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Child Support Services



(Material provided by the Oregon Commission on Children and Families)

The Oregon state government operates a child support program that is free and available to anyone who wants services. The Department of Human Resources is the agency in charge of the program. Cases are handled by the Department of Justices Support Enforcement Division and local district attorneys.

The services provided by this state program include:

  • Locating absent parents through computerized data sources
  • Establishing paternity (identifying the father legally)
  • Setting a support order (for money and health coverage)
  • Enforcing a support order (for money and health coverage) through income withholding, tax intercepts, and other methods
  • Modifying a support order up or down (when circumstances change or at least two years have passed since the last order)
  • Collecting, accounting, and paying out child support funds

Some child support matters on this program are handled through the courts, others through agencies. Support Enforcement Division and District Attorneys offices use state and federal law to determine what services to provide, and when. With very few exceptions, a parent cannot direct them to provide some services and not others. The attorneys for the state program do not represent either parent, and parents may hire their own attorneys or represent themselves.

Parents receiving public assistance through Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) or whose children are in state care must be on the child support program, and are enrolled automatically. Persons receiving only Medicaid (and not ADC) have to be on some parts of the program. The Support Enforcement Division handles these cases involving current or past state aid.

Anyone else can choose to be on the program. Anyone caring for a child (not just a custodial parent) who wants to get child support or establish that he (or someone else) is the father of a child can receive services. In most parts of the state, the local county district attorneys handle these cases; in a few counties, the Support Enforcement Division regional office handles the casework.

The state program has a toll-free telephone number for applications and information on its child support cases. The number is (800) 850-0228.



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