Texas has long been committed in the area of child support. The state’s attorney general’s office has long prided itself on its efforts in the area of child support enforcement. In fact, costs for child support enforcement represent over half of the agency’s budget.
But the computer system used to handle child support cases has become antiquated and in need of a massive upgrade. For this reason, former state attorney general and current governor Greg Abbott spearheaded a program to improve the faltering technical infrastructure.
Unfortunately, the upgrade has been, to date, rife with problems. As its first deadline was 2012, the project is now well behind schedule. Also, the current projected costs are many millions of dollars higher than originally estimated. A steering committee created by the attorney general’s office is to supervise the project and report any further issues to the Legislative Budget Board.
But because of the huge growth of child support cases in the state, the upgrade is absolutely vital. Over the last 10 years, the child support system has had to contend with an annual 5 percent increase in caseloads, while the number of employees in its workforce has remained steady.
What this news tells us is that in the not-too-distant future, it may become more difficult for the attorney general’s office to keep up with all of the child support cases that need attention. Thus, those who are having problems getting child support disputes resolved by working directly with the state may benefit from the assistance of a Texas child support attorney. An experienced attorney can help you as you seek to have the guidelines of your agreement enforced.
Source: The Gilmer Mirror, “Upgrade of AG’s Child Support System Facing Problems,” Aman Batheja, July 16, 2015