Child support collections increase
Posted: Tuesday, September 23, 2008
SIOUX FALLS (AP) -- Federal government checks meant to stimulate the economy have helped South Dakota and other states catch up with parents who are delinquent on their child-support payments.
The Associated Press has obtained Treasury Department data showing that more than 1.4 million stimulus checks have been seized since the payments began last spring, providing $831 million for child-support agencies nationwide.
That includes 4,890 stimulus checks totaling $2.75 million that were seized from deadbeat parents in South Dakota as of Sept. 12.
Last year, more than $148 million in child support was due in the state, a 2.34 percent increase from 2006, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families says.
Child support collections were more than $87 million in South Dakota in 2007, up from more than $82 million in 2006, state data show.
"Our state has a track record of success with child support recovery," said Hugh Grogan, Minnehaha County Human Services director. "Where I see a problem at the county level is there are people who oftentimes have child support so high, even if they are working they don't make enough to support themselves, yet they still don't qualify for programs like food stamps."
Grogan says that's because gross income determines assistance program eligibility, and no allowance is made for income reductions because of child support payments. He says the upshot is that there's less incentive for some people to find jobs.
"I'm not talking about people making hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to avoid child support payments," Grogan said, adding that he's referring to people earning low wages who "end up working 40 hours a week or go out on day labor and come out with $20" after child support is deducted.
Grogan says many of those in child-support trouble are "kids who had kids when they were 14 or 15. They're now 26 or 27. ... They are caught in a cycle where there is no hope of ever getting out."
The economic stimulus program provided $600 checks for most individuals and $1,200 for couples filing jointly, with a $300 credit per child added.
States submit the names and Social Security numbers of deadbeat parents to the IRS, which crosschecks those names against the lists of taxpayers receiving stimulus checks. The IRS then sends deadbeat parents' checks straight to state child support agencies.
The Associated Press has obtained Treasury Department data showing that more than 1.4 million stimulus checks have been seized since the payments began last spring, providing $831 million for child-support agencies nationwide.
That includes 4,890 stimulus checks totaling $2.75 million that were seized from deadbeat parents in South Dakota as of Sept. 12.
Last year, more than $148 million in child support was due in the state, a 2.34 percent increase from 2006, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families says.
Child support collections were more than $87 million in South Dakota in 2007, up from more than $82 million in 2006, state data show.
"Our state has a track record of success with child support recovery," said Hugh Grogan, Minnehaha County Human Services director. "Where I see a problem at the county level is there are people who oftentimes have child support so high, even if they are working they don't make enough to support themselves, yet they still don't qualify for programs like food stamps."
Grogan says that's because gross income determines assistance program eligibility, and no allowance is made for income reductions because of child support payments. He says the upshot is that there's less incentive for some people to find jobs.
"I'm not talking about people making hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to avoid child support payments," Grogan said, adding that he's referring to people earning low wages who "end up working 40 hours a week or go out on day labor and come out with $20" after child support is deducted.
Grogan says many of those in child-support trouble are "kids who had kids when they were 14 or 15. They're now 26 or 27. ... They are caught in a cycle where there is no hope of ever getting out."
The economic stimulus program provided $600 checks for most individuals and $1,200 for couples filing jointly, with a $300 credit per child added.
States submit the names and Social Security numbers of deadbeat parents to the IRS, which crosschecks those names against the lists of taxpayers receiving stimulus checks. The IRS then sends deadbeat parents' checks straight to state child support agencies.
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