New Program Boosts Payment Of Child Support $900,000 Collected Since Program Began

Changes in the way new employees are reported in Idaho has helped the state collect more than $900,000 in unpaid child support in the six months since the program’s inception.

The program, known as the New Hire Employer Reporting Program, was installed by the 1997 Idaho Legislature. It requires employers in the state to report the hiring of new employees to the Idaho Department of Labor within 20 days of the hire.

The information is relayed then to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to track down parents who owe child support.

“It started as a federal initiative as part of federal welfare reform so states could conduct child-support enforcement activities. Every state could set up a directory of new hires,” said Tom Valasek, Idaho Department of Labor public affairs representative.

Idaho has more than 70,000 child support cases, according to Ross Mason, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare public-information officer.

Mason’s office is the administrative agency for centralized child support collection. Idaho is linked up with other states to help keep track of child-support payments.

So far, the money that has been brought in by the program is encouraging, only because Idaho officials did not have any idea how much money would be brought in to begin with. However, that is not stopping Idaho officials from declaring some success.

“Money is coming in for kids who didn’t have it before,” Mason said.

“The New Hire Reporting Program makes things more prompt. Instead of taking months, where, by the time they are found, they could be in another state at another job, we can find them in less than a month and start certain collection procedures, like wage withholding.”

Mason said the largest reason for the change in child-support enforcement was that the act of not paying support causes most people to slip into poverty.

Enforcement of child-support payment falls to people such as Idaho Child Support Project Manager Shannon Barnes. Barnes, who keeps an eye on child-support collections from her Boise office, explains the various services the state can employ to make sure nonpaying parents pay their court-determined share.

“When someone requests services, whether they are in or out-of-state, we can offer paternity services. Money could be collected from noncustodial parents through withholding income. We can locate the noncustodial parent and have child-support orders established, including the amount that would be due under Supreme Court guidelines,” Barnes said.

If Barnes’ work is not complex enough, she must also take into account the statute of limitations for child-support payments. Depending on where the child-support order is issued, the whole process of getting back payments could turn into a game of beat the clock.

“In Idaho, when the youngest child turns 23, the back support, no matter how much is owned, is gone as far as the state is concerned,” said Barnes, adding that the maximum age for receiving child support can also be affected by how each court sets the date, if at all.

“However, suppose the state where the order comes from is Nevada, which has no statute. Then, we would have a little more time.”

Interstate child support cases are not uncommon in Idaho, which has one-third of its child-support cases involving the crossing of a state line.

Now, crossing state lines to avoid paying child support could land non-paying parents in jail under a bill signed by President Clinton on Wednesday. Under the new law, a parent who has racked up more than $5,000 in unpaid child support for a year would be charged with a felony.

Out-of-state parents who owe more than $10,000 and have not paid child support for more than two years could go to prison for up to two years. However, Barnes said she believes the new law should be a last resort.

“I look at it this way, if they had the resources, to pay, then they would not be prosecuted. If they have hidden resources the intent of the law is to convince that person to pay or go to prison. If they go to prison, there is no source of income going to the family. I see it as a last resort.”

IDAHO CHILD SUPPORT Idaho has more than 70,000 child support cases. Program requires employers to report the hiring of new employees to the Idaho Department of Labor within 20 days of the hire. That information is relayed then to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to track down parents who owe child support. State has collected more than $900,000 in unpaid child support since the program began six months ago.