The department offers services to dependent children living in Illinois and out of state. To apply for child support services, a person does not have to apply for or receive public assistance. To find more information on the child support program for non-assistance customers, look at the Non Assistance Program Fact Sheet.

Services

If the dependent children live with one parent and the other parent does not live at home and does not provide financial support, the division will:

- Search for the non-custodial parent.

- Establish paternity

- Obtain a child support order or enforce an existing order when the non-custodial parent has been located.

- Enforce the child support order by serving an income withholding notice for child support on the non-custodial parent's employer.

- Secure medical insurance for the children.

Collections

To collect child support, the division can intercept state and federal income tax refund checks, withhold state benefits -- such as unemployment benefits and lottery winnings, place liens on property, freeze accounts and refer cases to the Illinois Department of Revenue and private collections agencies.

The division receives daily information from the Illinois Department of Employment Security to track newly hired employees within the state. The division shares its new hire lists with the federal government and soon will have access to information about new hires in all states.

The division shares information with national credit bureaus, the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation, the Illinois Department of Revenue and federal agencies. These reports can affect a person's ability to obtain credit, a professional license, a federal payment or a U.S. passport. Also, a person who does not pay child support can have an Illinois driver's license suspended by the Secretary of State's office.

How to Apply at Regional Offices

If you are interested in getting child support services and do not receive public assistance, you can call the Child Support Customer Service Call Center at 1-800-447-4278 or go to the Child Support regional office in your area.

How to Apply via the Internet

You may also apply for non-assistance child support services by printing the accompanying application form and mailing it to the Child Support Regional office nearest you. Your signed application must be received before an interview can be scheduled. You can take the completed application to the child support office in your area.

Before downloading the form, you may need to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Illinois Child Support Enforcement offers the form below for download in Portable Document Format (PDF). In order to view or print this form in the PDF format, you will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader®. You will need to download and install the Acrobat Reader, which is available from Adobe's Web site, on your computer. Click on the Adobe® Icon for the free download.

Application for Child Support Enforcement (Title IV-D)

If you have questions about the application or child support services, you may contact the Customer Service Call Center at 1-800-447-4278 or E-mail them to: Client Services