Amount owed and collected in 2015
Montgomery County
Owed: $103,264,198.29
Collected: $69,012,542.15
Percent Collected: 66.83%
Ohio
Owed: $1,906,727,719.03
Collected: $1,315,298,696.11
Percent Collected: 68.98%
Source: State of Ohio
Information is based on federal fiscal which ended Sept. 30.
A growing number of child support cases in Montgomery County are resulting in court orders for collection actions, increasing payments benefiting minor children.
The rising numbers reflect better technology, the statewide sharing of best practices and the elimination of a rule requiring the creation of child support cases when single-parents apply for government-funded medical assistance, said local and state officials.
Last year, the share of child support cases in the county with established orders climbed to nearly 87 percent, up from 64 percent seven years ago.
The Montgomery County Child Support Enforcement Agency also is having greater success establishing paternity of noncustodial fathers.
The improvements, which are consistent with statewide trends, last year helped increase child support collections 2 percent.
The county collected about $101.3 million in child support in 2015, up from $99.6 million in 2014.
“We have a) less cases coming in, and b) more time to focus on the cases that really want your help, that’s really helped our numbers too,” said Sarah Fields, Montgomery County’s assistant director for child support enforcement.
About one in three Ohio children are involved in the state’s child support program.
“Child support is one of the main tools you can use to predicts a child’s success in life, because steady, regular child support a lot of times keeps children out of poverty,” said Sarah Fields, Montgomery County’s assistant director for child support enforcement.
In federal fiscal year 2015, which ended Sept. 30, Montgomery County had 47,382 cases of custodial parents — primarily mothers — seeking orders for child support.
Support orders dictate how much noncustodial parents must pay each month to financially assist their children. Payments are calculated based on the income and assets of both parents.
Of those cases, 41,178 (or 87 percent) resulted in an established support order from the courts or through the county Child Support Enforcement Agency.
In Montgomery County, the number of cases with established orders have increased for three straight years. Additionally, the share of cases that result in a support order continues to climb and has risen dramatically from 64 percent in 2008.
Support orders are put in place either through the juvenile court for parties who have never been married, or through the domestic relations process for people who divorce, county officials said.
The county’s Child Support agency assists in most cases in which the parents never wed.
Collections have improved as changes in Medicaid rules resulted in significant reductions in child support cases across the region and state, officials said.
The state used to create a child support case any time a single parent applied for government-funded medical assistance, said Fields.
But rule changes mean single parents no longer have to pursue child support if they receive Medicaid, Fields said.
“We have a pretty substantial population that receives medical-assistance benefits, and a lot of those people get along well and don’t want child support,” she said.
She said many noncustodial fathers informally provide financial assistance or care-taking support for their children. She said cases in which the parents did not want to establish support were typically extremely challenging because the parties were less cooperative.
Also, more support orders are being established because case workers have better tools to manage cases and locate noncustodial parents through public records and Internet searches, Fields said. To set up a support order, noncustodial parents must be served with legal paperwork.
The county agency is getting better at establishing paternity. Fatherhood was established in 95.7 percent of cases last fiscal year, up from 87.8 percent in fiscal year 2008.
The state and many local counties have benefited from higher support establishment rates, and they are collecting a greater share of current and past-due support.
In the last fiscal year, Ohio collected 69 percent of current child support owed, which is just below its goal of 70 percent and several percentage points higher than the nationwide average, said Benjamin Johnson, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services. The state, through county child support agencies, collects payments for more than one million children.
Butler, Champaign, Clark, Greene, Miami and Warren counties last year saw increases in the share of current support they collected.
County child support enforcement agencies (CSEA) across the state are sharing best practices to improve performance, and changes to the automatic referral process has made it easier for them to concentrate on establishing paternity and support orders, said Kim Newsome Bridges, the executive director of the Ohio CSEA Directors’ Association.
More attention is being paid to offer support services to fathers, such as assistance finding employment, and three pilot projects in some parts of Ohio are helping parents become involved in their child’s lives, Newsome Bridges said.
Montgomery County is taking part in a pilot initiative, the Parenting Time Opportunity Program, which now has about 63 co-parenting orders, said Kevin Lavoie, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Department of Job & Family Services.
The program allows parents to establish a parenting agreement without having to hire an attorney, pay court fees and file court documents, he said.
Noncustodial parents are more likely to pay support when they see their children on a regular basis, Lavoie said.
Montgomery County also is working to expand payment options for people who owe child support. The payment window in the county agency’s lobby soon will start accepting credit cards.
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