 "As the cost of living continues to rise, we see more and more
single parents struggling to provide their children with basic
needs," Blagojevich said. "Before I became governor, the child
support system in our state was the worst in the nation. But we have
turned this program around, and this means more Illinois parents
than ever are getting the payments they need to help buy clothes or
put food on the table for their kids."In the mid-1990s, the
Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Child Support
Division's performance fell steeply, causing hardship for thousands
of Illinois parents. In fact, in 2000, Illinois faced the serious
threat of federal penalties for poor child support enforcement.
Over the past four years, Blagojevich launched a number of
innovative and aggressive programs to improve child support
collections, including two online sites: Deadbeat Parents and the
New Hire Directory. These changes have resulted in significant
improvements for parents and children who rely on the system.
In 2007, the governor's New Hire outreach and online site, which
enables the state to use employers' new hire information to find and
collect from delinquent parents, continued to collect $3.8 million
monthly on average, up from $1.5 million monthly in 2004. A total of
10,529 employers have registered on the interactive site, and nearly
152,000 new hires have been reported through the site. Between 300
and 600 new employers register online each month.
Under the Blagojevich administration, the Child Support Division
also significantly strengthened existing collection tactics. Child
support collections that resulted from passport denials for debts
owed to Illinois families grew dramatically from only $203,000 in
2002 to over $1.4 million in 2007. In addition, the Division of
Child Support Enforcement successfully seized more than $13.5
million in assets in 2007, compared with $2.7 million in 2002. Since
the inception of the administrative lien program, the Department of
Healthcare and Family Services has collected $50 million in past-due
support through liens and seizures. Collections now average more
than $1 million per month. More than 60 percent of the fiscal 2007
collections of $13.5 million were the result of seizure of bank
accounts held by child support debtors.
Each year the National Child Support Enforcement Association
recognizes outstanding achievements in child support enforcement,
and the 2006 Most Improved Program award was given to the Illinois
state program for its increased collections and new programs.
"NCSEA congratulates Illinois on its improved performance," said
Mary Anne Wellbank, president of the association. "The steady
improvement Illinois has shown really demonstrates its commitment to
children."
"The Department of Healthcare and Family Services continues to work
with the governor to implement new, innovative and aggressive
measures to bring more child support dollars to Illinois'
hardworking parents and their deserving children," said Barry Maram,
department director. "Our efforts have ensured that for three years
in a row we have achieved record child support collections."
The continued improvements in child support collections in
Illinois are due to the critical programs Blagojevich has
implemented since taking office.
-- In October 2005,
Blagojevich announced that Illinois joined forces with the state
of Iowa to increase enforcement of child support laws through
the opening of a new, jointly staffed child support enforcement
office in Rock Island. This is the second interstate child
support office in the country. Located close to the state line,
the new facility has one full-time employee from each state who
work together to ensure improved interstate information sharing,
faster collection of court-ordered child support and more
efficient enforcement of child support laws. More than $770,000
has been collected as a result of the collaboration.
[to top of second column] |
-
The Deadbeat
Parents online site -- In November 2003, Blagojevich
launched the Deadbeat Parents site,
www.ilchildsupport.com/deadbeats, which identifies parents
who owe more than $5,000 in child support payments and has
resulted in the collection of more than $345,0000 since
program's launch.
-
New Hire
initiative -- In Illinois, 80 percent of child support is
collected through wage withholdings, a method facilitated by the
Illinois Department of Employment Security's New Hire Directory.
The Blagojevich administration made it easier for employers to
comply with the New Hire Directory by establishing an online
site to get information and clarification about the law, and
developed easy-to-understand marketing materials that assisted
in the employer education process. The Department of Healthcare
and Family Services also provided on-site training at employer
locations and association meetings.
-
Early sign-up for
enforcement -- This year, the Department of Healthcare and
Family Services is launching a collaborative effort with
Illinois Clerks of Circuit Court to help parents sign up for
child support enforcement services as soon as a new order is
issued by the court. Early enforcement efforts will help new
child support cases get on track and stay on track, making
regular collection of support for families a reality. Clerks of
Court will provide custodial parents with information about the
child support program and applications for the enforcement
services. "We are pleased to announce this new partnership with
Clerks of the Court," Blagojevich said. "By working together, we
will help families get the regular support they need."
-
Project Clean
Slate -- In January 2007, the Department of Healthcare and
Family Services implemented Project Clean Slate to assist
low-income fathers in reducing debt owed to the state, while
encouraging them to make their current support payments to their
family. Noncustodial parents who owe child support to the state
may be eligible to have the child support debt erased by making
regular payments of support owed to families. To be eligible,
noncustodial parents must prove they were unemployed,
incarcerated or had a special situation that made them unable to
make payments in the past. To learn more or to request an
application, noncustodial parents should call 312-793-8222.
These initiatives and resulting success earned the Division of
Child Support Enforcement an $8.6 million federal bonus award for
meeting federal child support indicators, the largest incentive ever
received by Illinois under a performance-based system.
All child support enforcement services are free and include the
automatic location of employers, automatic service of income
withholding notices, and the submission of child support debt to
credit reporting agencies and to the state and federal governments,
which can then intercept tax refunds, suspend or revoke professional
and occupational licenses, and deny passports. Information about
applying is available at
www.hfs.illinois.gov.
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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