What is CSEA?
The Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) is an integral component of Ohio’s child support program. The CSEA is charged with the responsibility of providing various child support services, such as the establishment and enforcement of child support obligations. In some counties, the CSEA is an agency of the county, while in other counties the CSEA is a division of the Bureau of Child Support of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services .
The CSEA may be involved when a paternity action has been filed, pursuant to R.C. 3111.13. It is possible to have the CSEA involved in a divorce proceeding, but that is not typical. An order for spousal support does not require the involvement of the CSEA, but any order for child support does. The CSEA does not establish custody or parenting time orders, and is not involved if there is a shared parenting plan in place.
Services CSEA Offers
A myriad of legal services are offered by the CSEA pursuant to Chapter 3119. The CSEA does not provide services to those who are not in the CSEA’s jurisdiction. People often get confused and think that the CSEA provides legal services similar to attorneys; however, although the CSEA provides some legal services, those services are limited by statute. The legal services provided by CSEA include enforcement of current support and arrearages, paternity establishment, suspension of licenses, spousal support, medical support, and custodial parent assistance through the Parenting Time Enforcement Program.
Ohio child support orders are enforced through contempt actions and income withholding. Contempt actions are the way a parent asks the court to find the other parent in violation of the support order. Before requesting a contempt hearing, the arrearage must be unpaid for more than two months. The CSEA will review a case to determine if there are any defenses within 30 days of receipt of a contempt request. If there is a defense to the contempt hearing, the CSEA will refer the case to a hearing officer or magistrate for a hearing.
There are various defenses to contempt. A party can show an inability to pay by showing the statutory factors of employment, income sources, income deductions, necessary expense, and other financial resources. If the failure to pay child support is beyond one’s control, that is also a defense. Failure to pay when there are no funds could also be a defense. The circumstances of the parties can also demonstrate an inability to pay.
Paternity actions ensure that a father has been proven to be the biological father of a child. If the parents are not married to each other, paternity is established by court action or by acknowledgment of paternity. If the parents are married, then the husband is automatically the legal father of a child born during marriage in Ohio.
Paternity actions are typically requested by the CSEA in order to determine parentage of children when the CSEA does not have an order for child support. Paternity may also be established upon request of a party or upon request of another agency.
Based on Chapter 3121, there are three reasons to seek a modification of a child support order. The three reasons are: (1) the current support order was issued under the child support guidelines but the order does not address the health care costs as required; (2) the current support order abated because the child has attained majority or is otherwise emancipated; or (3) there has been a change in circumstances as described by statute.
How to Obtain CSEA Legal Services
CSEA Legal Services can be accessed through a "case" with CCSMD. All complaints must be in a C case (whether or not they are opened in CCSMD). A "Legal Memo" is required to access the Legal Services:
Cases are assigned to CSEA staff based on which agency they are with in Prince George’s County, not based on geographic location.
Referrals must be made in a timely manner. All referrals must be sent to CSEA staff before the preliminary and final hearings. If a case is already back from hearing and closed, like when we seek additional information or evidence on an appeal, we generally do not reopen it. But if the case was combined with a hearing that was missed, we often do open the record back up to allow for testimony.
Pleadings must be filed in MD or the asset search requested be added into the CCSMD case. MD is the state in which the agency action is being contested. If the MD case is closed and you still need discovery, you’ll want to request that it be reopened.
A legal memo must be received by CSEA Staff before the preliminary and final hearings (pre-hearing or observing the conference is not enough). This is true for both complaints and appeals.
•You must meet the income threshold
•The Agency you are appealing is receiving state funded CSE services
•For complaints you must be able to show cooperation with child support enforcement
We are given a range of cases for the month to conduct observations and get records. So we cannot say who will observe on what. Observations are done from the time of preliminary hearing up to the end of the hearing and we do not open the hearing to access from the beginning to the end. Often times, those who are accessing records, are accessing them on days they are not observing. We ask that if you have a certain person you’d like for us to access for a specific hearing, you let your CSA know even before the hearing date.
Benefits of Using CSEA for Legal Issues
The CSEA offers a variety of benefits for people who are involved in legal matters that affect their children. One of the main advantages of this program is that it provides expert assistance in child support and visitation disputes. Many custodial parents struggle with getting non-custodial parents to pay their full amounts of child support. Having an experienced lawyer involved in the process can ensure that payments are made when they are supposed to be. If payments are not made after a judgment has been rendered, CSEA can take legal enforcement actions against the non-custodial parent.
CSEA legal services are also beneficial in cases involving visitation. Non-custodial parents often have visitation rights with their children. However , these rights sometimes need to be supervised. CSEA legal services ensure that this supervision is provided if needed and that all documentation regarding the visits is properly filed. Other legal services may be utilized when the custody arrangement between non-custodial parent and custodial parent is not honored or there is a move out of state. A CSEA attorney can assist with the legal process if the parties cannot agree on custody or visitation arrangements.
Many times, the CSEA can assist when the parents agree on certain aspects of a divorce but are having problems with the distribution of property. CSEA has attorneys that can work with both parents to settle the matter without having to go any further in the legal process. These attorneys save time and money, rather than attempting to litigate. For contested matters, there are a number of CSEA attorneys to choose from when the issues regarding custody cannot be worked out amicably. This is important for many families with small children, who really need to minimize contact with the other parent. CSEA allows people to settle their disagreements with children in mind, rather than personal feelings.
Common Challenges and Considerations
There are several potential challenges when dealing with CSEA. One example is that the Ohio Office of Child Support provides the CSEA staff with a card, and they are not required to speak to parents and/or clients on the telephone. However, in Ohio, we have adopted the concept that counsel cannot talk to the opposing party outside of a meeting or trial without their attorney being present. Unfortunately, some staff members of CSEA will not return phone calls. This makes it very difficult to get necessary information to provide your client a proper review. It also results in wasting time.
Additionally, once again, the courts are not required to get involved. For example, if CSEA makes a mistake, a parent or counsel may write to CSEA, but CSEA may take weeks or months to get back to the parent or counsel. The client or counsel may be required to pay a child support payment in an amount that might be wrong during this time frame. Approximately every three years, there is a review by the Office of Child Support of Ohio in all cases that are active. This is not a true review by a court.
Further, even after a court order has been filed, individuals cannot count on only that order for either support or parenting time. CSEA is supposed to send a notice and a copy of the support order to the obligor’s employer. That notice and copy of the support order, while it is an important document so that the employer is their person’s actual wages, it does require the employer to do a few things. For instance, the order should state the wage amounts that are to be withheld, the schedule for payments, as well as the date of the withholding. Employers are not necessarily going to be able to follow that particular parent’s person plan as well as they’re ordered to do by the court order. Again, this can result in problems of overpaying child support.
While the above are some of the challenges and concerns when dealing with CSEA, it is very important to keep in mind that they are in place to collect child support in a timely manner. If CSEA is contacted, whether by letter or by a personal visit, it is imperative that the Ohio Office of Child Support be informed whether or not payments are current, and that there is an agreement as to whether or not cash payments or payment by wage withholding is appropriate for that person involved with CSEA.
FAQs about CSEA
People often ask "How soon should I retain counsel to handle my CSEA case?" In many instances the answer is not that clear. CSEA cases often involve a great deal of personal information that has to be supplied by the client. The CSEA screening process, as well as other CSEA work is made easier by having your counsel commence that work as soon as possible. Because of the above, you should be prepared for the fact that your attorney will be requesting a lot of information from you promptly after retaining that attorney. It is often useful to have an outline of the information needed from you, so if it is at hand, you can use it to begin to gather the information before your attorney asks you to.
Another question that we receive asks, "How much does CSEA legal services cost?" Just like most other legal services, the cost is based upon the time it takes to do the job . The amount of time is based on the relevant facts and the complexity of the issues involved. In the CSEA context this might relate to the amount that the person is being charged with lying about on their application or whether the person was in jail or not, among other things. The fee candidates pay to CSEA Legal also represents a value to the client. This fee is actually a retainer for the services rendered. Every hour worked gets deducted from the retainer amount. Once that retainer is used up, if the total time exceeds the retainer amount, the client is billed for the excess time. If the retainer amount turns out to be more than the amount of time expended, the retainer is refunded to the client. The benefit to you is that you are charged only for the actual time that attorneys and other staff spent working on your case.