The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division

On 1 April 2008 the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division replaced the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency. Our role continues to be to make sure that parents who live apart from their children contribute financially to their upkeep by paying child maintenance.

We provide an impartial Information and Support Service to help parents make informed choices about child maintenance and offer practical information in areas linked to child maintenance; and

We provide a Statutory Maintenance Service to set up, arrange or collect child support maintenance for children whose parents live apart, an objective shared with the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission in Great Britain. You can also claim child maintenance online

The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division Media Campaign has been running since September 2008.  The campaign targets those parents who do not live with their children and who are failing to pay maintenance. Some of these parents go to extreme lengths to avoid making payments or misrepresent their circumstances in order to evade their financial responsibiliities

A dedicated Enforcement team has contacted those non resident parents to arrange payments or agreements. Where no agreement is reached the case is referred for enforcement action.

Margaret Ritchie September 2008