Child Support Agency IS Big Business

by Jo
(Rock Co, Wis)

My daughter will turn 18 next month. In 17 years I have only recieved support 4 times in 2001, & 3 times this year. I didnot recieve even 1 letter from the agency informing me of child support, arrears, when he stopped paying, when he got new job ect. When I found out on my own that he owned his own business grossing $500,000 a year I called CSA to ask why support payments havent been raised from &50.00 a month to the legal 17%, I got no answers. I couldnt get any help from the agency. Within 17 years my daughter was placed in foster care for MAYBE 1.5 year. A few months here & there for disorderly & delinquincy. My x is in arrears to me for about $30,000 plus, CSA took all that was owed to me & transfered it to foster care ie 'the state.' I understand that both me & my x are responsible for our daughters care. What I dont understand is why all that is owed to me, 17 years worth of arrears is going to the state for not even 1.5 years of care. When i called and asked 'what the hell?' they couldnt answer, instead I went on the roller coaster of passing the buck.
So I requested a payment history. After about 3 months I got 1, & according to CSA I was given support for years that I did not get even 1 dime. Sometime in the late 90's you could get a visa card that they distribute child support on, I did get one in 2001 to which I got 4 payments in the amount of $11 here $58, $200, and another $11. That was all I got the card expired in 2003 and I never recieved another one, the reason this is important is cuz CSA claims I recieved support for the years 2004,2006,2008 & 2010. I called CSA again to find out what was happening & was told that I would have to get a hold of the card company to find out where my money went, since I did not have a card, nor was it being sent as a check through the mail, & it wasnt being direct deposit. So I call the card company (im sure you can guess what happened) to ask for a history of payments for those years, & I was told they can only go back 6 months. So I asked if they have any records of me having a card again I got 'we dont have that information.'
CSA is suppose to help inforce the child support order, they never helped me get support but when it came down to collecting for the state of Wis they were all over that, making sure his support/current was raised for their collection, but I couldn't even get them to enforce the order for me. It blows my mind how a parent who was making over $500,000 a year for 4 years (til he went to jail for illegal bisness dealing)was only ordered to pay $50.00 a month. It might sound a lil paranoid, but i think what is going on is a lot of passing the buck til my daughter turns 18. It is my opinion that CSA is nothing more than a mob boss shaking down people (especially those who can not afford to fight) for 'protection'. I do have a ???? & hope someone here knows the answer, Is there a limited time for me to bring a case like the one above to the courts? For instance, do i need to bring a suit on CSA before my daughter turns 18 or does that not matter?