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The new site, located at
www.ilchildsupport.com/deadbeats/, is intended to shine a
spotlight on deadbeat parents who abandon their kids and refuse to
pay their fair share for their children's upbringing. It is also
meant to have a powerful deterrent effect on parents who may be
eligible but are not yet included on the site.
"The Blagojevich administration is
sending a clear message to parents who think they can thumb their
noses at the law and hide in the shadows," said Public Aid Director
Barry S. Maram. "We are going to expose them to the light of day."
The new site -- the most visible
element of the Blagojevich administration's sweeping efforts to
overhaul and reinvigorate the state's Child Support Enforcement
system -- can be listed with other achievements this year, including
the rollout of a state-of-the art customer service phone system and
a revamping of the intake process. The agency has recorded sharp
increases in the percentages of support orders enforced and current
collections received. The Illinois Department of Public Aid has also
successfully turned over operation of the State Disbursement Unit to
a private contractor, ACS State and Local Solutions, which processes
over 500,000 child support checks each month while saving the state
$9 million a year.
The new website, which was authorized
by state law, will feature photos of the state's most egregious
delinquent parents, some of whom owe over $85,000.
To be eligible for inclusion on the
site, a delinquent parent must owe more than $5,000 in past-due
child support based on an Illinois court or administrative order.
In addition, the department requires
that the custodial parent in the case must agree to have the case
publicized.
"This is just one more enforcement tool
the department can now use to enforce compliance with child support
obligations," said Child Support Enforcement Administrator Lonnie
Nasatir. "We think shame can be a powerful motivating force."
The department is also publicizing the
cases in the hope that members of the public who may have
information about income or property owned by the delinquent parents
will contact officials via the site.
The agency uses a number of tools to
recover unpaid child support, including these: intercepting state
and federal tax refunds, suspending Illinois professional licenses,
placing liens on real and personal property, collaborating with the
Illinois Department of Revenue and private collection agencies, and
reporting the debt to credit reporting agencies.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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In August, Gov. Blagojevich announced
the I-PASS Expansion Program, which will allow drivers to further
reduce their travel times through the addition of 37 new I-PASS
lanes at 22 locations throughout the system by spring of next year.
Currently, 34 of these new lanes are complete, and one additional
lane will be completed by year's end.
"At Jewel-Osco, our focus is always on
finding ways to make life easier for our customers," said Pete Van
Helden, president of Jewel-Osco. "Through this partnership with the
Illinois Tollway that allows for the sale of I-PASS transponders in
188 of our stores, we have developed yet another time-saving measure
for our customers that lets them do their grocery shopping and
purchase a transponder at one convenient location."
About
Jewel-Osco
Jewel-Osco is the only Midwest retailer
operating both combination food and drug stores and free-standing
drug stores. Of the retailer's 288 locations, 203 are combination
Jewel-Osco stores and 82 are free-standing Osco drug stores. Jewel
Express Fuel Centers are located at 19 Jewel-Osco locations.
Jewel-Osco is the Midwest Division of Albertson's Inc., which is
headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Albertson's is one of the world's
largest food and drug chains and currently operates approximately
2,300 stores in 31 states.
About the
Illinois Tollway
The Illinois State Toll Highway
Authority maintains and operates 274 miles of interstate tollways in
12 counties in northern Illinois, including the East-West Tollway
(I-88), the North-South Tollway (I-355), the Northwest Tollway
(I-90) and the Tri-State Tollway (I-94, I-294, I-80/I-294). The
Illinois Tollway offers customers I-PASS electronic toll collection
for congestion relief and ease of travel.
To sign up for I-PASS go to
www.illinoistollway.com,
or you can now buy a transponder at Jewel-Osco.
As the
slogan says, "Get I-PASS and get going!"
[News release from the
governor's office]
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