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We can help!
The Placer County Department of Child Support Services offers services to parents and guardians to help them meet their responsibilities to their children.
Types of services we provide:
- Locate a parent
- Establish paternity
- Establish, modify, and enforce a court order for child support
- Establish, modify, and enforce an order for health insurance coverage
Locating parents
If you do not know where the other parent is located, the Department will try to find the parent to establish paternity (child’s father) and/or establish, change, or enforce orders for child support.
Establishing paternity
The Department can help you establish paternity with aPaternity Opportunity Program (POP) Declaration that must be signed by both parents to establish paternity without going to court. The Department will help you arrange for genetic testing when the child’s father is in question.
Establishing child support orders
Once paternity is established, we can help you get a child support order based on each parent’s income, visitation, and other information. Most orders will also include a wage assignment so money will be withheld from the obligor parent’s paycheck to pay child support.
In certain situations, we can help you get a change in your court-ordered child support amount, which is called a "modification."
Seeking health insurance coverage
Your children have a right to health insurance coverage. We will work to make sure your children get the health insurance coverage they need if it is available at no cost or reasonable cost.
Cooperating with other states
Child Support orders can be obtained and enforced, even when the other parent lives in another state.
Enforcing child support orders
The local child support agency has several ways to collect child support for your children, including:
- Withholding wages from paychecks
- Interception of State or federal income tax refunds
- Unemployment benefits
- State disability benefits
- Lottery winnings
- Bank levies (attaching bank accounts)
- License suspensions
- Levies on property
- Passport denials
Some of these enforcement actions are required by law. Others will be used depending on the facts of each case.
Referrals
If you need assistance in any of the following areas, we will provide you with referrals:
- Visitation or child custody issues
- Domestic violence
- Restraining orders
- Child abuse
How child support payments are collected & processed
Child support payments are collected and processed at one location—the State Disbursement Unit (SDU). The SDU has a variety of options available for how parents receive and make child support payments.
Local child support agencies remain the primary contact for questions about an individual’s case. To learn more about the SDU, contact your local child support agency or visit the DCSS website at www.childsup.ca.gov.
Each local child support agency is required to retain case records for four years and four months from the date of case closure unless there is an open federal or State audit or pending civil litigation pursuant to Family Code section 17312(c) and 22 California Code of Regulations section 111450. It is recommended for case participants to keep copies of checks, bank records, and pay receipts for a minimum of 20 years.
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| Key Definitions |
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Obligor – The person who owes court-ordered child support.
Obligee – The parent or guardian to whom child support is owed. |
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