D.Ohio Sept. 27, 2000)(JA at 49). Despite the Plaintiff's allegations that the Agency failed to provide adequate Title IV-D services to her, the district court granted Defendants' motion for summary judgment on the grounds that Title IV-D does not provide an individual right to sue the Defendants for failing to provide those services.
We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, using the same standards as applicable to the district court. Williams v. General Motors Corp., 187 F.3d 553, 560 (6th Cir.1999).
Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, an individual may bring a private right of action against anyone, who, under color of state law, deprives a person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or conferred by federal statutes. Blessing v. Freestone, 520 U.S. 329, 340, 117 S.Ct. 1353, 137 L.Ed.2d 569 (1997); Maine v. Thiboutot, 448 U.S. 1, 100 S.Ct. 2502, 65 L.Ed.2d 555 (1980). When determining whether a statutory provision gives rise to a federal right, we must ask (1) whether the plaintiff is an intended beneficiary of the statute, (2) whether the plaintiff's asserted interests are so vague and amorphous as to be beyond the competency of the judiciary to enforce them, and (3) whether the statute imposes a binding obligation on the State. Blessing, 520 U.S. at 340-41, 117 S.Ct. 1353 (citations omitted).
In Blessing v. Freestone, 520 U.S. 329, 117 S.Ct. 1353, 137 L.Ed.2d 569
In her brief, the Plaintiff cites to several statutory sections which she claims provide her with an enforceable claim, that is, evidence of a statutory right to sue the Defendants. First, the Plaintiff cites §§ 654(4)(B) and (8), which provide:
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42 U.S.C. §§ 654(4)(B) and (8).
The Plaintiffs also cite federal regulations 45 C.F.R. §§ 303.3 and 303.6 as evidence of an individual right to sue. Section 303.3 sets forth the guidelines that states must employ in locating non-custodial parents. Section 303.6 states that the agency must maintain and use an "effective system" for monitoring compliance with support obligations, identifying the occurrence of delinquencies, and enforcing payment obligations.
We conclude that the above-cited provisions do not provide the Plaintiff with an individual right to sue. Even assuming that the Plaintiff is an intended beneficiary of Title IV-D, a question we need not decide, the Plaintiff's claimed interests, like those of the plaintiffs in Blessing, are so vague and amorphous as to be beyond the competence of the judiciary to enforce on behalf of individuals. For example, the state plan requirements in § 654(4)(B) do not make it clear whether an individual right would arise based on the alleged inadequacy of the state plan's wording or from a deficiency in the enforcement efforts of the agency. The lack of such
It is easy to see why that is the case. Under the Plaintiff's theory, the state agency would be hauled into federal court each time one of the millions of child support claimants is dissatisfied because the state has not collected child support payments. The state itself or its officers would become liable in damages under some uncertain standard not delineated in the statute. If states and their officials were liable in federal court for failing to collect child support, a domestic relations role federal courts have studiously avoided for 150 years, even in diversity cases, see Barber v. Barber, 62 U.S. (21 How.) 582, 584, 16 L.Ed. 226 (1858)(in diversity "we disclaim altogether any jurisdiction upon the subject of divorce, or for the allowance of alimony"); Ex parte Burrus, 136 U.S. 586, 593-94, 10 S.Ct. 850, 34 L.Ed. 500 (1890)(same in child custody cases), we would need a whole cadre of new federal domestic relations judges.
In sum, as the Supreme Court made clear in Blessing, the simple lack of effectiveness by a state in enforcing support obligations does not alone give rise to an individual right. 520 U.S. at 335-36, 117 S.Ct. 1353. Because the Plaintiff has not provided any theory under which we could walk through the narrow door left open by Blessing, we hold that the Plaintiff does not have an individual right deriving from Title IV-D by which she can sustain her § 1983 claim. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the holding of the district court.
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