
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 10, 1990                   TAG: 9003102677
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SUPPORT COLLECTIONS UP 26% TO $96 MILLION

Virginia raised its child-support collections by more than 26 percent in fiscal 1989, making it one of only a dozen states to increase collections by better than one-quarter, federal welfare officials said.

The state Division of Child Support Enforcement collected about $96 million in fiscal 1989. It collected about $76 million in the previous 12 months.

Virginia, which ranks 12th among states in population, now ranks 16th in the nation in total child-support collections.

The state's child-support agency came under fire from legislators and parents several years ago for weak enforcement, lost payments and other bureaucratic foul-ups. It has made large gains over the past three years, however.

State child-support Director Harry Wiggins said he was pleased with the improvements, but "we still have some work ahead of us." The department has set a goal of collecting $130 million this year.

Of the $96 million collected in fiscal 1989, about $23 million was to reimburse the state for welfare payments. The rest was collected in non-welfare cases.

The state also increased the number of cases in which it established legal responsibility of children's biological fathers, a crucial step in forcing them to pay their child-support obligations. The number of paternities established by the agency grew to 8,471 in fiscal 1989 - a jump of 47 percent over the previous year.

by CNB