Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that the Office of the Attorney General’s Child Support Division set a new nationwide record by collecting more than $4.378 billion in child support for the state fiscal year that ended August 31. The collections benefited nearly 1.5 million Texas children and surpassed the previous year’s record by four percent.
“I’m immensely proud of the hard work and dedication of our Child Support Division to improve the lives of Texas children and ensure that children receive the support they need and deserve,” Attorney General Paxton said. “This success is particularly remarkable in light of the challenges the division faced as a result of Hurricane Harvey. Courts in affected areas were shut down completely for prolonged amounts of time, but that didn’t stop the hard-working men and women of the Child Support Division from achieving another record-setting year in collections.”
The division’s performance improves each year, despite a growing caseload and increasing demands. Collections in fiscal year 2018 grew by four percent over collections the previous fiscal year, for total growth of over $160 million.
Serving one in four Texas children, the Child Support Division handles over 1.5 million cases annually and collects $10.33 for every $1 spent to operate the program. According to the most recent report from fiscal year 2016, the division’s efforts saved taxpayers $1.65 billion by keeping families off government assistance programs and helping them achieve economic self-sufficiency.
For more information about the attorney general’s office and the child support services it offers, visit www.texasattorneygeneral.gov.