(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, this article applies to all proceedings under this subchapter.
(b) An individual petitioner or a support enforcement agency may initiate a proceeding authorized under this subchapter by filing a petition in an initiating tribunal for forwarding to a responding tribunal or by filing a petition or a comparable pleading directly in a tribunal of another state or a foreign country which has or can obtain personal jurisdiction over the respondent.