New child support system gains traction

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - An online portal developed to help streamline child support payments in Virginia is gaining traction.

Usage of the $4KIDS program and other electronic methods through the state Department of Social Services reached an all-time high in 2011, with 57 percent of all payments being made electronically, the agency said. The website and phone service allows non-custodial parents and employers to make child support payments free of charge, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Officials say it is helping get child support to parents and children faster and easier, and is cutting down on administrative costs for the department.

The payment system was first launched in July 2007. But a redesigned version of the site, developed by a company called Virginia Interactive under a $99,000 contract, was launched in December 2009. Since then, more than 325,000 payments totaling more than $60.5 million have been processed. Average monthly transactions to date total $2.3 million, which is an average increase of $260,000 per month.

"Reliability is probably the most important feature," said Peter Finn, the state disbursement unit director for the Virginia Department of Social Services. "On average, it is a two- to three-day difference between making a payment electronically as opposed to dropping a check in the mail."

In Virginia, about 462,000 children -- almost one-quarter of the state's child population -- were child support recipients in the 2011 state fiscal year and are owed $2.8 billion in past due child support, according to social services officials. In the fiscal year, the department collected a record $648 million in child support payments, a more than 2 percent increase from the previous year.

State officials expect that payments through the system will increase. And those payments are fundamental for the well-being of children, said Linda Spears, vice president for public policy for the Washington-based Child Welfare League of America.

"Child support is often essential in helping to keep kids out of poverty," Spears said. "The bottom line is that resources pay for food, clothing, shelter and the stuff of daily life for kids. And if (they) don't have that kind of support, then that child suffers the consequences of those things."

Spears said that with the current economic situation, she believes there's a lot of pressure on parents being able to make their payments.

"With so many people underemployed ... child support payments are probably lower than they have been in prior years," she said.