The Child Support Enforcement Program
The Child Support Enforcement Program is a partnership between Federal, state, and local authorities to collect child support from parents who are responsible for the payments. Their mission is to send a message to parents that they cannot walk away from their children. Their goal is to ensure that both of the parents support children. They strive to foster responsible behavior by adults toward children. They believe that children need the influence of two parents in their development. They believe that through these initiatives, they can reduce welfare costs. This program was established in 1975 as part of the Social Security Act.
State Child Support Programs are designed to locate noncustodial parents, collect, and distribute child support payments to the custodial parent. These services are available to all parents who need them. They can step in to establish paternity and enforce child support orders from any jurisdiction. They can even modify the child support orders if they need to. If your child support lawyers have helped you get a court order for child support and the noncustodial parent is resisting the order, the Child Support Enforcement Program can help locate that parent.
How Will the System Work for Me?
Child Support Lawyers can help a parent navigate the legal system efficiently. The Program can provide voluntary in-hospital paternity acknowledgement, genetic testing, child support guidelines, and review of support orders at least every three years. Your attorney can help you work with the program to have them withhold income from the parent who is required to pay support.
Parents who are not current in their child support payments may face revocation of drivers or professional licenses. In some cases, the courts can seize assets and financial accounts. Other sanctions that can be placed against a non-compliant parent are liens on property, denial of passports, and claims on Federal and state tax refunds. (Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Child Support Enforcement, 2008.)
What Should I Do To Help My Child’s Claim?
In order for the program to locate a parent, they must have certain documents to prove your claim. Your attorney can help you produce child support orders, divorce decrees, or separation agreements if you have them. Collect any letters, emails, insurance reports or tax documents where the other parent may have claimed that the child is theirs. You will need to have the birth certificates of the child and any information about the other parent’s location or past locations that may be of help in locating them.
There are resources to help a parent recover child support payments that have not been received. Sometimes the procedures can be confusing. It helps to have child support lawyers to advise you, who know the law.