Child support officials cite improved collection rates, seek extension of IT appropriation

The Department of Human Serviceschild support section told the Human Services Policy and Appropriations Committee on [date not specified] that it has raised paternity and collection rates and is asking the legislature to extend an existing IT-system appropriation carried on the books from the prior biennium.

The department—s interim director of the child support section, Jim Fleming, told committee members the program now serves about 50,800 full-service child support cases and an additional roughly 20,000 limited-service cases. Fleming said the office has about 61.2 full-time equivalent staff and that collections in the most recent reporting year were in the neighborhood of $190 million. He said current-support compliance is ‘‘almost 80 percent’’ and that the state holds about $254 million in arrears.

Fleming described several policy and operational changes he credited for performance gains. The section moved periodic reviews from the federal minimum of every three years to every 18 months to keep orders aligned with pay changes; expanded partnerships with employers to increase new-hire reporting and the use…