Dear Parents,

As you may have heard, a recent federal law now requires that all states have one central location from which child support payments will be disbursed. In the State of Maryland, this new office is located in Baltimore and is under the direction of the Department of Human Resources, Office of Collections Management. The reasons for this change are: first, to make it easier for payors and employers by having one address to send all payments, and second, to shorten processing time through the use of the latest technology.

The advanced system installed at the centralized location speeds up processing by relying on a computer’s prodigal memory. An actual image of every check is scanned into the system, and with each first scan all of the relative case information is manually entered. After this initial entry simply scanning the routing number will automatically bring up all of the pertinent data connected with that check.

A gradual roll out process by county was developed for the entire state. Anne Arundel County was included in the second wave of the roll out in December 1999. Notice of this change was mailed to payors and to a large percentage of the employers we do business with, advising that payments should be sent to the centralized location starting December 1st. Another mass mailing went out February 1, 2000 and by the end of February, all liens as well as all other payments should all be going to the Baltimore location. But never fear---Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) will continue to process payments made in person at our office or in Court.

Thanks for your cooperation and patience as we continue to enhance our system in order to ensure that children receive much needed support as expediently as possible.