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Child support collections drop during recession

Job losses are resulting in a significant drop of payment collections in most area counties.

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By Jim DeBrosse, Staff Writer Updated 10:25 AM Monday, March 1, 2010

The recession is hurting Dayton area families who rely on child support as collections continue to drop — as much as 17 percent from December of last year to January 2010, state and county figures show — in response to rising unenmployment.

Officials are urging payors who lose their jobs or take drastic pay cuts of 30 percent or more to notify their county child support enforcement agency immediately, not only to request a reduction of their payment but to be directed to employment resources.

“Don’t be afraid to contact us. It’s a difficult time for everybody,” said Bob Gruhl, who heads the child support enforcement division of Montgomery County Job and Family Services.

Child support collections dropped 4 percent from 2008 to 2009 across Ohio and in Montgomery County, according to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Greene County saw the area’s steepest decline, a drop of 11 percent.

Warren County, a growth area where collections had been on the rise in previous years, saw no significant increase from 2008 to 2009.

Meanwhile, requests from payors seeking a reduction of their child support payments rose dramatically from 2008 to 2009, by as much as 33 percent in Warren County. Beth Anne Secrest, who heads the Warren County child support enforcement agency, said collections from unemployment checks nearly tripled from 2008 to 2009 — from $700,000 to $1.8 million.

Support enforcement officials say collections may decline even more dramatically in 2010 if figures from December 2009 and January 2010 are any sign. In those two months, collections declined 17 percent statewide.

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