Gov. Kasich OKs major changes to Ohio’s child support system

Ohio Gov. John Kasich today signed a bill implementing the first major overhaul in the state’s child support system since 1992.

Senate Bill 125 calls for updating economic data used to calculate child obligations, taking into account shared parenting arrangements and recognizing that non-custodial parents often provide health insurance for their kids.

The system is rife with problems, including $4.5 billion in unpaid child support going back to 1976 and an outdated formula that some think drives non-custodial parents into the underground economy to avoid wage garnishments.

Most of the debt — nearly 70 percent — is owed by parents who make less than $10,000 a year, child support enforcement officials say.

RELATED: Poor collection rates plague Ohio’s child support system

While more than 1 million kids are in the Ohio child support system, the changes won’t be applied retroactively. The state child support system, which collects nearly $2 billion a year for children, is supposed to balance the cost of raising a child with the ability of parents to pay.

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The economic data currently used in calculations dates back to the early 1980s. Although studied every four years, lawmakers have never updated them.

Among the reforms embedded in Senate Bill 125 is to move the guidelines from Ohio Revised Code — the purview of state lawmakers — to Ohio Administrative Code, which can be changed by state officials in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

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By the numbers

$114B: Amount in unpaid child support owed nationally by 5.5 million delinquent non-custodial parents.

$4.5B: Amount owed in Ohio, accumulated since 1976.

$100M: Annual amount of child support payments in Ohio that typically go unpaid every year.

1 million: Number of Ohio children in the state's child support system.

69: Percentage of the annual debt owed by parents who reported earnings of less than $10,000.

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