Office of Child Support

The mission of the Office of Child Support (OSC), created in 1990, is to improve the economic wellbeing of children, under 18 or still in high school, from split homes. The OCS offers assistance in initiating medical and child support orders, including establishing parentage and locating missing parents; collects and disburses support payments; and enforces orders when necessary.

Of the nearly $60 million in child support collected in fiscal 2008, the office retained 12 percent to offset TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) payments to custodial parents. The OCS receives support payments either from a non-custodial parent’s employer (about two-thirds of payments collected) or directly from self-employed non-custodial parents.

The OCS works with like agencies in 50 states to accomplish its goals. Vermont’s office receives federal incentive money for its higher-than-national-average performance in several areas: child support cases collected (Vermont 70 percent, national average 55 percent); cases of paternity established (Vermont 99 percent, national average 95 percent); and establishing child support orders (Vermont 85 percent, national average 79 percent.)

In Fiscal Year 2008 the Office of Child Support:
• collected $57.9 million in child support payments
• handled over 24,000 child support cases
• appeared in family court over 10,000 times
• processed over 400,000 child support payments
• answered over 64,800 inquiries in person and 295,900 by an automated response system

Employees: 134 FTE

Fiscal Year 2008 revenues: $11,854,700 (73 percent federal funds, 20 percent,
General Fund, 4 percent Special Fund, 3 percent interdepartmental transfer)

Fiscal Year 2008 expenditures: $11,854,700 (70 percent personal services,
30 percent operating expenses, <1 percent grants)

Source: Office of Child Support

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