TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is seeking to boost child support collections with a new ad campaign.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the campaign will urge businesses to report new hires for collection purposes. Kansas law currently requires employers to provide the names of newly hired workers to the Department of Labor within 20 days of the hire. The workers are checked against a list of individuals owing support, and if a positive match is reported, the state begins withholding support from the worker’s paycheck.
But the law provides no penalties for businesses that don’t report new hires, and the Department for Children and Families said a “large percentage” of employers aren’t doing so. Officials couldn’t provide an exact percentage.