Oklahoma Child Support Breaks $200 Million for First Time

Gov. Henry Proclaims August Child Support Enforcement Month
OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- For fiscal year 2006, Oklahoma’s Child Support Enforcement set another record by collecting more than $230 million for Oklahoma’s children and shattering the $200 million mark for the first time in state history.

“This is good news for Oklahoma’s children,” said Gary W. Dart, Oklahoma Department of Human Services Child Support Enforcement Division director.  “Every dollar we collect is an investment in our state’s future, and this year we’ve made a big investment.” 

OKDHS Child Support Enforcement was also recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families as being second in the nation in percentage increase in distributed collections for child support. Oklahoma saw an increase of 15.2 percent from federal fiscal years 2004 to 2005.  HHS also recognized Oklahoma for increasing paternity establishments by 13.6 percent from 2004 to 2005.

“None of these goals could have been achieved by us alone,” said Dart.  “We work closely with district attorney offices, community action programs and law enforcement personnel across the state. Not to mention our partnerships with non-profits and other state agencies like the Oklahoma Lottery Commission. This achievement belongs to all of us.” 

The OKDHS Child Support Enforcement Division has also worked hard to apply new technology to collecting child support. The Financial Institution Data Match program is a centralized, automated computer system that allows child support to reach accounts of delinquent parents that in the past had been unreachable. 

The New Hire Reporting program is a process that employers use to report hired employees to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. These records are matched against child support records to establish child support orders or enforce existing orders. And the Tax Intercept Program, available only through OKDHS, captures and applies federal and state income tax refunds toward cases that are at least $500 past due.

“We are continuing to build new partnerships, leverage new and emerging technology, improve customer service and find new ways to work with non-custodial parents to break down the barriers to non-payment and help them meet their financial responsibility to their children,” said Dart.  “We will continue to set our goals ever higher to help more children and families lead better lives.”

For information on child support, contact the Oklahoma Child Support CARE line toll free at 1-800-522-2922, or visit /content/sok-wcm/en/okdhs.

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