How to put someone on child support in louisiana

Child Support Enforcement | Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services

Child Support Enforcement is a program that works with parents to provide emotional, financial, and medical support for their child or children. DCFS offers parent locator and paternity establishment services, as well as assistance to establish and enforce child support orders and collection and distribution of child support payments.

What is Child Support?

Federal law requires all states to have a child support enforcement program. In Louisiana, the program is administered by the Department of Children & Family Services, Child Support Enforcement Section. This program places the responsibility for the support of children on their parents in an attempt to reduce the children's dependence on public assistance. Please visit the family-centered child support page for more information.

The Child Support Enforcement staff is located in Louisiana Child Support Offices. These offices serve all 64 parishes in the state. The agency also has cooperative agreements with 40 District Attorneys in the state. The scope of services provided by District Attorneys varies, depending on the services that a particular District Attorney is contracted to provide.

Get Case Information:

You may find your Child Support case information through CAFÉ. You can reach out to your worker in CAFÉ by following these simple steps to send your caseworker a message from your child support account:

Sign in using your LA CAFÉ account.
Click on the Check My Cases link on the page labeled My Account.
Click on Child Support Enforcement Details located under General Information.
Click on the Child Support Enforcement Message Center link.
Click on Submit a Question and send your questions or information.

**You will need to create a new User ID and User Number for CAFÉ and 1-888-LAHELP-U. Click here for step-by-step instructions**

For case information, you may also call 1-888-524-3578. The interactive voice response (IVR) system provides payment receipt and disbursement information (on the last five payments), arrearages, current financial obligation balances as well as general child support information. IVR information is provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Experienced customer service representatives trained to handle case-specific inquiries not addressed by the IVR can be accessed through the Toll-Free numbers.

Who Can Get Help?

Any parent or person responsible for a child who needs our services.
Anyone who receives FITAP, KCSP, or is referred to DCFS by Medicaid automatically receives child support enforcement services.
Anyone who does not receive FITAP, KCSP, or Medicaid may apply for CSE services and pay an application fee of $25.

Helpful Videos about the Child Support program:

Child Support and You for the Custodial Party(Paternity has been established for the child(ren))
Child Support and You for the Custodial Party(Paternity has not been established for the child(ren))
Child Support and You for the Non-Custodial Party(Paternity has been established for the child(ren))
Child Support and You for the Non-Custodial Party(Paternity has not been established for the child(ren))
Videos from our Federal partner:
- What is Child Support?
- OCSE Serves the National Child Support Program

Child Support Enforcement Services Provided

PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE

To provide services, CSE locates parents using data. The data comes from various sources and creates the Louisiana State Parent Locator Service. To have this authority, the program must meet federal laws for due process and security. Once these rules are met, the program will access data from the following:

Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS): The FPLS has access to federal data from the:
- Federal Case Registry (FCR)
- National Directory of New Hires (NDNH)
- Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Defense, the National Personnel Records Center including quarterly wage data for federal employees, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs
- State Directories of New Hires
- State Workforce Agencies
Electronic Parent Locate Network (EPLN): This is a group of 18 states that combine data into one database.
State and local government:
- vital records
- state tax files
- real and titled personal property records
- occupational and professional licenses and business information
- Louisiana public assistance agencies, including FITAP, KCSP, Medicaid, and SNAP
- Louisiana Workforce Commission
- Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections
Records from private companies like public utilities and cable television companies
Credit reports and other information held by financial institutions
State Directory of New Hires (SDNH): This is a database where employers must report new employees

Locate-Only Services:

Custodial parents can apply for Locate-Only services to individually seek paternity or support. To apply, there is a $10 fee with the non-custodial parent’s Social Security number (SSN) or a $14 fee without the SSN. Once the parent applies and pays the fee, CSE will attempt to locate the parent. In most situations, the program can only release the last known address and place of employment.

ESTABLISHING PATERNITY (FATHERHOOD)

Under Louisiana law, the father of a child born outside of marriage is not responsible for child support until they are found to be the father. This can be done in two ways:

Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP):
The father can sign an affidavit swearing that he is the father of the child. In Louisiana, hospitals provide parents of children born outside of marriage a chance to sign an AOP at the time of birth.
Court Proceedings:
If an alleged father refuses to sign an AOP, Child Support Enforcement attorneys or contract District Attorneys may file suit asking the court to determine paternity.

To find out about paternity in Louisiana, please visit the Louisiana Paternity Establishment Program.

English Spanish

Genetic Testing

Genetic testing is available through CSE at no cost when paternity has not been established. CSE can offer free testing as long as the father works with the agency. However, if the father receives test results and does not agree to sign the AOP or fails to agree to paternity, the department will file a paternity suit. If the department has to file a paternity suit, then the Department will seek repayment of the costs of genetic testing whenever the test shows that the parent is the father. Louisiana Child Support contracts with two genetic testing labs and paternity tests cost around $62. 00 per person. In Louisiana, the probability of paternity must be 99.9% or higher.

ESTABLISHING ORDERS

A child support order includes the support amount and tells how support should be paid. The Louisiana Legislature created the Child Support Award Guidelines to calculate support. These guidelines set rules for how much parents should contribute to their child’s financial support. This amount is based on the income of both parties. For information on calculating support, visit our Calculate Support page.

The non-custodial parent will be court-ordered to pay an amount based on his/her percentage of the total income and the specific needs and expenses of the child. In cases of joint custody, the court must consider the amount of time the child spends with each parent as a basis for adjustment to the amount of child support to be paid during that time. Courts may also require the non-custodial parent to provide health insurance for the child. If the child is covered by Medicaid, the court must order a cash medical support amount.

Child support orders must contain an income assignment order provision. In most instances, the court will order payments to be withheld from income immediately. In rare circumstances where the court determines good cause, the order will be conditional. When this happens, payments will be withheld from income when the condition is met.

ENFORCING ORDERS

CSE can enforce payment of support by:

Income assignment
Interception of state and federal tax refunds
Interception of lottery, casino, and sports betting prizes
Suspension of occupational, professional, drivers’, hunting, and fishing licenses
Suspension of motor vehicle registration
Contempt of court hearings
Passport denials

More than 65% of the money collected each year comes through the income assignment process.

If you are unable to make child support payments, please contact us to make sure we have up-to-date information.

COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION

The DCFS, Centralized Collection Unit (CCU) collects all payments for child support, medical support, and fees. The CCU processes payments from Monday through Friday. The amounts are sent out the next day. To make a payment, please visit the Make a Payment webpage.

Child Support Payments should be made by money order or cashier’s check and mailed to:

Centralized Collection Unit (CCU)
Post Office Box 260222
Baton Rouge, LA 70826

All fees and support payments must be made payable to DCFS. The payment must include the payer’s name, address, and social security number and/or LASES number on the payment instrument.

Receiving Payments

DCFS sends all payments by direct deposit into a checking account, savings account, or Direct Payment Card account.

To check the balance on your Direct Payment Card, please visit http://www.usbankreliacard.com or download the U.S. Bank ReliaCard Mobile app for iOS or Android devices. For fees associated with the use of the DCFS debit card, click here. To report a lost, stolen, or damaged Direct Payment Card, contact U.S. Bank Customer Service at 1-855-274-0374.

FEES:

Annual Fee

Federal law requires CSE to charge an annual $35.00 fee when the state collects $550 during a federal fiscal year. CSE only charges this fee if the individual has never received FITAP. The payment will be paid from the first payment after it becomes due.

Genetic Testing Fees

Genetic Testing fees be listed as "Genetic Test" when they are sent to the CCU at:

Centralized Collection Unit (CCU)
Post Office Box 260222
Baton Rouge, LA 70826

Applications and Application Fees

There is a $25 application fee for applicants who do not receive FITAP, KCSP, or Medicaid. The child support online application, allows applicants to pay the fee when they apply. Applicants who submit a paper application, must mail the application fee with their application or send it directly to the Child Support Enforcement Offices serving their parish.

A book with a collection of the country's most unusual laws has been published in the USA

NTVRU.com Archive

A book containing the most unusual laws of the American states has been published in the USA.

Authors of No Tie Alligators to Fire Cranes, 18-year-old Andy Powell and Jeff Kuhn collected legal cases via the Internet.

Thanks to the authors, the reader learns that in Alaska it is forbidden to wake up bears to take pictures of them on a camera, as well as to throw live moose out of an airplane during a flight and give them alcohol to drink, Interfax reports.

In Arizona, it is illegal to hunt camels, and to put a donkey to sleep in a bath is fined.

Also in the USA it is forbidden to fish while sitting on a camel (Idaho), in New Orleans you cannot tie crocodiles to hydrants, and in Texas a person can be arrested if he starts shooting at bison from the second floor of a hotel.

In California, animals are prohibited from mating within 500 meters of schools, churches, and catering establishments. In Baltimore, it is not allowed to come to the theater with lions, and in the city of Galesburg, Illinois, it is forbidden to hit rats with a baseball bat under the threat of a $1,000 fine.

The book is not only about animals. Residents of Minnesota are not allowed to sleep naked, and in Louisiana, if a person bites someone, they can be sued for assault. At the same time, the fault of the attacker may be aggravated if it turns out that he wears false teeth.

Curious Indiana laws include banning baths between October and March, selling cars on Sundays, changing the color of birds and rabbits, selling milk in liquor stores, wearing mustaches by persons prone to frequent kissing, eating watermelons in public parks, drinking standing alcoholic beverages in restaurants and bars.

Indiana residents must be prosecuted for rape if the passenger in their car is under 17 and is in the car without stockings or socks.

In Kansas, all pedestrians crossing the road at night must wear reflectors, and in In Port Arthur, a punishable act is the release of unpleasant odors in the elevator.

A few years ago, under pressure from then-Governor George W. Bush, a law was passed in Texas that requires a criminal to verbally or in writing warn a victim of an impending crime at least 24 hours in advance. In addition, the warning should describe the impending crime. Violation of this rule is taken into account by the court as an aggravating circumstance.

I have a special attitude towards clothes, appearance and behavior. In Kentucky, "no female person in a bathing suit may appear on the road ... unless she is accompanied by two policemen or unless she is armed with a shovel." An exception is made for women weighing less than 40 or more than 90 kg.

Finally, the authors talk about more serious violations. It is not illegal in Utah to keep a nuclear-tipped projectile in the home. However, it is strictly forbidden to blow it up. And in the city of Chico, California, anyone who detonates a nuclear device within the city can be fined up to $500.

The book is very popular in the US, and the authors plan to publish an updated edition.