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chicagotribune.com
State's error on child support begets another

Jon Yates

What's Your Problem?

January 22, 2009

Robert Frazin has been happily married for 35 years. He has never been divorced.

So it was a bit of a shock, not to mention embarrassing, when the state started garnishing
his pay for child support in November.

Claiming he owed $3,013 in back payments, Illinois ordered Frazin's employer to deduct
$39.42 from each paycheck.

Dumbfounded, the Chicago resident assured his employer the state had made a mistake. Then he called the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services and told the agency it had the wrong man.

The state quickly owned up to the flub. On Nov. 18, it sent Frazin's employer another letter saying the order had been entered against Frazin in error.

It referenced a court order and said simply, "Mr. Frazin is the incorrect person on this case."

The letter cleared Frazin and certainly made him feel better, but it didn't stop the paycheck deductions.

By the time the paperwork was cleared up, the state had taken $78.84.

Frazin said he asked the state for the money back and was told he would get it—as soon as the woman who received the $78.84 paid the state back.

Outraged, Frazin e-mailed What's Your Problem?

"It's not a lot of money. It's just $80," he said. "But quite frankly, it just [ticked] me off."

Frazin, who has two grown kids, said he could understand the original mistake. What he couldn't fathom is why the state didn't give back his money immediately.

"I inquired as to why I had to wait for someone unknown to me to return checks that the State of Illinois issued in error and at my expense," he said last week. "I was given no clear explanation. So, aside from being embarrassed by this whole episode, I am still waiting for my money to be returned."

The Problem Solver called Annie Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which oversees that child-support division. Days later, Frazin's money was refunded.

Pam Lowry, administrator of the state's Division of Child Support Enforcement, said Frazin should not have been told his refund was dependent on the recipient returning the money.

"Whenever we make an error, and in this case it was our error, we do the refund," Lowry said.

She said she has been unable to track down the person who gave Frazin misinformation.

Frazin said he received a call from a woman with the state late last week informing him his money was on the way.

"She said she was directed to call me," he said. "I said, 'It's because I called the Chicago Tribune.'

"She said, 'Sometimes that's the way to get things done.' "