FORMER ASSISTANCE ARREARS PASS THROUGH

Collections that are received on or after May 1, 2024 and that are applied to government-assigned debt will be passed through to families who used to receive cash public assistance through CalWORKs.

Payments will be sent to you electronically via direct deposit or electronic payment card. If you have not enrolled in electronic payments, you may do so by visiting California State Disbursement Unit website at childsupport.ca.gov/state-disbursement-unit. Otherwise, payments will be sent via paper check to the address on file with Child Support Services. Please be sure to update your information with Child Support Services.

If payments are received and applied to government-assigned debt and you are no longer receiving cash public assistance through CalWORKs, the payments will continue to be sent to you until the debt is paid in full, the parent ordered to pay support is granted relief from the debt, or the child support case otherwise meets any other case closure criteria. (See Debt Reduction Program and Uncollectable Debt Program information).

Payments passed through to you are to be reported like any other support payment you receive when filing your taxes. Please contact a tax preparer, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and/or the government agency that collects taxes in your state for further information. You can find information for contacting the IRS about federal tax filing requirements and the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) about California tax filing requirements as follows:

IRS: https://www.irs.gov/help/telephone-assistance

FTB: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/help/contact/

Yes, if payments are received, they will be sent to you even if the child(ren) is no longer living with you and no matter the child(ren)’s age.

The government-assigned debt is still assigned to the government, but Child Support Services is now sending the payments to California families that used to receive cash public assistance through CalWORKs. You may receive up to the total amount of this government-assigned debt.

No

You can visit the Customer Connect website at www.cse.ca.gov/CustomerConnect/login to view payments that have been sent to you, or call us at 1-866-901-3212. You can also update your address on Customer Connect. To request a replacement check, call us at 1-866-901-3212.

Option 1: Due to the hierarchy of how payments are applied, there are no funds that can be applied to your case at this time.
Option 2: It is possible your information is not updated with Child Support Services. Please be sure to update your information if it has changed since the last time you had contact with Child Support Services.

No, the change in law only allows Child Support Services to send these payments to California families who are no longer receiving cash public assistance through CalWORKs.

There may be impacts to your eligibility for other public assistance programs. Please contact your eligibility worker for further information.

Since the debt is government-assigned, you cannot close the outstanding balances.

Due to the change in law, Child Support Services must send these payments to you even if you requested closure of debts owed to you. Since this debt is government-assigned, you cannot close the outstanding balances.

Since this debt is government-assigned, you cannot close the outstanding balances.

General information about the change in the law will be/has been sent to child support customers. The amounts may be shown on Customer Connect and any monthly billing statements that are sent to customers that have made and/or received payments.

Debt Reduction Program: California law allows child support agencies to enter into an agreement with a parent ordered to pay support to lower their government-assigned child support debt based on their current circumstances and ability to pay. If the local child support agency determines that the parent ordered to pay support is eligible to participate in the Debt Reduction Program and the parent ordered to pay support pays their current support and a portion of their past due support in exchange for a reduction of their government-assigned debt, there would be a reduction in the government-assigned child support balance.

Uncollectable Debt: California law allows child support agencies to perform a collectability review to determine whether the circumstances of the parent ordered to pay support deem their government-assigned child support debt as uncollectable, in full or in part. This program only waives balances that are assigned to the state; the balances owed to the family are not affected.

Since this debt is government-assigned, you cannot close the outstanding balances. As the parent ordered to pay support, you may, however, qualify for relief of the government-assigned debt. (See Debt Reduction Program and Uncollectable Debt Program information).

Since the debt is government-assigned, there is no impact on the Debt Reduction Program or Uncollectable Debt Program

Yes. Since the debt is government-assigned, Child Support Services will continue to collect until the debt is paid in full, the parent ordered to pay support is granted relief from the debt, or the child support case otherwise meets any other case closure criteria. (See Debt Reduction Program and Uncollectable Debt Program information).