Beginning Oct. 1, many child support customers will see a new fee withheld from their child support payments. Child Support Services, a division of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, will charge 3 percent, up to $10 per month, on child support collections. The new fee is expected to generate about $1 million this year and is one of several measures taken by DHS to balance its FY 2018 budget.
Custodial persons currently receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or SoonerCare (Medicaid) will be excluded from the fee.
Child Support Services has collected nearly $1 million dollars a day for Oklahoma children and families. The program has recovered state funding spent on public assistance and has prevented the need for assistance for many families. While collections remain high for Oklahoma families, the program’s ability to operate has been impacted by several years of declining state revenue. Although Child Support Services has historically resisted the path of many states that pass fees onto their customers, the state budget situation has necessitated the fee to maintain a confident level of services.
For no more than $10 a month, Child Support Services remains quite a bargain for taxpayers and the people served. Customers benefit from vast available resources including new hire reporting; federal and state tax off-sets; income withholding through employers; and assistance with establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support orders.
For more information about Child Support Services, call 1-800-522-2922, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or visit www.okdhs.org and select “Child Support”.
Can someone explain to me how the money that DHS isn’t getting from our state taxes, now falls on parents who have child support cases with DHS? It’s not just being passed on to the non-custodial parent, but also the custodial parent. WTF? I’m both, so basically they are taking $6.00 a month from me. You know. I’m so sick of this state raising taxes every time I turn around and instead of my hard earned money going to things it should go towards, like giving our poor teachers a well deserved and overdue raise, I’m watching it be squandered away on that Indian cultural museum. I’m sorry, but I personally could care less, like most Oklahomans, about that building. I’d rather my kid be able to attend school 5 days a week instead of 4. And I’d rather keep my $6.00 a month, thank you. I think our legislators better get it together, or they’ll be looking for new jobs soon because Oklahomans are tired of being taxed to death.