Enforcement Efforts Highlighted as
Part of Child Support Awareness Month
Part of Child Support Awareness Month
The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
(OTDA) today announced that it collected more than $135 million in
overdue child support payments in 2014 on behalf of tens of thousands of
children through the use of specialized enforcement mechanisms. These
mechanisms are utilized in cases where noncustodial parents have fallen
behind on their payments and were unwilling but had the means to pay.
OTDA supervises New York’s child support enforcement program, which
serves nearly 1 million children, and collected a total of $1.8 billion
last year. The child support program is administered by local
departments of social services, which includes New York City and the
other 57 counties.
“Our child support enforcement program is one of the most effective
tools we have in helping families achieve economic stability and
independence,” said OTDA Commissioner Samuel D. Roberts. “For many of
these families, receiving child support payments enables them to avoid
having to rely on government assistance programs to get by. Through our
work with our partners at the local level, more parents are accepting
responsibility for the financial well-being of their children, giving
them a brighter future.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued a proclamation recognizing August as Child Support Awareness Month in New York State.
OTDA oversees programs and services provided by local child support
enforcement units to help families and children locate noncustodial
parents, establish paternity and child support orders, and collect,
adjust and enforce payments of child support.
While many noncustodial parents pay their child support on-time and
in full, special enforcement mechanisms are in place to collect overdue
child support from parents who don’t follow the law and fail to make
timely payments. These tools can bring in substantial child support
payments to benefit New York’s children and families.
Tax Refund Offsets - Working with the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State
Department of Taxation and Finance, OTDA identifies cases were
noncustodial parents have overdue child support. Those cases are matched
with the tax agencies to intercept any income tax refunds due to the
noncustodial parent to offset their child support debt.
Nearly $74 million was collected using this mechanism last year.
Property Seizures - Noncustodial parents who have fallen behind on their child support
payments can have financial assets and personal property seized,
including bank accounts, automobiles and boats. If the parent does not
pay the overdue child support within a specified time, the child support
debt can be paid from the seized account or by auctioning off the
seized property.
In 2014, nearly $23 million in child support was collected through this process.
Unemployment Insurance Benefits Intercept - Noncustodial parents who receive Unemployment Insurance benefits have
their child support payments automatically withheld for distribution to
the families. In 2014, nearly $38 million in child support payments was
collected through this process.
Passport Denials - The U.S. Department of State denies applications of those seeking to
renew or obtain a passport if they owe $2,500 or more in child support.
In order to lift the restriction, the noncustodial parent must pay their
outstanding debt in full.
In 2014, collections resulting from passport denials totaled nearly
$900,000, with single payments going as high as $34,251, which was
received from a New York City case.
Lottery Intercept - Lottery prizes of more than $600 can be withheld to offset overdue
child support payments when a noncustodial parent is more than $50
behind on their child support payments. Up to 100 percent of lottery
winnings can be seized to satisfy overdue child support.
More than $1.1 million in lottery winnings was intercepted for child
support in 2014, including one instance in Onondaga County that resulted
in $19,815 in overdue child support being paid to the custodial parent.
For more information on child support services, visit childsupport.ny.gov.
Below is a list of overdue child support collections made with specialized enforcement procedures, by region for 2014.
|
Region |
Amount |
|
Capital Region |
$7,844,226 |
|
Central New York |
$6,655,457 |
|
Finger Lakes |
$9,149,265 |
|
Mid-Hudson |
$12,111,459 |
|
Long Island |
$16,532,771 |
|
Mohawk Valley |
$3,866,585 |
|
New York City |
$59,455,174 |
|
North Country |
$3,753,622 |
|
Southern Tier |
$4,768,481 |
|
Western New York |
$11,812,072 |
Source: New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
No comments:
Post a Comment