Child Support Services

Each parent has the legal responsibility to pay child support while his or her child is in foster care. This includes parents who are living together or are separated, but does not include stepparents. Parents are required to pay child support whether they voluntarily place their child in foster care or the placement is court-ordered. This includes children who are in need of assistance or who have been identified as delinquent. The amount of child support each parent pays applies to the total cost of foster care, which will be paid up-front by the State of Iowa.

The types of foster care for which parents will be asked to pay include:

Family foster care

Shelter care

Group care

Supervised independent living

The District Court and Child Support Services set the amount of child support by using the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines. The District Court will be asked to approve the child support order. A copy of the final order will be sent to you. Establishing a child support order is a serious legal matter. You may want to ask a lawyer for advice regarding the order.

If a parent is not already ordered to pay child support, the process to establish a court order will begin. The parent is served with a legal notice asking for income information. The notice also explains how child support will be calculated and how it can be paid. You may notify CSS if you want to accept legal service of the notice by mail. Contact information may be found on the Child Support Services Offices page.

It is very important that each parent provides income information.

You will receive a calculation of the recommended amount of child support based upon your income information. A child support order will be prepared using this recommended amount. The District Court will be asked to approve the child support order. A copy of the final order will be sent to you.

When a parent has already been ordered to pay support for the child in foster care, a new order will not be obtained. However, the support is owed to the state from the first day the child is in foster care through the last day. CSS collects the amount of child support ordered by the Court.

If you receive a child support payment, do not spend it. Instead, call the telephone number listed in the legal notice or contact a local CSS office.

The most common method of collecting support is through income withholding. Visit the Child Support Services Making Payments page for information on payment methods offered. 

If your child receives government benefits or you receive a benefit payment for your child as a representative payee, you should notify the social worker or juvenile court officer. The state will be the representative payee while your child is in foster care. The state's receipt of your child's benefits does not replace your obligation to pay child support.

When your child leaves foster care, the government benefits will be returned to you as representative payee.

Note: If you are disabled and receive social security disability benefits, call the telephone number listed in the legal notice or contact a local CSS office. Your receipt of social security disability benefits may replace child support for the child in placement if the child receives these benefits on your behalf.

No person shall be excluded from employment or the receipt of service or benefits by Iowa HHS on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion or political belief, physical or mental disability, and veteran status.

Find more information about our services, including case specific information, on our website, www.childsupport.ia.gov or by calling the child support automated information line at 1-888-229-9223.