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WHAT'S NEW IN CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT


New U.S. International Agreements on Child Support: Section 459A of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 659A (1996) ) authorizesthe Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services to enter into agreements with foreign countries for child support enforcement. On May 19, 2000, the Department of State issued a Public Notice in the Federal Register (Vol. 65, Number 98, Page 31953) regarding progress in this area. Additional notices will continue to update this information as new agreements are completed. The United States is also participating in the Hague Conference on Private International Law’s work to achieve a new multilateral treaty on child support enforcement.

New Measures in Criminal Law: Federal and state prosecutors are finding new ways to use criminal measures to pursue individuals in arrears for child support enforcement. The U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section has interesting news about the implementation of the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act also known as the Child Support Recovery Act of 1992 ( 18 USC 228 ) and how states are using criminal remedies successfully. The Act creates a Federal offense for (1) travelling in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to evade a child support obligation, if the obligation has remained unpaid for longer than 1 year or is greater than $5,000, and (2) the willful failure to pay a past due child support obligation for a child who resides in a state other than that in which the non-custodial parent resides, if the obligation has remained unpaid for longer than 1 year or is greater than $5,000; the willful failure to pay a past due obligation may qualify as a felony if it has remained unpaid for longer than 2 years or is greater than $10,000. See also "Child Support Reform in Action: New Strategies and New Frontiers in Massachusetts" for insight into state activities.

New Aggressive Measures to Obtain Child Support Enforcement: Even if the parent owing child support is outside the United States, there are many new aggressive measures available under U.S. law which may help your local child support enforcement office obtain support. New U.S. child support enforcement measures which may impact non-U.S. residents are explained in detail the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Child Support Steps Fact Sheet and Child Support Enforcement Handbook.

A parent can be required to pay child support by income withholding. Overdue child support can be collected from federal and state income tax refunds. Liens can be put on property, and the property itself may even be sold with the proceeds used to pay child support arrearages. Unpaid child support should be reported automatically to credit reporting bureaus. Drivers, professional, occupational and recreational licenses can be suspended if the obligated parent is not paying support as required. State child support enforcement agencies are entering into agreements with financial institutions to compare data about child support obligors, and are able to freeze accounts of people who are identified as owing child support. See our extensive discussion about obtaining support enforcement through the employer.

Arrangements with reciprocating countries also make available a range of enforcement mechanisms in those nations.

Child Support Payments and Getting a U.S. Passport:  The Passport Denial Program denies U.S. passports to parents certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to be in arrears in excess of $5,000 of child support payments. Since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193) was implemented jointly by HHS and the Department of State in 1996, HHS reports it has collected more than $4 million dollars in lump sum child support payments and currently 30 to 40 passports are denied per day.