Agency focuses on children’s needs
By Robert Cloud
More than 3,100 families receive more than $690,000 in monthly child support thanks to the efforts of Waupaca County’s Child Support Agency.
The agency helps ensure payments are made, arrears collected, paternity established and court orders followed.
The agency’s child support specialists each handle more than 500 cases per month.
“I personally have 882 cases assigned to me to manage,” said Diane Meulemans, the county’s corporation counsel and agency administrator.
She noted, however, that her cases are non-IVD cases, which means the families have not applied for or ever received public assistance.
“Therefore, we don’t perform a full range of case management for them,” Muelemans said.
Among their responsibilities, child care workers meet face-to-face with both parents.
“The person who pays child support believes they pay too much, and the person who receives child support believes they don’t receive enough,” Meulemans said. “We focus on what benefits the children.”
Determining payments
Payments are usually based on the noncustodial parent paying 17% of his or her gross income toward the support of one child and up to 31% for four children.
However, there are other circumstances case workers consider.
For example, if the parents are minors, a paternity action is mandatory and support will be set based on minimum wage, effective the first month following graduation from high school or completion of a high school equivalency diploma.
If a parent is self-employed, case workers must gather two years of tax returns and compare it with the Wisconsin Labor Market Index.
There are formulas for disabled parents, unemployed parents and incarcerated parents.
“We have different formulas based on where a child is staying,” Meulemans said, noting parents sometimes share custody, so the child spends several months with each parent.
The Child Support Agency also has software that allows it to track parents’ incomes.
The system interfaces with the state and federal new hire lists, the Department of Labor, unemployment compensation payments, probation and parole.
The software also tracks the income and payments of all parents who are required to pay child support.
“We can also enforce child support orders,” Meulemans said.
She said the agency can suspend driver’s licenses, as well as hunting and fishing permits.
“We get a lot of lump sum back support payments in November,” Meulemans said. “People will drive without a license, but they will not hunt without a permit.”
The agency can also place liens on real and person property, on a deed or a car. They can intercept tax refunds and seize bank accounts.
Felony charges for nonpayment
There are also judicial remedies if parents refuse to make payments.
“The Child Support Agency has worked collaboratively with the District Attorney’s Office to refer cases for potential charges of felony failure to pay child support,” Meulemans said.
Child Support staff gathers all the case information, court orders, payment history and administrative and civil actions taken to enforce court-ordered payments.
The District Attorney’s Office then makes charging decisions and prosecutes the case.
“Each 120-day period of nonpayment could be charged as one felony count,” Meulemans said. “I believe four defendants have been charged with felony nonsupport to date.”
“Jail is not the norm,” noted David Been, an attorney who works for the county’s corporation counsel and the Child Support Agency. “The court gives them several chances to right the ship before it locks them up.”
Meulemans said the statute of limitations for child support enforcement is 20 years. It can continue until the youngest child is 39 years old.
Measuring performance
Waupaca County is also evaluated according to federal performance measures.
Waupaca County’s paternity establishment rate as of July 2019 was 108.9%, due to carryover from the prior months. That compares to the statewide average of 99.6%.
The county’s court order rate is 91.6% (state 86.3), its current support collection rate is 82% (state 75.2) and its arrears collection rate is 77.8% (state 67.4).
Statewide, child support represents 58% of family income for children living in poverty, according to the Wisconsin Child Support Enforcement Association.
In 2018, Wisconsin child support agencies distributed $648 million in payments and provided services to 370,580 children and families.