A computer problem in another state is making headlines in Colorado and all over the nation. It seems an upgrade to a state’s computer system caused a delay in child support payments to parents who needed them, and they weren’t even notified directly of the problem. Many discovered it for themselves.
According to NBC 2, tens of thousands of families received their child support payments at least a day late due to the glitch. In that state, child support payments are processed by the Department of Revenue. An upgrade in the department’s computer system last week apparently affected two days’ worth of child support payments.
One woman says she relies on her ex-husband’s payments for their four-year-old daughter. He is always consistent, she says, with payments coming every two weeks right out of his paycheck. So, she says, she knew something wasn’t quite right when she didn’t get the payment on time.
She called the Department of Revenue to find out what was going on and was told they were changing their computer system. According to NBC, a few messages posted to the department’s website and a phone recording were the only warnings to parents that there might be a delay in payments.
The mother says she just wishes the department had let parents know ahead of time what was going on. While not everyone would echo her sentiment, she also wishes she could deal more directly in getting the payments herself. “If I could, I would,” she says.
Source: NBC 2, “State causes delay of child support payments,” Jan. 9, 2012