Child Support Services

Who We Are

Child Support Enforcement (CSE) is a national program established by Congress in 1975 to ensure that both parents are responsible for the support of their children to the best of their ability. This program, now known in North Carolina as Child Support Services (CSS), provides services to the custodians of minor children, regardless of income level.

In 1975, Title IV-D was added to the Social Security Act to establish a nationwide Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program, with the purpose of recouping money paid out to welfare recipients when at least one parent was absent from the home and did not provide support. N.C. General Statutes 110-128 through 110-142.2 established North Carolina’s CSE (now CSS) program. These federal and state laws set forth the requirements for the program

Who We Serve

Child Support services are available to anyone who wants or needs help in collecting child support.  Child Support offers assistance in the following areas:

  • Location of noncustodial parents – Child Support searches to find where the noncustodial parent lives and/or works.
  • Paternity establishment for children born outside of the marriage – Child Support establishes the legal father of the child when needed in pursuit of child support.
  • Establishment of Support Obligations– Child Support establishes a court order for the noncustodial parent to provide support for his/her child(ren).
  • Collection and distribution of support – Child Support keeps records of court ordered child support payments processed by the North Carolina Child Support Centralized Collections operation and tracks the distribution and disbursement of those payments.
  • Enforcement of support obligations – Child Support uses as many enforcement remedies as necessary to ensure the noncustodial parent's compliance with the court ordered support.

Individuals who receive services through Public Assistance (IV-A) or Foster Care (IV-E) programs are eligible and automatically referred for child support services free of charge. Non-Public Assistance individuals can apply for child support services and would be responsible for paying up to a twenty-five dollar ($25) non-refundable application fee.  

As of October 1, 2018, Federal regulations at Section 454(6)(B)(ii) of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and N.G.G.S. 110-130.1 require that an annual fee of $35.00 be assessed on each case of an individual who has never received public assistance funds for any child in the case and who receives $550.00 in child support payments during each Federal Fiscal Year (October 1 - September 30).

NC Child Support Customer Service Center:

Anyone with a child support case can get information on their case using the web or telephone. The North Carolina eChild Support web site  (https://www.ncchildsupport.com/ecoa/index.jsp) was implemented in February 2002 and has been a success with custodial and noncustodial parents. They use this tool to quickly obtain information about their case and payment information. They also utilize it as an email source to request such services as case information or address changes.

Customer Service at 1-800-992-9457: The customer service center assists callers 24 hours a day with an automated voice response system as well as personalized assistance between 7:30 am and 7:30 pm.

Helpful Links:

Automated Online Payments

To make a support payment online, please CLICK HERE.