FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000
Contact: Michael Kharfen, (202) 401-9215
CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT BREAKS NEW RECORDS
More federal income tax refunds seized, new program to identify financial
accounts shows early success and criminal task forces make more arrests
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced today that the federal and state
child support enforcement program broke new records in nationwide collections
in fiscal year 1999, reaching $15.5 billion, nearly doubling the amount
collected in 1992.
The federal government collected a new record amount of $1.3 billion
in overdue child support from federal income tax refunds for tax year
1998, an 18 percent increase over the previous year and a 99 percent increase
since 1992. Nearly 1.4 million families benefited from these collections.
In addition, a new program to match delinquent parents with financial
records found 662,000 accounts since August 1999 with a value of about
$1 billion.
"We are working harder than ever to ensure children get the support
from both parents they deserve and need," said Secretary Shalala.
"We make no apologies for using tough measures, but we also are striving
to help those parents who can't meet their responsibilities find the means
to do so. Every child deserves the financial and emotional support of
both parents."
Secretary Shalala also reported that the Clinton Administration criminal
child support enforcement initiative "Project Save Our Children"
is succeeding in its pursuit of chronic delinquent parents who owe large
sums of child support. Multi-agency regional task forces have investigated
800 cases resulting in 275 arrests, 210 convictions and the payment of
$5.3 million in owed child support to date. These teams include representatives
from the HHS Office of Inspector General and Office of Child Support Enforcement
and from the Department of Justice, state child support agencies and local
law enforcement organizations.
"Because of the increased scrutiny and cooperation of the federal,
state and local agencies responsible for child support enforcement, it
has become much more difficult for non-custodial parents to ignore their
financial obligations to their children," said HHS Inspector General
June Gibbs Brown. "As a result of the successes of these multi-agency
teams in identifying and catching those seriously delinquent in their
payments, more children than ever before are getting the help they need."
Under the federal tax offset program, state child support agencies report
names of parents who owe child support payments and the overdue amount
to the HHS Administration for Children and Families. These individuals
are first notified by the state in a pre-offset letter of their overdue
child support obligation. This gives them the opportunity to have their
case reviewed for correctness before final submission to the U.S Treasury
Department for action. These individuals are then notified in writing
by the U.S. Department of Treasury, Financial Management Services of the
amount to be withheld to cover their child support debt. That amount is
then deducted from their income tax refund. The delinquency may also be
reported to credit reporting agencies.
The 1996 welfare reform law included President Clinton's proposed Financial
Institution Data Match Program, which matches records of delinquent parents
with financial institutions. The program requires states to identify accounts
of delinquent parents and use existing state laws to "freeze and
seize" the dollars. In 1998, Congress made it easier for multi-state
institutions to match records by using the federal Office of Child Support
Enforcement. Over the past year, with the cooperation of the financial
industry and their associations, HHS negotiated agreements with more than
2,300 financial institutions. When successful matches are made, the information
is sent to the states within 48 hours for placement of a lien on and seizure
of all or part of the accounts identified.
The 1996 law also established grants to states and territories to support
and facilitate non-custodial parents' access and visitation with their
children. In 1997, HHS awarded $10 million in grants to all states and
territories. Based upon preliminary information from 28 states and 2 territories,
the program served almost 20,000 individuals with the most individuals
receiving parenting education, assistance in the development of parenting
plans, and mediation services.
"The 1996 welfare reform law gave the child support enforcement
program the toughest measures ever enacted. Our new enforcement tools
are beginning to deliver on their promise," said Olivia A. Golden,
HHS assistant secretary for children and families. "As we succeed
in finding every available dollar from parents to support their children
financially, we are also striving to help children grow healthy and strong
with the emotional support of both parents."
Parents whose children receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) and whose unpaid child support totals $150 or more may have their
federal income tax refunds withheld. For tax year 1998, refunds were withheld
on behalf of more than 919,000 families with children receiving TANF.
Parents of children who do not receive TANF must owe at least $500 to
have their refunds withheld. More than 492,500 non-TANF families benefited
from the program in fiscal year 1999.
For tax year 1998, the total amount collected was $1.3 billion, up from
$661 million in tax year 1992. For tax year 1998, the overall average
collection per family was $933. The average collection for non-TANF families
was $952, and the average collection for TANF families was $923. Collections
for tax year 1998 were made after tax returns for that year were filed
in 1999 and refunds requested.
Since taking office, the Clinton Administration made child support enforcement
a critical priority. The National Directory of New Hires, which matches
child support orders to employment records, found more than 2.8 million
delinquent parents in its two years of operation. Paternity establishment
rose to 1.45 million in 1998, a more than three-fold increase from 516,000
in 1992. The Passport Denial Program has collected more than $2.25 million
in lump sum child support payments and is currently denying 30 to 40 passports
to delinquent parents per day.
"No administration in the 25 years of the program has done more
for child support enforcement than the Clinton Administration," said
David Gray Ross, commissioner of the Office of Child Support Enforcement.
"Every day the hard working federal, state, local and private employees
in the child support enforcement program commit to their goal of putting
children first."
Attached is a state by state list of the tax-offset collections and
families served.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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