As we have discussed here previously (Mecklenburg County Child Support Cases Affected? Some North Carolina Counties Scrambling for Planned Child Support Enforcement Takeover), North Carolina will no longer bear the responsibility for enforcing child support obligations. Mecklenburg County is one of the counties which currently relies on the state for child support enforcement. The Charlotte Observer reports that Mecklenburg County is evaluating various options for taking over the responsibility for enforcement of its child support cases. Starting July 1, 2010 Mecklenburg County and 27 other counties must take over the enforcement of child support payments for the cases pending in their respective counties.
The issue comes up again for the County commissioners again on Wednesday. Thus far, the evaluations have focused primarily on whether to privatize the service. The lowest bid thus far from a private contractor was $600,000.00. The cost for implementing the program utilizing a consultant and county staff would cost approximatley $1.5 million dollars. Some appear to be in favor of hiring a private company to handle the child support enforcement for at least the first two years while others question whether a private company can be as effective as the current system.
