Jeff Wagner – Child Support Enforcement
Phone: (405) 522-0034, (405) 514-1233
e-mail: Jeff.Wagner@OKDHS.org
Beth Scott – OKDHS Communications
Phone: (405) 521-3027
Fax: (405) 522-3142
e-mail: Beth.Scott@OKDHS.org
May 11, 2009
Oklahoma Children to Benefit from Stimulus
OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Obama on Feb. 17, 2009, is designed to jumpstart the nation’s economy and provide an economic stimulus to millions of Americans. For many Oklahomans who have failed to meet their child support obligations, these stimulus payments will be subject to intercept by Oklahoma Child Support Services.
The Act provides a new round of stimulus payments including a one-time payment of $250 to Social Security Administration recipients, Supplemental Income recipients, Veterans Disability or Pension recipients, and Railroad Retirement recipients.
In addition to the stimulus checks, the act also provides two first-time home buyer credits. The first is for individuals who purchased a home between April 1, 2008 and July 1, 2009. It is a $7,500, no interest loan to be paid back within 15 years. The second is a credit of $8,000 for individuals who purchased a home between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 1, 2009. This credit does not have to be repaid.
Under normal administrative offset process, certain types of federal payments are exempt from intercept. Title II of the Act, however, specifies that Economic Recovery Payments are subject to intercept for the collection of child support.
As a result, many Oklahoma children may receive child support payments intercepted due to this law.
“We expect to see stimulus payment intercepts in May’s first collection cycle,” said Jacquelyn Brison, federal offsets coordinator for Oklahoma Child Support Services.
“Currently we have no way to anticipate exactly how much may be collected as a result of the ERP, but the totals should be significant.”
During 2008, OKDHS collected more than $53 million through the OCSS federal tax offset program. Oklahoma’s total 2008 child support collections exceeded $280 million.
Oklahoma Child Support Services is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. OCSS enhances the well-being of children through its mission to establish, monitor and enforce a reliable source of support for the families it serves. The division is responsible for more than 180,000 active child support cases.
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