Milwaukee County Project for the Incarcerated

1
Milwaukee County Project for the Incarcerated

• Presenter
• Lisa J. Marks, Deputy Director
• Child Support Enforcement
• 901 N. 9th Street, Room 101
• Milwaukee, WI 53233
• Lmarks_at_milwcnty.com

2
Milwaukee County Demographics
144,000
Total Number of Cases
60,000
Court Cases With Current Support Order
Court Cases Where NCP Is Incarcerated
8,000
Long Term
Short Term
7,000
130
Average Monthly Current Support Order of
Incarcerated NCP
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CRITERIA

• Balance of sentence exceeds 6 months
• No substantial earnings/assets
• Not convicted of crime against custodial person
  or children or non-payment of child support

4
Status as of 09/15/06
5
National Child Support Arrears FY 1987 to FY
2005
Source Office of Child Support Enforcement,
Annual Statistical Reports. Note Data before
and after FY 1999 are not comparable. The
increase in FY 1999 reflects a change in the
reporting instructions to states regarding
arrears to include interest and penalties.
Arrears may be overstated because arrears
associated with interstate cases may be included
in both states Slide data provide by Elaine
Sorenson of the Urban Institute  
6
Distribution of Debtors and Arrears in Nine
States, by Amount of Arrears Owed
Percent
Slide data provide by Elaine Sorenson of the
Urban Institute
7
Child Support Arrears, by States Interest Policy
Routine
Intermittent
No Interest
Source OCSE Annual Statistical Reports Slide
data provide by Elaine Sorenson of the Urban
Institute
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How Collectible are the Arrears?

• Estimate that 40 of the Arrears in these States
  are Likely to be Collected within 10 years.
• Estimate that Arrears will Grow by 59 over 10
  years in these States if Policies and Procedures
  are Not Changed.

Slide data provide by Elaine Sorenson of the
Urban Institute
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Letter to Non-Custodial Parent (NCP)
10
Letter to Custodial Parent (CP)
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CP Stipulation Order
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Summary

• Results
• Every 1,000 modifications increases Current
  Support collection percentage about 0.5
• Hurdles
• Social Security Number not a prison identifier
• Tracking cases after NCP is released
• Lack of interface with corrections
• Communication with NCP/offender
• Politics
• Next Stops
• Continue efforts to get corrections/interface
• Regular presence at Institutions with heavy
  Milwaukee presence
• Work with local corrections officials

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QuestionsLisa Marks901 N. 9th
StreetMilwaukee, WI 53233(414) 278-5239

• lmarks_at_milwcnty.com
• Or
• markscse_at_yahoo.com