About  the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division

The Northern Ireland Child Support Agency (NICSA) is part of the Department for Social Development (DSD).

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.

While the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division in Northern Ireland and the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission in Great Britain operate under separate legislation, reciprocal arrangements are in place to ensure that the two organisations deliver an integrated service throughout the UK.

The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division currently deliver services to:

·the people of Northern Ireland; and

·the people of Eastern England, population 8-10 million under a partnership contract with the Commission in Great Britain

in this section:-