Child support cases are basically assigned to three categories:  intake, collections, or parent locate.  An intake case is one in which an order for support has not yet been established.  Many of the intake cases also require paternity to be established.  A collection case is one in which an enforceable order for support exists.  Parent locate services are appropriate any time the non-custodial parent's location, place of employment, or assets are unknown.

Under Federal regulations, SES is required to provide child support services to Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP), IV-E (Foster Care) and Medicaid recipients.  The Medicaid recipient may elect to receive full service, but they must receive medical support services.

In addition to the persons to whom services are required to be provided, any private citizen who applies for services and pays the $25.00 application fee is entitled to receive the full range of services.  If the custodial parent only wants locate services, the fee is $10.00.  In Louisiana, seventy-five percent (75%) of the money that is collected each year goes to payees who do not receive FITAP benefits.

There are five basic types of services that support enforcement offers:

PARENT LOCATE SERVICE:

One of the biggest obstacles in doing child support work is trying to locate and keep up with the non-custodial parents.  Each year, SES locates over 35,000 non-custodial parents.  The child support enforcement computer system, LASES, has automated interface systems within the State of Louisiana as follows:  Division of Motor Vehicles, Civil Service, Secretary of State, Department of Labor, State Group Benefits, Wildlife and Fisheries, Department of Health and Hospitals and all programs within the Department of Social Services.  There is also an automated interface with the Federal Parent Locator Service which provides information on persons who receive Social Security or Veterans Pensions, and persons who work or contract with the Federal Government, including Military personnel.  Louisiana also belongs to the Electronic Parent Locate Network (EPLN).  EPLN is a consortium of ten states which have agreed to combine information from various sources in each state into one data base which can be accessed on-line by participating states.  This allows SES to locate persons who live in other states.

PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT:

Each year SES receives approximately 18,000 to 20,000 new cases in which paternity is an issue.  Under Louisiana law, a father of an illegitimate child is not responsible for child support payments until paternity has been established.  Louisiana law allows paternity to be established by having the father sign an affidavit acknowledging that he is the father of the child.  Many of the 12,000 paternity establishments that are obtained by SES each year come through the acknowledgment process.  Under State law, hospital personnel are required to provide the parents of illegitimate children the opportunity to sign an acknowledgment of paternity form in the hospital at the time of the child's birth.

Prior to signing an acknowledgment of paternity, an alleged father may request a genetic test to determine if he is the biological father of the child.  Cost of a paternity test for all three parties is approximately $210.00.  SES has contracts with two laboratories for genetic testing purposes.  The contracts require the labs to either exclude the alleged father, or return a probability of paternity of 99.9%.  This is the highest probability requirement in the nation and provides for a higher accuracy rate in determining paternity.

ESTABLISHING ORDERS:

The Legislature established the Award Guidelines to determine the amount of child support.  The amount of support is based on the income of both parties.  A schedule is used to determine the total amount of support, and the noncustodial parent is required to pay an amount that is based on his percentage of the total income of both parties.

Guidelines for Determination of Child Support  (LRS 9:315 et seq.)

The Child Support Award Guidelines for Louisiana were enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.  Three objectives of the guidelines are:

• To establish an adequate standard of support for children subject to the ability of parents to pay;
   
• To make awards more equitable by ensuring more consistent treatment of persons in similar circumstances; and
   
• To improve the efficiency of the court process by providing guidance in setting the level of awards.

The Guidelines are consistent with other provisions of Louisiana law which place a duty for child support upon either or both parents based on their  respective financial resources, the financial resources of the child, the needs of the custodial parent, the physical and  emotional condition of the child, and the standard of living the  child would have enjoyed had the parents lived together.

The Guidelines apply as a rebuttable  presumption to all child support orders in Louisiana.  Louisiana R.S. 9:315.1(B) allows the court to deviate from the guidelines if their application would not be in the best interest of the child or would be inequitable to the parties.  The court shall give specific oral or written reasons for the deviation.

How is the amount of a child support obligation established?

Louisiana's Award Guidelines law is based on the income shares model which provides for determining the child support obligation as the share of each parent's income estimated to have been spent on the child if the parents and child(ren) had been living in the same household.

Income is defined as actual gross income of the parent if employed to full capacity, or potential income if unemployed or underemployed.  Gross income of each parent should be determined as specified below and entered on Line 1 of the Obligation Worksheet.  The income of a spouse is not considered in this calculation.

Gross income includes income from any source, including salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, dividends, severance pay, pensions, interest, trust income, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits, worker's compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, and spousal support received from a pre-existing spousal support obligation.

Excluded from income are child support received, benefits received from public assistance programs, per diem allowances not subject to Federal income taxation, and extraordinary overtime or income attributed to seasonal work.

The basic child support obligation is calculated considering the following factors:

• The amount of any preexisting court order for child support and spousal support is deducted from the gross income of the non-custodial parent.
   
• Net child care costs incurred due to employment or job search (minus the value of the federal tax credit for child care) is added to the basic obligation.
   
• If either parent carries health insurance for the child(ren) due support, the cost of that coverage is added to the basic child support obligation.
   
• A provision may also be made for extraordinary expenses of a child, such as medical or special schooling needs, by agreement of the parties or order of the court.

Some of the tools that SES uses to enforce the payment of support are as follows: income assignment, interception of State and Federal tax refunds, interception of lottery winnings, suspension of occupational, professional, drivers', and hunting and fishing licenses, contempt of court hearings, and passport denials.

COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION:

Money is currently collected in the twelve Regional Offices, as well as in Orleans and Jefferson District Attorney Offices.  Money is collected and posted Monday through Friday.  Checks are cut each night and payments are mailed the day after the collection is posted.

Costs and Figures:

The Federal government pays 66 percent of the costs to operate the child support program.  In addition, the State earns an incentive based on the amount of child support collected.

At the end of State Fiscal Year 98-99, SES had 159,718 intake cases and 155,841 collection cases.  During the Fiscal Year 98-99, SES established 13,704 paternities and 17,341 new obligations for support.  Total collections for State Fiscal Year 98-99 were $207,609,768.  Of this amount, $22,401,265 was collected on FITAP cases and $185,208,503 was collected on non-FITAP cases.