Child Support

A bill that would require individuals who owe child support and are part of a home detention, work release or a pretrial release program run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office to pay child support is advancing in the Maryland General Assembly, and passed a second reading in the Senate on Wednesday. The bill has been filed in the House of Delegates by the Washington County delegation and in the Senate by Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington. “I was discussing the issue of child support and victims rights with some people over the summer and they pointed out to me that Washington County was one of the few counties that didn't already have the ability to ensure that people who are on work release did have to pay child support.

The Child Support Division of the Washington County Department of Social Services collected and disbursed more than $15.1 million in child-support payments to county families in the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30. This represents an increase of $383,500, or 2.6 percent, over the previous year's collection rate. The Maryland Department of Human Resources recently recognized Washington County DSS for its improved performance in meeting four statewide priority goals for the fiscal year.

The Washington County Department of Social Services collected and disbursed more than $15.1 million in child support payments to county families in the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30, according to a press release. Payments collected by the department from noncustodial parents totaling $15,104,657 were distributed to 6,088 Washington County families. The amount collected is a 2.6 percent increase over the previous report period. “Children have the right to benefit from the incomes of both parents,” Maryland Department of Human Resources Secretary Ted Dallas said.

The Washington County Department of Social Services Child Support Enforcement Division has new telephone customer service hours: Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon. For more information, call 240-420-2200 or 1-800-723-9937, 24 hours a day. Child support case information also is available 24 hours a day by going to www.marylandchildsupport.org on the Web.

ANNAPOLIS - Washington County child support enforcement officials are asking for legislation that would give people an incentive to show up for out-of-court mediation. cont. from front page About one-third of child support cases are settled at conciliation conferences, saving time for the courts and the parties involved, said Washington County Department of Social Services Director David Engle. But word has gotten out that there is no punishment for not showing up for the conferences, he said.

By LAURA ERNDE Staff Writer Mary K. Baker, who works full-time at a convenience store to raise her two children, says she hasn't gotten a child support check from her ex-husband in more than a year. Kevin Baker Sr. owes $1,540 in back support, said Chris Hart, assistant director for child support enforcement at the Washington County Department of Social Services. It's not a lot of money compared to what some non-custodial parents owe. But to Mary Baker, it is money that could help Angie, 18, who is going into the Army and wants someday to become a veterinarian, and Kevin II, 17, a junior at Hancock Middle-Senior High School.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Frustrated by a system that they say offers little help in getting their ex-boyfriends to pay child support for their children, some Waynesboro women are starting an effort to change the nation's child-support laws. The women say states operate under different rules, making it hard for parents to track down ex-partners or get them to pay child support. "We were sitting around drinking Pepsi and smoking one day after Christmas, and we started talking about the problems we were having getting child support," said Bonnie Cochran, 54. Her daughter, Massina Cochran, 24, has been unable to get child support from the father of her 3-year-old daughter, she said.

By GUY FLETCHER Staff Writer ANNAPOLIS - Legislation aimed at streamlining child support collection in Washington County is facing a hurdle its supporters fear could doom its chances of passage in the Maryland General Assembly. A private contractor says Washington County's request to use subpoena power for informal child support conferences should be applied throughout Maryland. County officials said that would disrupt their mission of finding new methods for collecting support as part of a specific test program in the county.

laurae@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - For six years, the state gave the Washington County Department of Social Services special freedom to find creative ways to collect child support. The so-called demonstration project ended last year, taking with it some of the innovative programs that were created. Social Services Director David Engle found himself in front of a panel of lawmakers Tuesday trying to convince them to take some of the ideas statewide. Washington County's child support collection rate of 76 percent is the highest in the state.

BALTIMORE - The Department of Human Resources seeks public comment on the possibility of revising the child support guidelines in Maryland. Child support amounts have not increased since 1988 and more than 200,000 children in the state currently rely on child support. Proposed changes include updating the child support amounts to reflect the current cost of raising a child and increasing the dollar amount a low-income, noncustodial parent minimally needs for shelter, food, and clothing.

A bill that would require individuals who owe child support and are part of a home detention, work release or a pretrial release program run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office to pay child support is advancing in the Maryland General Assembly, and passed a second reading in the Senate on Wednesday. The bill has been filed in the House of Delegates by the Washington County delegation and in the Senate by Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington. “I was discussing the issue of child support and victims rights with some people over the summer and they pointed out to me that Washington County was one of the few counties that didn't already have the ability to ensure that people who are on work release did have to pay child support.

The Child Support Division of the Washington County Department of Social Services collected and disbursed more than $15.1 million in child-support payments to county families in the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30. This represents an increase of $383,500, or 2.6 percent, over the previous year's collection rate. The Maryland Department of Human Resources recently recognized Washington County DSS for its improved performance in meeting four statewide priority goals for the fiscal year.

The Oct. 16 meeting of the Antietam Exchange Club welcomed mid-Atlantic President Kristy Douglas, who shared several goals for the year, including establishing Excel Clubs, which are comprised of high school students with teacher/advisers in the district. She reviewed several upcoming conferences focusing on child support and the prevention of child abuse.  Antietam Exchange Club President Steve Bittner and Douglas presented attendance awards to Paul Reid (35 years), Frit Hill (25 years)

The Washington County Department of Social Services collected and disbursed more than $15.1 million in child support payments to county families in the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30, according to a press release. Payments collected by the department from noncustodial parents totaling $15,104,657 were distributed to 6,088 Washington County families. The amount collected is a 2.6 percent increase over the previous report period. “Children have the right to benefit from the incomes of both parents,” Maryland Department of Human Resources Secretary Ted Dallas said.

“I know there's supposed to be a law about loud music in your cars and everything, but when there's foul language in the music, and I have a child sitting in the car asking why that is - I was sitting in three lanes in Hagerstown yesterday, I'm on the right, the guy in the middle had his window down, the passenger window was up. There was a ... police officer in the left lane - very, very nasty music playing, and I'm blowing (my horn) to ask him not to play that because I have a child in the car. The police officer's windows are down, he can hear it, pays no attention.” - Hagerstown “Stadium supporters, if, as you claim, regardless of taxes, regulations and local business conditions, a minor league team by itself is such a huge business draw, why haven't they been flocking to Hagerstown all the time you've had the team?

More than 40 custodial parents in Maryland did not receive their child-support payments in recent months after a check written by the parent company of Good Humor-Breyers could not be processed, according to a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Human Resources. However, the situation appears to have been resolved after Unilever sent a cashier's check to the company that collects payments for the state, human resources spokesman Ian Patrick Hines said Thursday. “Those payments are going out beginning today,” Hines said.

"There seems to be a shortage of everything but shortages. Now it's coffee beans, and the cost of coffee is climbing. This is a favor to me, because I've been looking for an excuse to stop drinking coffee for a long time. " — Hagerstown "Here lately, Mother Nature has been acting like a terrorist; tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods. Come on, Mother Nature — enough. " — Clear Spring "As a homeowner and a taxpayer and a member of the voting public, I do not want to have to put a sidewalk in front of my house.

National Child Support Awareness Month has been observed in August. The State of Maryland Child Support Enforcement Administration's slogan this year is "Tender Shoots Grow Best with the Support of All Their Roots. " The slogan represents the importance of having both parties' involvement in their child's life. Every parent wants what is best for their child. This year, the State of Maryland wants the public to know the importance of establishing paternity of any child born out of wedlock.