In Illinois, Record Breaking $1 billion In Child Support Collections

CHICAGO – Gov. Blagojevich announced that the State of Illinois will collect a record-breaking $1 billion in child support payments last year. The funds will provide 386,000 Illinois parents with the money they need to care for their children. This dramatic turnaround follows years of poor child support collection. But, over the past two years, Governor Blagojevich launched a number of innovative and aggressive programs to improve collection to help working parents, including the Deadbeat Parents Website and the New Hire Directory hotline.

"To raise a healthy and happy child, it takes love, patience, understanding – and money. Children need clothes to wear and food to eat. Every year, it gets more expensive to provide for a child and every year even more parents are raising their children alone,” said Gov. Blagojevich. “When I was running for governor, the child support system in our state was the worst in the nation. But over the past two and a half years we have taken major steps to turn the system around, and our efforts are paying off. This year, we set a new record in child support collections, and we’re sending a clear message to deadbeat parents –If you don’t pay up, the state of Illinois is coming after you.”

In the mid-1990s, the Illinois Department of Public Aid’s Child Support Enforcement Division’s performance fell steeply, causing hardship for thousands of Illinois parents. In fact, in 2000, Illinois faced the serious threat of federal penalties for poor child support enforcement. Since Governor Blagojevich was elected in 2002, his Administration has worked to turn Illinois’ record around to help struggling single parents meet their families’ needs.

"We are doing what needs to be done quickly and efficiently to ensure that our most vulnerable children get the support they need and deserve,” said Barry Maram, director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS).

Child support is the second largest income source for low-income families who qualify for the program.  In 2003, more than 846,735 children in Illinois were owed child support payments totaling about $3 billion, with a collection rate of 28 percent. Today, the collection rate is 32 percent, with 741,787 children’s support being enforced by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

Collections on cases receiving enforcement services from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly IL Dept. of Public Aid) grew 8.5 percent, surpassing the national average of 3 percent growth.  More than $100 million of the $1 billion collected went to parents whose child support was severely overdue.