Electronic Income Withholding (e-IWO): Increasing Collection Rates, Helping Children Receive Consistent Payments

Janelle Mora, CA DCSS

Over the past two years, the California Department of Child Support Services (CA DCSS) has improved the income withholding system by creating a process that reduces work for employers and gets money to families quicker. Prior to 2013, employers processed all income withholding orders (IWOs) on paper, resulting in mailing costs to employers and longer collection processing times reliant on postal deliveries. Since implementing the electronic income withholding order (e-IWO) process, support collections and processing times have continuously improved.

The e-IWO process has greatly benefited the Child Support program. The process is quicker and more efficient and notifies child support agencies of employment terminations and any lump sum or bonus payments which can benefit children. The electronic process has also helped reduce input errors that can occur during manual processing. Overall, income withholding has improved by more than $73 million since 2013.

Wage withholding is the most effective form of payment collection across the country, in California, it makes up more than 65 percent of child support collections. Through marketing efforts, participating in employer workshops statewide, and partnering with local child support agencies (LCSAs) in workshops and webinars, the Employer Services Team built stronger bonds with agencies who assist families and children obtain the support they need.

Additionally, the Employer Services Team made supplemental improvements to the employer website by embedding instructions on all required forms and providing helpful links. By connecting employers to the child support program in more ways than ever before, improving data quality, and focusing attention on the option of e-IWO, the Employer Services Team successfully reduced the time it takes for families to receive a child support payment via IWO by an average of six days.

It is estimated CA DCSS will collect more than $1.6 billion from withholding orders in 2016-2017. Determined to reduce collection processing times further, the Employer Services Team is actively working to improve systems and practices to improve relationships with employers, LCSAs, families, and children.