An innovative program that the Texas Attorney General’s (AG) office initiated last September is proving to be very successful. As discussed in a previous blog post, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) is now denying motor vehicle registration renewals to noncustodial parents who have gone six months or more without making a child support payment, as provided by state statute. The goal of the initiative is to obtain compliance with court orders and get lawfully obligated money to children and parents.
After six months, 3,852 parents have paid $1.17 million in child support payments on 4,634 cases, which averages $252 per case. According to the AG’s office, the highest single amount collected was $54,000.
Under the denial of vehicle registration renewal program, parents do not have to get completely caught up on the total amount of back child support they owe in order for the denial of their registration renewal to be lifted, but they are required to honor the terms of the payment plan they’ve agreed to with the Child Support Division.
“This program is proving to be an effective tool in convincing delinquent parents to fulfill their most important obligation – providing for their children,” said Attorney General Paxton. “As soon as a payment is arranged, the hold on an auto registration renewal is released. The aim of the program is to obtain compliance with court orders to provide support for children, not to punish parents or deny them their livelihood.”
To learn more about this program and how it’s helping Texas children, click here.