Department Actions Result in Capture, Disbursement of Funds for Two Child Support Cases

ERIE COUNTY, NY— The Erie County Office of Child Support Enforcement has announced that, with assistance from the Department of Social Services’ Counsels Office, it has secured child support funds that had been in arrears in two local cases and has returned a total of $16,800 to the children it was intended to support. The funds, obtained from a parolee who was found by NYS Parole officers to be in possession of $16,800 from a personal injury settlement, were secured after the Counsels’ Office filed two petitions in Erie County Family Court requesting that the money be turned over to pay arrears accrued in the two cases. One order of support was $8,889 in arrears, while the second order of support was credited $7,911; working with the Buffalo Police Department, the Support Collection Unit will now handle disbursement of the funds.

Erie County Social Services Commissioner Carol Dankert-Maurer said, “The Child Support Enforcement Office is tasked with enforcing and collecting child support from legally responsible individuals who should be supporting their children. In this case, the Office became aware of a parolee who was actually behind in a couple of child support cases, despite having recently come into a sum of money. Working with our counterparts in law enforcement, the office was able to redirect those funds toward the children who deserve them and need the support. This is just another example of how Erie County’s Department of Social Services safeguards the welfare of children.’”