Utah Woman Forced To Pay Child Support... But Has No Kids

Debra Horton has a dog, but no children. So imagine her surprise when the Internal Revenue Service took $1,500 from her to pay child support.

The IRS deducted $1,525 from Horton's income tax refund to go toward the child support, but when she tried to explain to officials that she had no kids -- it didn't seem to change things.

"I have never had children," she said. "I know that I would have been there."

The order to intercept Debra's tax refund came from the Fairfax, Virginia division of child support enforcement -- and it even had a case number. But since she has never had children, there is no actual case.

But Debra's first attempt at resolving the issue was met with an audio recording. Eventually, we got involved and got Debra through to an actual person. But rather than sending the money back to her -- officials mistakenly sent it to another person's bank account.

Next, Debra called an official in Virginia and was referred to the Utah office. Someone in the Provo office then referred her to the Virginia governor's office.

But instead of calling the governor, we contacted officials at the Office of Recovery Services in Utah. Though they have nothing to do with Debra's problem, perhaps they could get officials in Virginia to hurry things up.

And apparently, it worked. Debra soon received a refund check from Virginia in the mail. Kathleen Taylor, at the Office of Recovery Services, put a stop to the nonsense.

"We were just able to follow up with the people from the other state... and we said 'let's just do it,'" Taylor said.

By the way, Debra did actually send an e-mail message to the governor's office in Virginia -- but never got a response.

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Once again VA can't get it Right

They claim it a name mixed up, bullshit, it would have to be a name an SSN # mix up , these thieves knows no end to the corruption that they swim in. VA DCSE would have to file a notice with IRS to take this money, That would have meant in October Ms Pyne would have to receive two notices by law, one from the IRS and other from VA DCSE. I bet neither happen. FACE it VA DCSE is full of thieves.

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JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Victories Pyne moved from Africa to America to become a part of the dream. Now she is part of a bureaucratic nightmare.

"They need to make it straight," says Pyne.

Pyne, a mother and a wife, filed her tax return and was expecting $5954. However, she received a letter from the Department of Treasury saying it will be less -- much less.

"I was so mad," says Pyne.

The letter stated they were deducting $2588 to reimburse Child Support Services in Virginia. Pyne says the problem is that she has never been in Virginia.

"I have never been there. I don't even know where it is," says Pyne.

She's doesn't know if it is a mix up in social security numbers, but she says she needs her full refund.

Pyne says, "I want it. I've got bills to pay. I wish I could get it today."

The State Of Virginia reviewed her case and says it is a situation where her name was mixed up with someone else, so they are going to refund her money.

Under federal law, if a taxpayer's refund is seized or garnished because of a delinquent student loan or child support services, the taxpayer has to resolve the issue through the reporting agency.

The IRS/Department of Treasury will not get involved.

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DELAWARE: Funds sought to replace child support enforcement system

DOVER, Del. (AP) _ Delaware's Child Support Enforcement Division wants more than $4 million to fund a new automated system for locating, processing and collecting payments.

Division Director Charles Hayward says the money would cover about one-third of the state's share of the $42 million cost. The federal government would pay most of the rest.

Hayward told state lawmakers at a budget hearing Thursday that replacing the current 20-year-old system is top priority.

The division is also seeking $161,400 as part of a federal match to hire six staff members for the new automated system, and $211,100 in contractual services for parts of the project.

The new system isn't expected to be online until 2011.

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Ex-child support clerk pleads guilty

MERIDIAN -- Former Lauderdale County child support clerk Cindy Truhett has pleaded guilty to embezzlement of $216,000.

Truhett, 40, was the clerk for the Bank Plan, set up in Lauderdale and Clarke counties to collect child support from noncustodial parents and transfer it to custodial parents.

In a plea agreement, Truhett was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison, with four years suspended. She is to serve four years probation after her release.

The attorney general's office said the embezzlement occurred over a five-year period from 2002 to 2007.

"She accepted full responsibility. She's ready to pay the price for that and resume her life," said Truhett's attorney, Terry Jordan.

A bonding company has already repaid Lauderdale County the $216,000 that was embezzled. An audit is ongoing to determine if more money was taken.

The charges levied against Truhett were the result of a contempt case filed by Laura Main on April 23, 2007.

Main claimed that she made several attempts to contact Truhett when Main fell behind in receiving her support payments. Main further stated Truhett misled her in saying the "checks were in the mail."

"I'm going to tell you, I get no pleasure ... to see her family suffer, but people have to answer," said Main, who said $1,500 of her child support was embezzled.

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Fathers' group: Child-support warrants on Internet 'misguided'

By HEATHER SCOFIELD
Staff Writer

BUNNELL -- At least one national organization that champions the rights of fathers and children says there may be a down side to a new feature on the Flagler County Sheriff's Office Web site.

The agency just launched a new online database at www.myfcso.us that allows anyone to search by name or just view a list of those wanted by the Sheriff's Office. There are already more than 600 names.

The new "warrants" feature sounds like a good thing to some. But one national organization says if the new database is left as is, it could hurt children.

Why? Because parents who fail to pay child support could find their names featured on the list.

"It's a misguided activity on the part of law enforcement," said Mike McCormick of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children.

But the Sheriff's Office is not "picking and choosing" which warrants go online, spokeswoman Debra Johnson said. All warrants issued in Flagler County are going into the database. And child-support warrants are not featured on the separate portion of the Web site, which highlights several warrants weekly and includes photographs of the individuals wanted.

The Flagler Sheriff's Office appears to be the only law enforcement Web site in the area with a warrants database. Neither the Volusia County Sheriff's Office nor the Daytona Beach or DeLand police departments have a warrants database. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Web site has a database but child-support offenders aren't usually included, a spokeswoman said.

read more here

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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.

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County votes to add lawyer to help with child support cases

St. Croix County supervisors rethought an earlier decision and agreed last week to add another lawyer to the corporation counsel’s office.

Child Support Administrator Katie Kapaun urged the addition, saying her office needs more legal help to keep up with its caseload, which has increased 13 percent in the last two years.

County judges now devote eight hours a month to child support collections. Once a fourth judge is added next summer, they’ve agreed to increase that court time to 12-16 hours a month.

But, said Kapaun, that won’t help if there isn’t a corporation counsel to work on the cases.

Child support court work includes establishing paternity and support obligations, contempt actions for failure to pay and modifications to existing orders. That work involves preparation, pre-court conferences, court presentations and reviewing court orders once they’re filed.

Kapaun said Assistant Corporation Counsel Don Gillen averages about 65 hours per month on child support work. Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman had agreed that if a new position were added to his office, that lawyer would spend half his time working on child support.

But the County Board cut the second assistant corporation counsel from a list of new positions before adopting the 2008 budget.

Kapaun said supervisors may not have understood that there is partial state funding for the lawyer.

The new position, including salary and benefits, would cost about $80,000.

Kapaun said state reimbursement for child support work would cover $27,000 of the cost. The extra position is also expected to save about $48,000 a year currently spent on outside lawyers who work with personnel issues.

Therefore, said Kapaun, the net extra cost from the tax levy would be about $6,000.

She said the county is falling behind state averages for current child support collections and could be penalized financially for not meeting standards.

Kapaun said the office can only get about 28 cases a month into court, and child support court hours are now booked up into August.

Hudson Supervisor Sharon Norton-Bauman said she would like some guarantee that the new position would only cost the general fund $6,000.

Since the need for outside legal help in employment matters varies, that’s hard to determine, replied County Board Chairman Buck Malick.

A motion to reconsider the position carried on a unanimous vote. A motion to table a decision until the January meeting failed on an 8-19 vote. The motion to add the new position was adopted 21-6.

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Owe back child support? Expect a call on your cell phone

That cute little cell phone in her purse or snugly fitted to his ear or just clipped to a belt may be the way to call up a chunk of $73 million in back payments for child support in the Lynchburg area.

Calling up for payback is a cell phone initiative that has won recognition for the Child Support Enforcement Division of the Virginia Department of Social Services.

The cell phone billing address and phone number provides the chance to “reach out and touch people,” said Nick Young, director of Child Support Enforcement for the state.

The initiative was several years in the making, and difficult to get started, he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Unable to get the information informally, Child Support Enforcement began the painstaking process of signing individual subpoenas for records.

For the first 5,000, “We had wonderful results,” said Young. He worked with the seven cell companies most active in Virginia - Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Alltel, Ntelos and Nextel.

The extensive subpoena paperwork is time-consuming. Several of the cell phone companies have agreed to some automated data matching, he said, though others continue to require the individual subpoena.

Young said the state has 268,000 delinquent non-custodial parents. The data match has brought back “52,000 brand new cell phone addresses and numbers.”

The information can be used in several ways, he said. “If there is an outstanding warrant we give the information to the sheriff’s office, and they use it accordingly.”

“If we’re trying to serve a legal document, notices, summons, we can use the address to do that. In many cases, we call the cell phone number (and ask) ‘Are you ready to start paying your child support?’”

Young said that among the delinquent parents, “We’re finding the average is 2.07 cell phones per person. What that means is that some have one and some have three - people who can afford two and three cell phones and do not take care of their children.”

According to a Department of Social Services news release, delinquent parents statewide owe about $2.4 billion in current and past support payments. Those debts are for 484,000 children.

In the 2006-2007 fiscal year the state was able to collect more than $608 million, up 4 percent from the year before.

The state has a 62 percent collection rate for child support. The Lynchburg localities have a rate of about 50 percent, but are catching up, said Young.

The $73 million in the Lynchburg area includes child support, as well as spousal support - also known as alimony. Some of those debts represent a few months in arrears, others are accumulated from decades of evasive maneuvers.

The cell phone initiative is in addition to other programs to find delinquent parents, involving drivers’ licenses, financial institutions, and employers.

Young said that the program is getting good feedback. For some families, the child support is essential to keep them afloat. Without it, they need benefits, food stamps, day care subsidies and other social services programs.

“Many went on welfare because they didn’t get the child support,” said Young.

The tab for those state and local social services programs is about $150 million. Although he’s using only a handful of cell phone companies now, said Young, 153 more are out there in the nation. Virginia is working with other states wanting to establish cell phone initiatives.

“I’m looking for people all over the U.S.,” said Young, adding that Virginia “will not be a safe haven for parents who do not take care of their children.”

The Department of Child Support Enforcement’s Cell Phone Initiative received the Innovation Award from the Council on State Governments during the Southern Legislative Conference.

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VA CSE Budget Upto $403 Millions

According to JLARC, Virginia's equivalent to the Federal Government Accounting Office (GAO), Virginia's Child Support Enforcement's growth was SIXTH in growth amongst all of Virginia's "programs". Child Support Enforcement BUDGET Grew $403 MILLION dollars

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Hacker breaks into Treasurer's Office

By NATE JENKINS / Lincoln Journal Star

Personal and financial information of more than 300,000 people may be in the hands of a hacker following a Wednesday break-in of the state computer system that processes child support payments.

A preliminary investigation of the incident suggests that the hacker did not download the information, said State Treasurer Ron Ross. But the possibility does exist.

“Based upon the method of attack, it is more likely the hacker’s intent was not to steal information, but rather to do something malicious since the hacker inserted a virus onto the server, which we immediately removed,” Ross said.

The child-support payment system was centralized in the treasurer’s office five years ago and now processes $1 million in transactions daily. Identity information potentially stolen by the hacker, which investigators believe may be based outside the U.S. and possibly in Asia, includes: names, addresses, bank account numbers, social security numbers and tax identification numbers.

Roughly 300,000 individuals and 9,000 employers may be affected. Ross said it was the first time the computer system, called KidCare, had been hacked. He was not aware of similar security breaches in other states.

The break-in, which Ross said lasted about 40 minutes, was detected by an employee after coming to work Wednesday morning. The system is not monitored 24 hours a day by a person.

The State Patrol has initiated a full investigation that could include help from the FBI and other agencies. Ross pledged to “get to the bottom of it” and implement new safeguards to prevent future break-ins. But that won’t likely include round-the-clock monitoring of the system by a person.

“I don’t think we’re at a point in government we want somebody standing by a computer screen 24-7, but we do need protocols in place,” Ross said.

“We thought we had good safeguards...somebody got in a door we didn’t think they’d be able to get into.”

The hard drive and server affected by the breach were immediately replaced.

Unlike many arms of state government, the child-support system is not part of the state’s centrally controlled computer system, said Brenda Decker, chief information officer for the state. The incident will prompt state officials to take a closer look at whether it should be.

“We’re working with the State Patrol to see if we can make this as secure and hardened as the rest of the system,” Decker said.

Asked during a press conference if the child-support system had the best available security system, Ross said he believed it did.

Those who pay or receive child-support should closely monitor their bank accounts, and are advised to close them if the see suspicious activity

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A New for VA to find your Bank Account

VIRGINIA $4KIDS

The Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement now offers a method to pay child support
by electronic funds transfer (EFT) over the telephone or on the Internet.
Our VA $ForKids payment system has several advantages to help you save time and money:

Convenience - You can make payments seven days a week, using a standard touch-tone telephone
(888-820-7280) or on our secured website, www.govone.com/vacs.The system will prompt you for the required information.
If you have difficulties, an operator is available to guide you through the process at 800-332-4125.

Increased Control – A payment is made only when you call to authorize it.
You designate the date your bank account is to be debited and the amount paid. You will have the maximum
use of your funds, with the added benefit of ensuring on-time payments.

Increased Reliability – Once you have completed the transaction, you will receive a reference number as your proof of payment.
You will avoid the difficulties that could result from late or lost payments.

Free of Charge - You will no longer have to issue checks, print envelopes, and pay postage.
The Commonwealth of Virginia does not charge for this service.
The telephone number is a toll free number.

To enroll in this program, please complete the EFT Agreement
You may fax the completed agreement and a copy of a voided check to 804-726-7955.

( so va can get into you account without you knowing till after the fact.)
Or you may mail it to:

Virginia $4Kids
PO Box 10250
Richmond, VA 23240-0250

Please allow two weeks for your enrollment to be processed.
When this is complete, you will receive a welcome letter,
your personal identification number (PIN), and easy instructions on how to use this system.

If you have questions about this program or the enrollment process, please call the EFT Unit at 804-726-7277.
We hope this program will help simplify the child support payment process.

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