Child Support Enforcement Council

Elayne's Story

When Elayne's divorce was finalized in January 1991,she was awarded custody of her two sons, ages 8 and 11. As part of the settlement, her ex-husband was ordered to pay $76 dollars a week in child support. Elayne was nervous about the responsibility of raising her children on her own, but felt confident that her ex-husband would always be there to help in some way. For about four months everything went smoothly. Her ex-husband's child support payments enabled Elayne to work part time and attend school to earn her undergraduate degree. Money was tight, but the family was able to get by in their small $100 a month rental duplex.

When her ex-husband moved out of state to Virginia, the child support payments became sporadic. That May, Elayne received her undergraduate degree, and in August she moved her family to Ohio so she could attend law school at Case Western Reserve School of Law. Once she and her family settled in Ohio, the child support payments completely stopped. Elayne immediately contacted her county enforcement agency for help with her case. Since Elayne's ex-husband was self-employed, she knew it would be difficult to enforce the child support order. Meanwhile, her boys often went to class with her when she couldn't afford a sitter.

Months passed and Elayne heard nothing from the county regarding her case. On a break from law school in December 1991, Elayne scheduled a meeting with her caseworker at the county child support enforcement agency. During that meeting it was clear to Elayne that little work had been done on her case. She spent the entire meeting filling in the holes in her case file. Elayne left the agency in despair. It had been seven months since she had received her last payment.

Months quickly became years. In May 1994, Elayne graduated from law school and moved to another county in Ohio to work as a staff attorney for the county's child support enforcement agency. Elayne was so frustrated by her own experience; she became committed to working on behalf of other families seeking help. She worked every day to help others enforce their court orders, but no one was able to help her with her own.

No money was ever collected during the seven years Elayne worked with the county agencies. In 1998, Elayne decided that enough was enough, and she hired a private enforcement agency, National Child Support, to work her case. At the time Elayne signed with the Cincinnati, Ohio-based agency, she was owed more than $20,000 in unpaid child support. Elayne met Jim Durham, president of National Child Support, through work. Her office had hired his firm to help them work some of their tougher cases.

Within a month, National Child Support had located her former husband. A few months later, child support payments began arriving. Today, Elayne continues to receive regular support payments. Elayne is thankful for the help she received and strongly believes that private agencies provide an important option.