In a press release put out earlier this week, the Maryland Department of Human Resource (DHR) announced that in 2010 they had collected over $512 million in child support payments. This money was distributed over 248,000 cases; each case representing one child owed economic support from their non-custodial parent.

 “Child support plays a vital role in providing economic security for our children,” said DHR’s Deputy Secretary of Programs, Stacy Rodgers. “We are using all the tools at our disposal to collect and distribute this resource to the children who deserve the financial and emotional support of both parents.”

Tools to collect back-owed child support include the denial of passports, interception of tax refund payments and lottery winnings, and the suspension of driver’s licenses and professional licenses for the non-custodial parent once the parent has exceeded pre-determined amounts. The state may also report child support payment deliquency to credit reporting bureaus.