WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Child Support Enforcement Month

Child Support Enforcement Month

By Wendy Suares
wsuares@wlbt.net

Deadbeat moms and dads in Mississippi, beware. The Department of Human Services is aggressively going after unpaid child support.

Single Mom Angela Robinson knows how tough it can be to go after the payments alone. "Yes, it was hard," she says. "It was very hard." But Mississippi DHS is helping single parents like Angela collect what's owed to their children.

MDHS Director Don Taylor has a message for parents: "You need to look at what you're doing now and ask yourself, 'Is this how I want my child to remember me?'"

Child support collections in Mississippi have gone up $22 million in the last two years. DHS enforces payments for 386 thousand children, taking in $230 million this past year. But $810 million remain uncollected.

DHS uses methods like intercepting pay or unemployment, suspending licenses, and reporting non-payment to the Credit Bureau.  There are also flyers of the "Top Ten Child Support Fugitives." They each owe tens of thousands of dollars, and you're asked to help find them. 

The list is updated every six months, but it's not widely publicized or on the internet, like the sex predators database. This list is only posted in some public buildings. But it is working to locate some fugitives.  "Sometimes we get 4 out of 10. Sometimes we get 7 out of 10. It's been working very well for us," says Taylor.

 it's not just about the checks. DHS also promotes emotional involvement from absent parents. Angela's children now get financial support and visitation from their father.  "I encourage everyone who is a single parent to come out and DHS will support you," she says.

If you know where to find a person wanted for not paying child support, you can call the Department of Human Services. That number is 1 (866)388-2836