Agencies partner to help Illinois collect $420,000 in past-due child support

ILLINOIS - The state's collection of past-due child-support payments increased 71 percent to $420,000 in 2007, thanks to a partnership between two state agencies seeking to crack down on delinquent parents, according to a statement released Sunday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office.

The state collected $245,000 in overdue child-support payments in 2006, according to the statement. But beginning this year, officials combined the services of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which collects child-support payments, with the Financial and Professional Regulation Department, the agency that issues state licenses for everything from public accountants to message therapists.

With this partnership, people who owe more than $1,000 in child support can be denied licenses when they are up for renewal.

Child-support payments statewide rose to $1.22 billion this year from $1.14 billion in 2006.