August is Child Support Enforcement Month

Back-to-School Season Brings Additional Financial Pressures on Families Who Are Not Receiving Child Support They Are Owed

(Austin, Texas) — More than 8 million children in the United States are not receiving any of the child support they are owed. The national unpaid child support balance exceeds $106 billion. In recognition of the child support crisis, August has been named Child Support Enforcement month. With the expenses that families incur as children start back to school for the new school year, the crisis becomes even more pronounced. Supportkids, the nation’s largest private child support company working directly with families, is joining with the National Child Support Enforcement Association to urge families to explore all of the options available to them to collect the money that their children deserve and so desperately need.

“Many parents wait years without collecting the child support that their families are owed,” said Eric Rosenkoetter, Executive Counsel of Supportkids. “In many cases, the custodial parent becomes overwhelmed and discouraged. What they often don’t realize is that private child support enforcement companies often times can succeed even if other enforcement options have failed.”

Over 95% of the people who turn to private child support enforcement companies have already been through the government system unsuccessfully. Private companies, including Supportkids, typically do not charge upfront fees; their compensation is based on a contingency fee that is only collected if they are successful. Private companies use many of the same enforcement tools as the government, but typically have a much smaller caseload per enforcement specialist and are able to give each case more attention.

According to the National Retail Federation, the average family spends $527 on back-to-school items. For families with college-aged children, the expenditures jump dramatically. The U.S. Census Department estimates that the average cost of tuition, room and board at a public college or university for one year is $12,605. For families who are not receiving child support, typically headed by a single working mother, these costs are often beyond their reach.

Private child support enforcement companies can help with the dilemma. As one of Supportkids’ clients wrote: "The children win every time a check arrives. Again, I can't begin to thank you enough for what you have been able to do in the last year that seemed so hopeless for the past six years."

About Supportkids
With clients all across the nation, the company receives over 50,000 inquiries a month from custodial parents seeking help in collecting child support and has collected over $290 million in child support for families nationwide. Supportkids uses on-site investigators and cooperation with state and federal agencies to fulfill its mission to end the struggle of unpaid child support. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.supportkids.com or call 1-800-305-KIDS.

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