Child Support Services
Program Overview:
The Child Support program provides custodial parents with assistance in obtaining financial support and medical insurance coverage for their children by locating parents, establishing paternity, establishing support orders and collecting and distributing support payments. (Source: NYS DCSS)
Child support orders may be enforced by administrative remedies including income withholding, income tax refund offset, driving privilege suspension, credit bureau reporting, lottery prize offset, liens, and referral to the NYS Tax Department.
Any parent or person who has legal custody of a child may obtain an application for services by visiting www.childsupport.ny.gov. You may also obtain an application for services to be mailed to you or stop in and pick one up at the following address: Herkimer County Child Support Services 301 N. Washington St., Suite 2210, Herkimer, NY 13350
Recipients and applicants for child support services receive assistance in the following areas:
1) Location investigation, 2) Paternity and Child Support establishment, 3) Child Support enforcement and collection.
State supervised and locally administered, the child support unit provides these services through a variety of court-based and administrative processes.
Eligibility Criteria:
Child Support Enforcement services are automatically provided to all custodial parents with children receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and Safety Net Assistance, unless cooperation with the child support agency may result in physical or emotional harm to the custodial parent or child. Child support services are provided upon application to all other eligible individuals, including parents, guardians or caretakers of children not receiving public assistance for whom child support is needed (Source NYSDSCE).
Contact Information:
If you have a child support case you may contact our payment information line at 1-800-846-0773, available 24 hours/7 days a week.
For all other questions, please call 1-888-208-4485 (8 am - 7 pm)
Annual Service Fee:
Custodial parents may be charged a $35.00 service fee once a year. The fee only applies to parents who have never received assistance through Family Assistance or Safety Net Assistance. Child Support payments must be at least $550.00 before the fee is assessed during the federal fiscal year (October 1 - September 30).