Stay On Top of Child Support

Two weeks ago, the weekly child support being automatically deposited into my account for AJ stopped showing up.

I immediately freaked out, particularly given the state of the economy and the number of people looking for work.

But, for understandable yet frustrating reasons, my local Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) would not begin investigating the absence of money until 20 days after it was expected due.

I continued to call in every few days to inquire whether they had heard anything, which they hadn't. Finally, I called last Friday to say that I needed to know whether I would be able to pay rent next month and begged them to intervene a little early.

My worker called AJ's father's employer and confirmed he no longer worked there. Not only did the money stop but AJ was no longer covered by his health insurance. Thank goodness I found out!

Also, thanks to the miracle of computers and the government's willingness to coordinate this type of thing, my worker was able to figure out where he just took a new job. Employers are required to report the social security numbers of new employees immediately, and this is one of the reasons.

His new employer was contacted, and the process for attaching his new wages was initiated. However, this can often take a good two months, so I will have to make some choices about which bills to pay until then. There's no room in the budget for it all.

But that two months could have easily been three if I had waited a while longer to determine what was going on. If you rely on child support, I highly recommend you get direct deposit, which is easily trackable online, and pay attention... constantly.