Hanging on to the Money

Oh the state of Illinois is throwing a bash to be sure.. How do they plan on funding this troubled state? Oh I know.. they find ways to with hold the money passed to them that is supposed to go to custodial parents.. yes that is correct child support strikes again!!

As I have previously admitted.. I failed to change my address in time and they sent out one check to the wrong address. I have been calling weekly to see if they had received it back yet.. Seems like they did on the 14th.. Now I am hearing that even though they have it.. I won't see it for up to 60 days.. cuz they have so many. Hello?? I corrected my address.. I contacted them, they have the check... send me a damned new one!!

Oh and they are undercharging the ex about $30 a week.. no biggee.. well I could use the money but if he doesnt send that money in he gets charged interest.. and honestly it accumulates and will become an issue.. anyway right now he is at $19 interest..

Sighs.. He is unemployed and trying to do the right thing.. the govt is not taking the entire amt from his check and he is gonna get screwed for not paying..

I really really hate that the govt is involved in my child support... I mean he would just pay me weekly.. oh he would moan and complain but he would pay me.. without all the crap...

Swimming Uphill

It seems that no matter how sunny it appears how much better life is getting something happens that slams me back to ground zero...

The ever so lovely State of Illinois is now 4 count em 4 weeks behind..now the one check was my fault as I didn't get an address change in time.. I accept it I acknowledge it I own it but COME ON!!! The check was mailed on 04/24 and it has not re appeared yet.. Nope still floating around in limbo.. I can't have a check re printed until 30 days... if the check shows up then they will resend it to the correct address but otherwise I have to wait.

Now the consolation prize... they have this one FANTASTIC customer service gentleman who I spoke with once on Tuesday and again today.. He REMEMBERED our conversation and went out of his way to find out all that he could.. WOW!!! and stupid me I forgot to get his name.. The man should get an award.. not only did he do his job well he was nice about it...

Anyway.. here I sit banging my head against the wall.. makes me think I am should be a junebug... sorry reference to an old camp song..

Ok, this was just STUPID

As you all know I have had a hate/hate relationship with the Illinois Child Support System. I have fought many many battles over the years and am usually the innocent party.

Well this time I am beyond stupid.. when they changed to location of where the checks came from since the ex is now unemployed I needed to veryify that they had the correct address.. I needed to fax my new addy over. Now being used to a system that created lollygagging I didn't rush the fax.

You guessed it the check was mailed and now I must wait for it to be redirected to the correct location.. How could I have even remotely been THAT stupid??

I Can See the Future and It Isn't Pretty

So the ex lost his job in theory it is not the end of the world as the payments will be taken straight out of unemployment and sent to me. Wonderful thing theory.. As you all know I have been battling the child support system for over 12 years. This past year having been one of the worst. Unfortunately it was not the worst. The very worst year I received child support it was handled directly by the state of Illinois.. Now here is the sad part.. my money would be held for up to 8 weeks at a time. I lost not one but two apartments over this and it took years to rebuild my credit.

Why is that pertinent? Well because my checks will no longer go through the state disbursement unit which is bad enough.. oh no now because of the unemployment it will be going through the state once more.. this is the same facility that I struggled with, fought with and finally dealt with the governor's office to get out of. Now I am being told that they get me again.. I would hope since it is coming from one state facility to another it will be all electronically transferred and not too much stress..

What a pipe dream that... while they may transfer from dept to dept I am not sure but I have just discovered they do not do direct deposit. That means I have to wait upon a check. What a crock.. depending on the mail?? and who in this day and age doesn't offer direct deposit? and honestly the State of Illinois does not offer direct deposit? What century are they living in?

So in short, goodness knows when my money will show up. Then when it shows up when will it transferred to my account? Then of course when will they condescend to actually mail it and finally.. when will the mailman deliver it.. Sheesh I am NEVER going to see my money.. Thank Goodness that the state insisted on protecting me from a deadbeat dad.. who by the way has paid every single child support payment on time..

Makes one wonder exactly who the deadbeats are, doesn't it?

Child Support Strikes Again!!!

The one good thing I can say about the child support system is they are consistent. Here I stand once more waiting for checks that are over three weeks late. Of course it isn't their fault, they process them as soon as they come in... no way could the mistake be on their end. The check must have gotten lost in the mail (we discussed the unlikeliness of this in the past), the company is not mailing them (aside from the fact that the law says they have 10 to mail a check and I am wayyyyyy over 10 days late)... nope it can't be their problem.

Now the adventure is going to get better as the ex has been laid off and we have to go through not one but TWO govt bureaucracies... omg I will never see my money again!! I am wondering if I should get my boots back out and do some stomping???

I know that I am not the only one this has been happening to and I was honestly hoping that it was just the folks here in Illinois that are suffering from this but I spoke with a friend this morning and he was telling me about the trials of Michigan Child Support... Oh wow!! it is happening everywhere.. what he was telling me was almost identical to what is happening to me!!

Maybe a letter to the president is in order.. or better yet his wife!! They seem to care about families or they claim to let's see what happens if I do. Of course the last time I wrote a letter to the president, about child support (yes I did) it was Clinton and I didn't even get the common courtesy of a form letter response. I did get one from then Governor Edgar's office as well as some pretty heavy assistance..

Guess I do need to kick some ass.. Not just for me, mothers it seems need an advocate..

Surviving The Crisis

Dealing with the fact that the State of Illinois Child Support System sucks is in and of itself a pain in the ass.. but because of my living situation I require them to be timely. Shoot, I need them to be on time, every time but this total and complete lateness.. this ability to just ignore the reality of the lives they are playing with is scary.

I am not sure where I stand or if I will get through this one but I am working on it. I am dealing with the bureaucracy and have been amazed by the generosity of friends.. if only to offer a shoulder to cry on.

I do know that 12 years or 11+ are too many for me to be continually on this rollercoaster. Even when I am working and have the ability to make ends meet without the support life is tough and the support helps. Face it, they are taking it from their father and NOT giving it to me.. so for the duration we are both out of the cash. They insist that this is the best way, the only way to protect me from a dead beat dad.. but honestly who is protecting me from the dead beat system?

And Still They Lag

So, it has been a week since the fiasco of no checks for me.. I finally got really angry and wrote my blog and sent it on to the powers that be. Miraculously enough the missing checks appeared. BUT... again they are late.. you know right now that is my main source of income and I am living in what could only be construed as horrid conditions, that money pays my week to week living.. So when they are late I run the risk of being homeless.. Of course they don't care. To them it is just a way to get their own paychecks. They have absolutely no concern for the individuals behind the checks.

As in so many government locations it is about herding people along, it is not about customer service or satisfaction. Their jobs are secure, their pay checks are coming so why should they bother with the time and concerns of others. The fact that I am wasting my time just writing this blog shows how little they care. I wanted to write about other things, but instead I need to document once again the ineptness of the Illinois Child Support System.

I offered them my expertise, hey I am out of work, I could use the job and I am very good at Customer Service, Order Entry and Training.. One would think they would jump at the chance to have me. It would give me a job, help with their obviously lacking program and probably shut me up.. and maybe hundreds of other voices would be silenced as well.

Let's see how long it takes for them to get me my check after I send them a copy of this blog.. last time the checks "miraculously" showed up within 48 hours of getting the letter (more like 24 business hours but I did send it late in the evening on Wed.. and the checks appeared at their location on Friday. So this time I am sending it early, maybe the check will appear as soon as today.

And the Saga Continues

Today, I received a third child support payment, so in theory they are current and up to date. I also received an email in response to the one which I sent them. In short it declared all of the Federal Laws that governed the way it was run.

"Federal law defines a business day as a day on which State offices are open for regular business. The Federal Reserve, who processes the electronic disbursement, is not open on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays to process the files. There are timing issues involved in electronic fund transfers/direct deposits. The settlement date is always the next business day. A fairly common misconception is that "electronic" does not necessarily mean "instantaneous" is the world of electronic funds transfers (EFT); whether the funds are going to or from a bank. A further bit of clarification: the Federal law requirement is two day compliance not 48 hours. The Federal Reserve, who processes these electronic files, is not open on Saturdays/Holidays to process files. Once the electronic disbursement file is sent to the State Disbursement Unit's bank and confirmed received, the funds are flowing through the Federal Reserve ACH electronic system and are incapable of being "held" by the SDU. The money is getting to your account as quickly as the banking system allows."

hmmm, interesting, I guess I am too stupid to allow for business days and the concept of what is and isn't considered instant deposits, of course I am a 46 year old woman who has functioned in society on her own for a lifetime. But I need an email to explain what a business day is.. what they of course failed to explain is why it is that AFTER I complained to them they suddenly found my checks.. After I pitched a major fit, the checks mysteriously appeared in my account.. hmm, one has to wonder if maybe they are skirting Federal Law.. I mean if the checks were really and truly lost in the mail, then how is it the all arrived immediately after my rant? The coincidence is astounding..

Oh, I know I will never be able to prove that I am right and God forbid they admit that they screwed up.. but we all know the truth.. oh yeah, and they still haven't responded to my offer to come work for them.. teaching them basic customer service skills.

The thing that bothers me the absolute most is, yes I received my money. Yes, I won that battle but what about those women who don't have my fortitude? My anger? My ability to fight the system? To question what is said and what is true? They are left alone without a voice. They are pushed aside, waiting for the money that is theirs by law and by right. Their voices are not heard.. WRONG!! If they so choose they may consider me their voice in the battle.. I am not going to let this go away. I am tired of wondering week after week after week if this week is going to be the one where my checks are late. I am angry that I had to fight a battle that should never have had to be fought, and I have had to fight it for 12 years.. Oh no, Illinois Child Support System, I will not go quietly into the night.. Oh no, you have created an enemy, a voice for the single mom.. and here in this forum I FINALLY have a voice.

Amazingly Enough

So I write a nasty blog and then I write to Child Support sending them the link, with the threat that if I don't get my money my next step is going to be to contact my local officials and the press.

You will be amazed and astounded.... the money mysteriously arrived at the CS center on Friday. Yes that is correct 2 checks arrived on just that day. It must have just arrived because we all know that they process the checks the minute they receive them. It couldn't have anything to do with my blog, phone calls and letters.. No coincidentally they received them on Friday.

Of course, I haven't heard anything about the job yet. I think they should really consider taking me up on my offer because this year I am their worst nightmare. Yep, that is correct every check that is late is going to be the lucky recipient of a blog. Making sure that the entire world knows how very inept they are.

Now, the good news is they received the checks, the bad news is they received them on Friday so even with direct deposit I won't see the money until Monday. Oh well at least I will be able to pay my storage and won't loose my things... For that I had until next Friday. And that was only because the manager of the storage facility works with me for that I am eternally grateful.

One has to feel sorry for the Child Support System, they ticked me off... gave me a purpose... now they are going to have to be accountable for their actions...

Child Support and the Government

You have to love the government and it's ability to grab on to money and not let go..

Upon my separation from my husband I was granted child support that was supposed to go through the public aid system. This program was developed to protect women from dead beat dads.. Yeah, right. In the beginning my checks were often late, at least 3 times in the first year they were 8 weeks late. My anger at this culminated in me writing a scathing letter to just about every politician I knew from the president on down. Contacting my local state representative personally and calling the governors office. My desire to escape this program worked they let me out (I know they just didn't want to listen to me anymore but I was free).

For 10 glorious months I received my checks from a county seat, they came on time every week of course that was not to remain the case. In steps the federal government who declared every state had to have one central location to send their checks.. of course the transition was rough and the checks were late and hey who cares if I lost my home over it? Of course the county clerk lost his job but I bet he got to keep living in his house. And yes, I once again contacted every resource I could and this time I had made the paper.

That was 10 years ago, up until now things have been better. Oh an occasional check would come late but in generall I would receive my checks within a day or so of when they were expected. But they have gotten complacent! Over the past year they have been late well over 20 times and behind as much as a week if not 2 12 times.. even now they are behind 2plus weeks.

When I call, I am told that they have not received the check for one of the following reasons.

A. the company has not yet sent it (the company which has sent their checks on the same day for over 12 years and has the paperwork to prove it)

B. The post office lost it.. what an interesting theory. The PO does not loose quite as many items as one would believe and seriously the same check week after week after week? Of course they really shouldn't use this argument on a child of the postal system. I understand how it works. When you mail a letter it goes to your local Post Office, if it is leaving that town it is sent to a distribution center THAT SAME DAY and forwarded on from there. For example if one worked in Bloomingdale IL and mailed a letter it would go to the Bloomingdale PO then get sent to the Carol Stream PO which is it's distribution center. From there it will be processed to go on. Now if one was sending a letter to say oh the Child Support system of Illinois you would be sending it to a PO box AT THE CAROL STREAM PO. so it would leave your office, go to the Bloomingdale Office and then to the Carol Stream one where it would be placed in the correct PO Box (the very same day) and not leave that Post Office in anyone's hands but the person from Child Support designated to pick it up (which would happen the very DAY AFTER it was mailed)... the odds of it getting lost are very very slim.

Now when speaking to the Customer Service people (and I use that term with a bit of contempt as more than a few of said employees are rude, arrogant and insufferable - not all quite a few) they will tell you that the checks are processed the minute they arrive. Hello? that is physically impossible, it would imply that for every check there is one single person waiting there to process it... yeah right!! Since that is obviously not the case each check is not processed as soon as it comes in, rather as soon as possible. Allowing for lazy, inept employees to enter it in. I am sure an occasional honest mistake is also made. Often these times come around the holidays or days when the PO is not delivering (where the argument lost in the mail or delayed by the mail still would not work do to the proximity of the Post Offices I am discussing).

Now, I always know when they are seriously behind in the checks because I call and am kept on hold, listening to their ghastly hold music. When I comment on this I am told that the two locations are not together and thus their delays have nothing to do with what is happening with the checks. Again, hello?? they are getting more than the usual amount of calls because more than the usual amount of checks are late.. Do the math..

Of course, what do I know? years as a senior Customer Service Rep would surely not give me a clue as to how to speak with a customer making sure they at least feel like something is being done for them. And of course the time, I spent in Order Entry would never allow me basic knowledge of how an item is processed and handled.

I am serious these people need me to come work for them, give them a clue as to how to get it right.. because they just keep screwing up over and over again.. Child Support Give me a call, I know you have my name, number, address, SS#, docket #, name of my children, my ex, my dog's name, my sister's husband's cousin's fishes name.. etc. What you haven't yet learned is not to keep my money.. I am getting seriously irked.