Record amounts of child support were collected in each of the past two years, according to Donna Shalala, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Nearly $10 billion was collected from noncustodial parents in fiscal year 1994.
Nearly $10 billion was collected from noncustodial parents in fiscal year 1994, an increase of 11 percent, according to the 19th Annual Report to Congress on Child Support Enforcement, issued by DHHS on December 5. The report describes collections and other child support enforcement activities nationwide during fiscal year 1994 (October 1993 - September 1994).From 1992 to 1995, collections have grown by nearly 40 percent and paternity establishments have risen by more than 40 percent. However, the improvements still fall far short of potential collections, Shalala said. Promising as these collections are to millions of children, still millions more are deprived of the help they need, she added.
Secretary Shalala also released preliminary data for fiscal year 1995 showing that $11 billion in child support was collected and 735,000 paternities were established. The paternity establishment numbers include, for the first time, paternities voluntarily established in the hospital at the time of birth.