EC JFS to overhaul child support pay system

SANDUSKY — New legislation aims to overhaul an outdated child support payment system for all Ohio cases filed on or after March 28, 2019.Erie County Job and Family Services workers, meanwhile, began to inform lawyers, judges and others involved in local court system about these substantial changes.In Ohio, to calculate how much a person pays in child support, officials input data into a state-approved formula developed in, and unchanged since, 1986.A forthcoming algorithm takes into account more modern data, addressing antiquated issues with numbers, methodology and manner by which judges set child support orders."It needed to be updated to be more in line with what people are making today," said Karen Balconi Ghezzi, the local agency's executive director. "We have more people this could affect, even with fewer divorces, because we have more unwed situations."While each case varies, in terms of, say, one birth parent pays to the other receiving custodial rights, the legislation does outline some specific payment amounts.Most notably, the minimum monthly order increases from $50 to $80.House Bill 366 also established an equality guideline for parents who have more than one child. The Ohio Child Support Enforcement Agency Directors' Association provided an explanation."Many of our parents have more than one family to support. Under the current statutes, the first child to file for child support typically receives the highest order. All subsequent filings result in lower child support obligations for the additional children. The (bill calls for) treating all children the same by providing a standard income deduction for each parent for children not subject to the current order."Local officials believe the new rules can achieve greater compliance. About 72 percent of people today paying child support through Erie County Job and Family Services make their payments in full and on time. About 6,500 people make child support payments in Erie County. The agency collects more than $1 million a month."We were dealing with unrealistic orders before," said Belinda Sibert Biemler, the local agency's deputy director of child support. "It will greatly help in being able for obligors to have the ability to pay."The new formula only applies to cases filed on or after March 28, 2019. All cases filed before this date will continue to use the formula developed in 1986. Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.Erie County Job and Family Services, along with other similar departments statewide, are incorporating a new system to figure out a person's child support payments for all cases filed on or after March 28, 2019. It's the first such update to this formula since 1986.