Child Support Enforcement Council

What Others Are Saying

Statements Supporting Private Child Enforcement Options

If a family chooses to engage a private collection firm, parents ought to have that option, so long as the agreement is clear up front.

Wade Horn,
Assistant Secretary, Administration for Child and Families,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Time Magazine
September 2, 2002

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We in Texas have a long-standing policy of cooperation with PCA's (private child support collection agencies)... our policy arises from two fundamental premises. First, a governmental agency has no legal authority to deny parents the right to choose a PCA. And, second, the need for child support enforcement is so great that all hands, governmental and private, should be brought to bear on the task. Consequently, we look upon PCAs as are our partners in securing financial and emotional support for children.

Cynthia Bryant,
Deputy Attorney General for Child Support, Office of Attorney General of Texas
(Excerpt from April 3, 2002 letter to Dr. Sherri Z. Heller, Commissioner, Office of Child Support Enforcement, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

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The bottom line is that with billions of dollars for vulnerable children going uncollected, government agencies alone cannot tackle the growing problem, and private child support collection agencies can play an important supportive role. A combined effort that leverages the unique abilities of both public and private agencies will yield significant improvements in the lives of custodial parents and their children.

U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett
Member, House Ways and Means Committee
(Excerpt from press release following publication of a report on private child support enforcement by the U.S. General Accounting Office, March 2002)

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Congress is beginning to understand that the IV-D program does not, and should not, constitute the only child support enforcement enterprise in the country. There is a great wealth of enforcement resources outside the IV-D program in the form of public, locally funded enforcement agencies, private enforcement entities, and private attorneys.

Laura Morgan
Chair, Child Support Subcommittee
American Bar Association Family Law Section
(Excerpt from “Child Support Enforcement in the United States: The Role of the Private Bar” in Divorce Litigation, August, 2000.)

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I would advise other custodial parents not to hesitate to work with a good private company. They have the resources and the time to really pursue cases. They do take a percentage of what they collect on your behalf, but they earn it.

Susan Williams,
Custodial Parent and President, National Coalition for Child Support Options
(Tesitmony presented to the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, October 5, 1999.)

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