The Washington Division of Child Support (DCS) within the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) reported more than $2 billion in accumulated past-due child support at the end of 2019. This total includes years of past-due payments, much of which the state may never collect. These payments are owed to custodial parents to help pay for the financial responsibilities of raising a child, including the costs of food, clothing, medical care and education.
When non-custodial parents fall behind in paying child support, DCS can use multiple tools to collect the past-due amount. Options include garnishing wages, placing liens on real property, and withholding lottery winnings. It can also intercept insurance claim payments, but only if it is aware of the claims. This performance audit looked at whether requiring insurance companies to report eligible claims to DCS could increase collections. The increased collections would benefit custodial parents owed child support.
Read a two-page summary of the report.