Child Support Enforcement Agency? I Think They Should Change Their Name - They Don't ENFORCE Anything

The Illinois Child Support Enforcement Agency.  The name makes you think they actually ENFORCE the payment of Child Support.  Yeah, I've been duped, too.  Background information first:  I'm divorced.  I have two kids with my ex-husband.  He's a LOSER.  He moves around, both residence and job, constantly so I never know where he is.  He's out of state as well. 

I got tired of doing all the investigating myself to find out where he is and where he's working, so I was told about the Illinois Child Support Enforcement Agency.  It sounded like a dream.  I could pass along the support order information, case number, etc and they would find him and FORCE him to pay his child support.  HA!  Right.

I've been divorced since 2000.  He's only paid his child support maybe 20 times in the last 10 years.  He owes me somewhere between $65,000 and $70,000 in back child support.  The problem is that he's out of state.  I live in Illinois.  He lives in Indiana.  I think.  He could live elsewhere.  I don't know.  He's a pro now at moving and not being found.  Out of 50 States in this country Illinois ranks in the bottom 5 or 10 in collecting child support.  The fact that my case is an interstate case makes it even more of a joke.

In 2006 I received a Notice Order of Withholding (this is the paper the state sends to the non-custodial parent's employer listing how much he has to pay and how often).  This notice stated that he didn't have any back child support owed.  At the time he owed me somewhere around $45,000.  I tried to call the 1-800 number to talk to someone about this, and kept getting transferred, and finally disconnected.  This happened every time I was able to get through to someone.  Most of the time it's a busy signal.  On the off chance that it's not a busy signal, it's a recording after you go through the motions of press 1 to speak English, press 2 to talk about this, press 4 to talk about that, now hold.  Then a recording comes on telling you that there's an unusually high volume of callers, please call back.  Then you get disconnected.  Yea.  Fun stuff.  All in all it can take DAYS to get a live person on the phone.

In 2006 I was instructed to send a letter to the Disbursement Unit with all my information.  Long story short in about 3 months it was straightened out and the Notice Order of Withholding indicated a correct amount.  (Thank god I keep notes and paperwork meticulously filed in an accordion file for this exact reason.)  Then he quit his job. 

I received a new Notice Order of Withholding yesterday.  They're indicating he's not delinquent on his child support again.  I'm about ready to SCREAM at this agency; however, I've done that before.  They don't like it and they'll disconnect you if you swear at them.  I wish I had the money to hire a lawyer...