DCS wants to resolve grievances at the first possible level, without the necessity of a Conference Board. If you contest a DCS action:
- Contact the Support Enforcement Officer (SEO) assigned to the case and explain your grievance. If the SEO cannot resolve your grievance, ask the SEO what your options are.
- If the action allows you to request an administrative hearing, click here for information on Administrative Hearings.
- If a hearing is unavailable to you, and the matter is still unresolved, ask to talk to your SEO's Lead worker.
- When the Lead worker cannot resolve the matter, you must talk to the Supervisor before requesting a Conference Board Request. The Supervisor may be able to resolve the issue.
- When you receive the Conference Board Request, describe your grievance as thoroughly as possible.
- Send it to the DCS Field Office handling your case.
- DCS may issue a Conference Board Decision based solely on your written statement and information available in the case record. If a Conference Board is to be held, DCS will notify you where and when to appear.
- DCS will send you a written Decision after holding the Conference Board. Your SEO will honor that Decision.
Despite recent record improvements in paternity establishment and child support collections, much more needs to be done to ensure that all children born out-of-wedlock have paternity established and that all non-custodial parents provide financial support for their children. Currently, only about one-half of the custodial parents due child support receive full payment. About twenty-five percent receive partial payment and twenty-five percent receive nothing.
In an effort to strengthen and improve state child support enforcement activities, several federal laws were passed, including a national new-hire reporting system. These laws required states to pass uniform interstate child support laws, automate enforcement actions, and provide for tougher noncompliance penalties, such as driver's license revocation.