Ohio has seized $2 million in unpaid child support from jackpot winners at Ohio’s casinos and racinos over the last 11 months.
Since September 2014, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) has partnered with the Lottery Commission, Casino Control Commission, and Ohio’s casinos and racinos to check jackpot winners against a database of parents who owe child support. If a winner owes child support, the casino withholds all or part of the jackpot.
“These winnings are a small part of the nearly $2 billion in child support payments made each year in Ohio, but it is important that we deliver this money to the children who deserve it,” said ODJFS Director Cynthia C. Dungey. “If parents are behind on their child support, it is only right that any gambling winnings go directly to their children.”
August is Child Support Awareness Month, and ODJFS joins Governor John R. Kasich and Lt. Governor Mary Taylor in honoring the parents, families, caseworkers, and judicial and social services organizations that provide essential support to more than 1 million children around the state.
Ohio’s county child support enforcement agencies collect 69 percent of all child support owed, far better than the national average of 64 percent. Ohio consistently ranks in the top five of all states for collections on current support due and exceeds the national average for establishing paternity. For each dollar in administrative costs, the child support program collects and distributes $7.34 in child support.
Families with questions about child support orders can check their case information online at childsupport.ohio.gov or by contacting their county child support enforcement agency. A directory of county agencies is available online here: jfs.ohio.gov/county
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