DHS helps parents access unclaimed child support funds

Many parents depend on child support payments to meet their children’s basic needs for food, clothing and health care. Yet every year, some of those payments go unclaimed, because parents don’t know that they are available.

In 2019, the Minnesota Department of Human Services worked with counties to track down and notify parents who were missing out on that income. As a result of their efforts, 241 families were able to access more than $435,000 in unclaimed child support payments.

“We want to make sure children get all the support they need,” said Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. “Our child support staff at the counties and state deserve kudos for going the extra mile to make sure families receive all of the money that belongs to them.”

Child support staff work with U.S. Bank to issue ReliaCards® to most parents who are court-ordered to receive child support. Parents can use these cards like debit cards to access their child support. The reasons why funds on these cards go unclaimed vary.

The ReliaCard® may have gotten lost or, if parents moved, it may have been sent to the wrong address. If the parent who is court-ordered to pay child support was unemployed and hadn’t been paying, the parent due to receive payments may have stopped checking the account balance.

Parents may have been saving the money for larger expenses like college or medical or dental bills without realizing they had to withdraw funds from the card within three years. In the past, counties helped parents claim these funds. For the first time in 2019, DHS joined forces with counties in this work.

They started with a list of 865 families that had unclaimed funds; of those, 241 have been able to recover funds so far. State and county staff will continue to contact parents with funds remaining on their ReliaCards® and let them know they can sign up for text alerts from U.S. Bank to get notified when payments have been added to their cards. Together, DHS and counties hope to build on their success in 2020.

Parents can check the amount of money on their ReliaCards® several ways: By calling U.S. Bank Cardholder Services at 1-855-233-8375 By signing up for payment alerts via text or email on the S. Bank ReliaCard® website By downloading the U.S. Bank ReliaCard® mobile app. DHS works with county and tribal child support agencies, parents, employers, government agencies, other states and community partners to help children receive the financial, medical and child care support they deserve.

The department’s Child Support Division collects and distributes child support payments, maintains a database of child support cases, takes enforcement action on delinquent cases, helps to establish parentage, and engages in child support communications and outreach throughout the state.