Koochiching County Public Health and Human Services Child Support Specialist Kathy Howdahl last week provided an update to the Koochiching County Board on goings-on in the department. She reported the following at the meeting and provided additional information to The Journal.
By the numbers
The Department of Human Services sends an annual Minnesota Child Support Performance Report after the fiscal year ends Sept. 30; in this report county results are recorded. The state of Minnesota gets federal funds based on the performance of Minnesota compared to other states. Once received, Minnesota disburses incentives to each county based on their performance. The five categories measured are paternity establishment, order establishment, collections on current support ordered, collections on cases with arrears, and each county’s cost effectiveness ratio.
As reported to the County Board, Koochiching County collected 100 percent of the incentives in paternity establishment, orders established, current support collections and arrears collections. In order to get 100 percent of the county’s available incentive, the county must meet or exceed the ratios defined by the federal program.
The county employs four child support staff and together they collected more than $2 million in 2017, a 4-percent increase from the previous year.
Currently, the department has 52 cases on public assistance and 276 former public assistance cases. Howdahl said 52 cases is low.
County priorities
Paternity and child support order establishment is a priority in Koochiching County, said Howdahl. It is important to get the orders signed by a judge and enforced within six months of initiation to meet federal time frames and to get support to children in a timely manner.
“We have been successful locally in locating and serving individuals in the majority of our cases, however there are some parents who live in other states and countries and until located and served we are unable to accomplish this time frame,” she said.
Collection of current support promotes the well-being of children and helps families become self-sufficient. If a monthly child support order is established, the parents become dependent on the monthly income and when not received, it is detrimental to the stability of the family. In low income families, child support makes up approximately 40 percent of their total household income. Koochiching County reviews child support obligations and modifies court orders when there is a substantial change in circumstances to make sure obligations are based on both parents’ ability to provide support to their children.
“Collection on arrears can be difficult,” said Howdahl. “The majority of the parents paying support cooperate with our agency to make payment arrangements, however we have cases that require additional enforcement. Staff work diligently to encourage parents to pay the court ordered obligations on a regular basis which increases current collections and as required an additional 20 percent for arrears.”
Enforcement remedies could include bank levies, suspension of a driver’s license, hunting license, occupational license, credit reporting, tax intercepts, passport denial, contempt of court and maybe jail time. Some cases are arrears only, and in Minnesota, 96 percent of collections are due and owing to families, not public assistance.
“Koochiching County Attorney (Jeff Naglosky) and District Court Judge (Charles LeDuc) have worked with our staff to maintain a monthly calendar of cases needing contempt action or revocation — consistency pays off,” said Howdahl.
Working together
An initiative was started by the county’s Child Support Services and Rainy Lake Medical Center a few years ago to engage fathers from birth to build a healthy family relationship.
Child Support Services sent a letter to RLMC and after review, the hospital administration agreed it would be beneficial to the parents and agreed to refer them to the Child Support Office for more information. The Child Support Office does genetic testing on 99 percent of all cases, however, a Recognition of Parentage Form is still available to parents at the hospital and the county if the parents desire it and there is no question of parentage.
The initiative was started because child support staff feel it is important for both parents to understand the rights and responsibilities associated with being a parent, explained Howdahl. Hospitals and counties are required to offer a standard Minnesota Recognition of Parentage Form to all parents that have children out of wedlock. In the state of Minnesota, a mother automatically has all legal and physical custody of a child if this form is completed and sent to the state Department of Vital Statistics until further order of the court.
“Many parents, both moms and dads have struggled to understand that this form does not grant custody and parenting time to both parents,” she added. “When a couple is together but not married and a baby is born, the parents were quick to sign a Recognition of Parentage form without realizing they had an option to speak with the Child Support Agency to discuss legal custody, physical custody, parenting time, and the ability to change the child’s name.”
Staff at RLMC agreed the initiative has been a benefit to the county.
“The county is a great resource for new parents and RLMC is happy to help facilitate this relationship,” said Roz Snyder, chief nursing officer.
“It’s important to us to engage with both parents and get that relationship started on a good footing to get continued cooperation,” added Howdahl. “Koochiching County does cover the expense of the genetic testing because resolving these issues is the right thing to do. The federal government reimburses counties 66 percent of these expenses and resolution prevents the parents from expending funds to resolve these issues in the future.”
She said she was unsure if any other county has a similar initiative.
“We have found that both parents have a better understanding of custody and parenting time, and have been very thankful for the services provided,” she said. “Building relationships with both parents at the beginning helps foster positive communication and future cooperation. All child support cases are required to address basic support, medical support, child care support, and un-reimbursed medical terms and by doing a paternity order, all issues are resolved in a timely efficient manner.”
Here to help
“We currently have over 70 years of combined child support experience in our office and it has been our passion to do the very best job possible,” said Howdahl. “Our mission is to promote the well-being of the children and help families become self-sufficient by providing a quality child support service.”
