A legislative audit released last week found that an office within the Department of Human Services let almost $1.4 billion in unpaid child support accumulate without applying the proper penalties to those who were delinquent.
The audit found that in fiscal 2023, the state collected $457.8 million in child support for 162,000 open cases. The amount of unpaid child support that year was $1.4 billion — an amount roughly consistent across fiscal years, even as open cases and collections decreased between 2020 and 2023, according to the audit.
The Child Support Administration, a division within the Department of Human Services, also failed to properly coordinate driver’s license suspensions with the Motor Vehicle Administration, according to the audit signed by Legislative Auditor Brian S. Tanen.
The audit says the CSA “provides services to both the non-custodial and custodial parents, which include the establishment of paternity and child support orders, the collection of child support payments, and the distribution of such funds.”
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Racquel Bazos over at The Baltimore Sun
