Enforcement Background and Agency Responsibilities
In this Topic
Background
The CS employee may work at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Child Support Enforcement is far different from most public- and private-sector entities. New Jersey’s AOC is responsible for the administrative oversight of the vicinages in the establishment and enforcement of child and alimony/spousal support orders. The staff should be aware that they might encounter cases involving significant life issues, such as domestic violence, children born out of marriage, and teen pregnancy. Enforcement addresses such issues as income withholding, license suspension/revocation, health-care provision, unreimbursed medical expenses, tax refund intercept, and contempt of court. Federal and state statutes, regulations, and rules govern actions taken by the courts related to child support enforcement.
New Jersey CSE staff may work within the CSSAs, the Family Division, the PCSE Unit, and the Vicinage Finance Division. The OCSS supervises the CSSA. New Jersey’s AOC supervises the Family Practice Division and Probation Services. The New Jersey Child Support Program provides services to locate NCPs, establish paternity, and establish support orders. It also provides processes to enforce and to periodically review and adjust support orders. Each child support service is an essential building block in obtaining support for children. Although each service is important, no single service can guarantee that the NCP will pay support. Enforcement is the child support service that achieves the ultimate goal of the Child Support Program—collecting support for children. In New Jersey, the PCSE Unit monitors compliance by the NCP.
Agency Responsibilities
Division of Family Development
The DFD is responsible for the coordination and oversight of Title IV-D activities. The DFD administers New Jersey’s welfare program, Work First New Jersey, through the CSSAs. In accordance with the Cooperative Agreement, the DFD and the Judiciary ensure that the functions of the Title IV-D CS Program are performed as federally required. Components of the Judiciary that are involved in the Title IV-D CS Program include the AOC, the Family Division, the Finance Division, and the Probation Division.
County Social Service Agencies
CSSAs are responsible for providing updated information on the NCP to the PCSE Unit for enforcement.
Family Divisions
The Family Divisions (Superior Court) are responsible for the following major tasks related to enforcement:
- Receiving and scheduling of motions for enforcement filed by the individual parties or by attorneys on behalf of parties to IV-D and non-IV-D cases
- Processing requests for the conversion of non-IV-D direct payment support orders to be enforced through the PCSE Unit
Vicinage Finance Divisions
The Vicinage Finance Divisions are responsible for the following major tasks related to enforcement:
- Collecting child or alimony/spousal support payments locally at the LPU and forwarding the payments to the NJFSPC for processing
- Conducting audits on disputed financial reviews requested by the courts or referred by the PCSE Unit
- Processing changes in the obligation on NJKiDS
Probation Child Support Enforcement Units (Superior Court)
The PCSE Units (Superior Court) are responsible for the following major tasks related to enforcement:
- Monitoring and enforcing established IV-D TANF and non-TANF cases
- Initiating administrative enforcement remedies on all delinquent IV-D cases, including, but not limited to, income withholding notice to employers, tax offsets, and credit bureau reporting
- Initiating judicial enforcement remedies on all delinquent IV-D cases, including, but not limited to, scheduling ELR hearings before a CSHO or a Superior Court Judge, Family Division
- Presenting the records of the PCSE Unit at BW hearings before a Superior Court Judge, Family Division
- Initiating intergovernmental enforcement with foreign state jurisdiction on delinquent IV-D cases in which the NCP has relocated out of state and direct income withholding is not available (alimony/spousal-only court orders are excluded in most jurisdictions)
- Updating NJKiDS with new case information, pre- and post-court
- Providing customer service to all parties involved in assigned cases
Workflow
After a child and/or alimony/spousal support order is established, support payments are collected, distributed in accordance with federal regulations, and disbursed to payees. These regulations govern how money is distributed to various cases and to various program balances within a case. The PCSE Unit cannot distribute and disburse payments if it does not collect child and/or alimony/spousal support.
The key to obtaining support for children is the ability to recognize the best direction to take in case processing. Enforcement remedies are applied to obtain payment of a financial obligation or fulfillment of a non-financial obligation as specified within a support order. In New Jersey, enforcement occurs through consistent application of federal and state statutes, regulations, and rules, which are discussed in this section.