State trying to recoup money mistakenly paid to parents

Dee Stephenson was grateful when she received an extra child-support payment -- finally, at least for one month, she could pay her bills on time.

But what seemed like a holiday gift was actually a mistake by state government -- a mistake compounded when the state reclaimed the money electronically, causing Stephenson's utility bill check to bounce.

Now the mother from West Plains, Mo., is facing an overdraft charge from her bank and trying to stop outstanding checks before they, too, are cashed.

The state, over the Thanksgiving break, double-issued 7,500 child-support checks and is now trying to recoup $1.2 million.

For those who received traditional checks, the state is relying largely on honesty to return the money. That was the case with Charleen Biester of Jackson, Mo., who initially didn't think anything was odd about receiving four checks the last two weeks of November. The support payments she receives for one child are sporadic.

She hadn't taken all the checks to the bank when she saw an article about the mistake in the Dec. 1 Southeast Missourian.

"Then I got a follow-up letter in the mail," said Biester, an employee in the Jackson circuit clerk's office. "I sent it back in an envelope they provided, but it wasn't stamped. I thought the least they could have done was stamped it."

But for those with electronic deposit, such as Stephenson, the state simply reclaimed the money electronically Nov. 30.

The explanatory letter from the Division of Child Support Enforcement was too late for Stephenson.

"Even if they had said to me, 'This really isn't your money and you have 24 hours to pay it back,' it would have been frustrating. But at least I would have known," she said.

'Legally appropriate'

Charles Hutson, Cape Girardeau County circuit clerk, said his Cape Girardeau office, which handles child support payments, received four phone calls from affected parents.

"We advised them this was a program the state had now and suggested they send the check back," he said.

Child support officials said they are not aware of how many have been affected by reclaiming of the extra payment.

"I believe what we did was legally appropriate," Michael Shortridge, the division's chief legal counsel, said Thursday. "From a personal standpoint, I can understand how she feels."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services, which oversees the child support division, said the agency would try to make amends.

"We honestly, truly want to help," said department spokeswoman Deb Hendricks. "We are trying at the central office to come up with a solution to help this particular person and other people who are in the situation."

State child support director Gary Bailey said later Thursday that the agency would try to cover Stephenson's bank overdraft and any associated fees.

Questions planned

State Rep. Quincy Troupe, chairman of the social services appropriations committee, plans to question state officials about the child support mistake during a legislative hearing Monday.

"The goof-up should have never occurred," said Troupe, D-St. Louis. "They're going to have to explain to me who had control of this money."

Missouri has a contract with Georgia-based Systems and Methods Inc. to collect payments from noncustodial parents or their employers. The state provides SMI with the amount owed to each custodial parent. SMI then sends that list to Jefferson City-based Central Bank, which issues the checks.

On Nov. 21, the state sent a list to SMI, which directed the bank to issue $1.2 million in checks. Two days later, SMI sent the same list to the bank, which issued another $1.2 million in checks.

In both cases, Stephenson received $75.02 -- the amount of her typical biweekly child support payment for her 6-year-old daughter, Delyn. Stephenson thought the second check was a backpayment, because the father, who lives in Illinois, had paid nothing from February through October because of a job change.

"The fact that I got two checks in two days was not surprising. I was grateful, because I deserved it really," she said. "I noticed I had more money, that's why I paid some more bills."

Now, "I'm going to get hurt by this financially," she said.

Through Wednesday, the latest day for which figures were available, the state had recovered about $391,000 of the $1.2 million overpayment.

Of that, $232,000 had come from reclaimed electronic transfers. Another $159,000 had been returned from about 350 people who had received paper checks, Bailey said.

Managing editor Heidi Hall contributed to this report.