STATE AGENCY WORKS WITH COUNTERPART IN CALIFORNIA TO MAKE CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION

WILMINGTON - Officials with the Department of Health and Social Services' Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) recently joined forces with child support officials in Los Angeles, California to successfully make a $42,000 child support collection. The money, seized from an inheritance about to be given to a non-custodial parent in Delaware, instead benefited a custodial parent and her 11-year-old son.

The L.A. County Child Support Services Department CSSD alerted Delaware officials in March after receiving notice from family members that the non-custodial parent was slated to receive an inheritance. Legal staff from the State of Delaware was able to enforce the collection by making a demand with the estate attorney handling the inheritance for the non-custodial parent in the case, and the money recently went to the boy's mother.

"We are extremely pleased about what this collection has done for our family," said the custodial parent who is also the mother of a one-year-old child. She had received no child support payments from the father since opening the case when her now 11-year-old son was only six months old.

"Not every case results in such a large collection," said Rita M. Landgraf, Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services, "but this is just another example of what a dedicated workforce; along with a collaborative effort from across the miles, can do to produce a positive outcome. Most importantly, this collection will enhance the quality of life of the custodial parent and her son."

Division Director Charles Hayward said, "Interstate cases are some of the most difficult to work, having to work with different jurisdictions and a mobile population. In this case, the DCSE worker and attorney moved quickly when receiving the information about the inheritance. The California and Delaware staffs indeed made a significant collection that will benefit this mom and two children."

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware's citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations.