Step-by-Step Support Collection

STEP 3: Work around roadblocks.
 If  parents hit roadblocks while trying to collect support, Jensen recommends they continue to work through their state agencies using a "squeaky wheel" approach. "You need to figure out if there is a glitch and you need to complain to a supervisor," she says. "Send pictures of your children, write your congressman, make noise. I think it helps them realize these are real people and not just one of millions."      

The National Coalition for Child Support Options offers a variety of tips on its Web site and provides links to reach government officials who can help. If the non-custodial parent is self-employed or works for cash or commissions, which make it difficult to deduct child support from a paycheck, the state child support agencies have some other tools to use. According to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement handbook, they include: "state and Federal income tax offset, liens on real or personal property owned by the debtor, freezing of bank accounts, orders to withhold and deliver property to satisfy the debt, passport denial, or seizure and sale of property with the proceeds from the sale applied to the support debt."    

Other tools offered by the federal government include the Federal Parent Locator Service, which helps states track down non-custodial parents and enforce child support orders, the National Director of New Hires, which requires employers to report new hires to a database that is matched with child support records and the Federal Tax Refund Offset Program, which collects past-due child support payments from the tax refunds.    

STEP 4: Make yourself aware of costs.
There are some costs involved in tracking down delinquent child support payments. Often, fees are waived for needy families. The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement offers a break down of each state's fees at its web page. Some states deduct the costs of tracking down a non-custodial parent from the child support payments. Costs may go up for parents who enlist the help of an attorney or private company. Experts recommend parents make themselves aware of all fees involved.    

STEP 5: If the regular avenues don't work, press criminal charges.   
Jensen says parents should contact their local county prosecutor or district attorney to press criminal non-support to dependent charges. "Then someone is facing jail time if they don't face their obligation to support their kids," she says. If the non-custodial parent lives out of state, federal laws may apply and the charges are filed through the U.S. Attorney. The Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act, passed in 1998, allows a child support violator to be prosecuted under Federal law if local efforts have been unsuccessful and a required payment hasn't been made in more than a year or is greater than $5,000. (For more information, see the U.S. Department of Justice website: (http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/ceos/child_support.htm)     


Click here to read related stories, blogs and advice on child support.



FOR MORE WEB SITES:

The Office of Child Support Enforcement

Handbook on Child Support Enforcement
 
Child Support Enforcement State Profiles

Federal Parent Locator Service

The Association for Children for Enforcement of Support  

Geraldine Jensen's Families Online Magazine


Stacey Tiedge Alatzas of Bel Air, Md., is a freelance journalist, blogger and new media consultant with 12 years of experience writing and editing for daily newspapers.