Under the Senate bill, the Federal Government would provide 90 percent of matching funds for laboratory tests involving the establishment of paternity.

In cases where parentage of a child is denied, has not been established by marriage or is not listed on the birth certificate, or where paternity fraud is suspected, courts may order or require establishment of paternity.

Malone did not meet with Bell at that time, and Malone's attorney insisted that Malone had settled the lawsuits prior to any conclusive establishment of paternity, and thus still did not know whether he was truly the father of any of the children.

This month, a county legislative task force studied the child support system in Westchester and issued a report to the Board of Legislators, saying that the system is plagued by a variety of problems, ranging from deficient establishment of paternity to a court system marked by frustrating delays and inadequate enforcement of court orders.