Legislation approved in a party-line vote Monday would bar the state from seeking child support to recoup its costs for out-of-home children. (Hal Brown for New Jersey Monitor)
The Senate Budget Committee approved legislation Monday that would end the ability of the state’s child protection division to charge parents to cover the expenses of children in state care.
Supporters said of the move say the change would allow low-income families that account for an overwhelming majority of the division’s cases to reunify more quickly.
The bill, which cleared the committee in a party-line vote, would remove a statute that calls for the child protection agency to recoup expenses for children in their custody and seek court orders for child support.
“This serves as an additional barrier for families that are struggling to make ends meet and have gone through the significant experience of having a child removed, gone through and done what they need to get that child returned,” Mary McManus-Smith, chief counsel for family law at Legal Services New Jersey, said of existing law.
The legislation would also void outstanding child support balances, court orders, and liens meant to cover the state’s costs, as well as any warrants issued over nonpayment of the same.
The bill’s supporters point to research out of Wisconsin that showed a $100 increase to monthly child support obligations delayed reunification by 6.6 months on average.
They also noted child support to fund the state’s care of out-of-home children is typically worth less than the money spent to obtain it. In 2021, the state expended roughly $16.5 million to collect nearly $6.8 million in child support to cover its expenses, McManus-Smith said, echoing legislative findings in the bill.
“Part of the issue is it costs the department more to chase the money,” said bill sponsor Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), the Senate’s majority leader.
The committee’s Republican members opposed the bill, though some signaled they might back it in later votes.
“There’s part of me that thinks parents should have some skin in the game when their kids are in the system,” said Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), adding he might back the legislation when it comes to the Senate floor.
Compared to other debts subject to wage garnishment, child support garnishment includes more types of income — including some social security and veterans’ disability benefits, among others — and can cover a larger share of a person’s income.
Child support garnishment can continue even after a child is returned from a foster home or other form of state care. Depending on the depth of a parent’s arrearages, they could owe thousands of dollars, McManus-Smith said.
“It’s the only form of so-called child support that I’m aware of — and I’m very familiar with child support — that takes money from the home where the child is actually residing,” she said.
The Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee on Monday approved separate legislation that would bar the state from using a child’s federal benefits, including some social security benefits and military survivor benefits, to cover expenses for a child in out-of-home care.
The bills, which earlier cleared Assembly committees in bipartisan votes, await budget hearings in the lower chamber and do not affect child support payments made by one parent to another.
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