Nearly 1 million children benefit from state's child support system

Michigan children benefit the most when financial support is given by both parents, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is emphasizing during Child Support Month. Nearly 1 million children are assisted by the state's child support program. To recognize the importance of parental support for these children, Gov. Rick Snyder has declared October as Child Support Month in Michigan. "It is our priority to ensure that children in our care are getting both the emotional and financial support they need and deserve," MDHHS Director Nick Lyon said. "The efforts by local child support professionals to help families provide a stable environment for their children is key to helping these children." The MDHHS child support program provides parents of all income levels with assistance in obtaining financial support and medical insurance coverage for their children. The program helps by locating parents, establishing paternity, establishing child support orders, and collecting and distributing child support payments. The MDHHS Office of Child Support works with local Friends of the Court and prosecutor's offices to improve collections. The majority of parents pay their child support in full and on time. For those who don't follow the law and fail to make payments, the program uses several enforcement tools to collect past-due child support. The total amount collected in fiscal year 2014 was more than $1.34 billion. Amounts collected by various methods in fiscal year 2014 included: -$1.05 billion collected by employers withholding child support from parents' paychecks. -$79.5 million collected by intercepting federal and state income tax refunds. -$6.75 million collected by freezing or seizing financial assets. "The families raising many of Michigan's children depend on child support payments to provide basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing," said Erin Frisch, director of the MDHHS Office of Child Support. "These payments are vital to these children's overall well-being. We take it very seriously when parents don't pay or don't pay on time so we work closely with the parents through our offices to address each family with the individualized attention it deserves." MDHHS is also providing better access to case information through the online child support site www.michigan.gov/michildsupport. On the site, people can apply for child support services, view information about their case and sign up for text or email notifications when an account has charged, payment is overdue, a court date has been scheduled or a bench warrant issued, among other things. The MDHHS Office of Child Support also oversees the Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity program, which provides information and training to birthing hospital staff members that focuses on the benefits of establishing paternity for children born to unmarried parents. Child support information for parents, employers, hospitals and schools is located on the MDHHS website, www.michigan.gov/childsupport. Published: Tue, Oct 27, 2015