Information for the Judicial Community
Regarding the Child Support Enforcement Program

Background:

Each State is required to run a child support enforcement program that complies with Federal laws, regulations and requirements. The failure of a State to pass the required State laws (mirroring Federal statutes where necessary) can result in the loss of funding for not only its child support program but also for the State's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program.

Child support payments are most effectively collected through income withholding, a process where the non custodial parent's (NCP) employer is directed to withhold the ordered child support from the NCP's income and forward it to the appropriate agency/party. In recent years, nearly 70% of child support collections are made through income withholding.

Important to Know:

The following is information that judges, hearing officers, private practitioners, etc. should be aware of when entering orders for income withholding:

1. Cases handled by the state child support enforcement agency are commonly referred to as IV-D cases. All other cases are commonly called non IV-D.
2. All child support orders entered after 1994 are required to have a provision for immediate income withholding, exceptions to this requirement are included in the order.
3. Income withholding orders (IWO) are required to be on a standard form approved by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This requirement applies both to IV-D and non IV-D cases. To download a copy of the IWO, go to the Employer Services website below and click on "Library".
4. Child support payments made through income withholding are required to be sent to a State Disbursement Unit (SDU). This requirement applies to all IV-D and non IV-D cases entered after January 1, 1994.
5. The IWO approved by HHS includes a "remittance identifier". This is the number needed by the SDU in order to timely process the payment. For a non IV-D case, courts should work with their local child support agency and/or SDU to obtain the correct remittance identifier for inclusion on the form. The remittance identifier may be different from the case ID. To obtain a list of SDU addresses and the IWO requirements, go to the Employer Services website and click on "Federal/State Program and Contact Information."