Unpaid Child Support Countywide Totaled $150M Last Year

Santa Barbara County had nearly 10,000 cases of unpaid child support in 2017, a loss to families totaling about $150 million annually. A new law — Assembly Bill 2802 — signed by the governor will require insurance payouts to be first used to pay any past-due child support payments. Last year, the county’s Child Support Services was able to collect and distribute $8.5 million from delinquent parents, said Joni Maiden, assistant director of the department. AB 2802, written by Assemblymember Laura Friedman of Glendale and sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, will help collect support that county families are owed, Maiden said.