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"Hundreds of Illinois families are
better off today because business and government have partnered to
make certain that parents who owe child support pay what they owe,"
the governor said. "With better coordination, this year we will
exceed $1 billion in child support collections for Illinois
families. For too long, job-hoppers have been evading the system and
hurting their children. The departments of Public Aid and Employment
Security are working together with Illinois business to do what's
right for kids and families."
Under the New Hire initiative,
Illinois employers must report new hires to the Department of
Employment Security within 20 days. The reports are then sent on to
the Department of Public Aid so the information can be matched with
their list of noncustodial parents with support orders. If a name
from the child support order list is found on the New Hire list,
Public Aid checks to see if they already have the employer on
record. If they don't, Public Aid sends an income withholding notice
to the employer.
"This is an ideal collaboration
between employers and state government that results in a win for
Illinois children," said Jerry Stermer, president of Voices for
Illinois Children.
"Initiatives like New Hire are
helping boost our collections, which were up 10 percent last year,"
said Barry S. Maram, director of the Department of Public Aid. "We
are reaching companies that previously were not reporting new
hires."
As of March 31, an additional 6,184
New Hire reports were generated as a result of the stepped-up
outreach by the departments of Public Aid and Employment Security,
resulting in an additional $2,569,967 in income for Illinois
families owed child support.
"This is a positive initiative that
is business- and father-friendly," said state Rep. Cynthia Soto,
D-Chicago, chair of the House Child Support Committee. "New Hire
encourages parents to be more responsible. This puts money in the
hands of families that need it. This shows child support enforcement
is headed in the right direction."
"IDES is pleased this cooperative
effort is generating additional income that contributes to the
economic viability of families living under distressed
circumstances," said Brenda A. Russell, director of the Department
of Employment Security.
New Hires
reaches out to employers in a number of ways:
- Distributes handbooks to all
employers that report to the Department of Employment Security,
explaining the reporting and wage-withholding requirements.
- Provides a toll-free number
employers can call, (800) 327-HIRE, and a website,
www.ides.state.il.us/employer/
newhire/general.asp, for information or clarification about
what the law requires.
- Hosts on-site education and
training sessions for employers through local chambers of
commerce, newsletters and trade association conferences.
[to top of second column in this article] |
 The New
Hire initiative is important because 80 percent of Illinois child
support collections come through employee withholding. And child
support payments can play an important role in the health,
well-being and educational achievement of children:
- According to a USDA report, a
middle-income family with a child born in the year 2000 will spend
about $165,630 to raise that child for 17 years.
- Data from the 2000 census
indicated that single parents head 28 percent of Illinois
families.
Research
shows child support is a critical source of economic stability for
moderate and low-income families and provides important noneconomic
benefits for children in single-parent families (Center for Law and
Social Policy report):
- Child support makes up 16 percent
of household income for those that receive it.
- Child support keeps about half a
million children out of poverty and reduces the poverty gap by 8
percent.
- Children who receive child
support obtain significantly more schooling, are more likely to
finish high school and are more likely to attend college than
those who do not receive support.
The Department of Public Aid
oversees the Child Support Enforcement Division. The division's
performance fell steeply in the mid-1990s. In the year 2000,
Illinois faced the serious threat of federal penalties for poor
child support enforcement. The Blagojevich administration has been
working hard to turn Illinois' record around and better help
struggling single parents meet their families' needs.
In November 2003, the state launched
the "deadbeat parents" website,
www.ilchildsupport.com/deadbeats/ as a new tool in its effort to
find delinquent parents who owed significant amounts of child
support. In its first year, the site resulted in $160,000 in
collections.
In fiscal 2004 the Child Support
Enforcement Division collected more child support than ever before
-- $950.1 million -- and improved overall collections by 10 percent
over the previous year.
In 2004, the departments of
Employment Security and Public Aid found that as many as one-third
of Illinois' employers were not complying with the requirement to
report all new hires, because they are not familiar with the law.
Gov. Blagojevich launched New Hires to make sure employers know what
they're supposed to report and how to do it. As a result, the state
is able to more quickly find noncustodial parents, get orders for
child support and start withholding support regularly.
[News release from the governor's
office] |
