Saskatchewan's Maintenance Enforcement Office is posting impressive results in enforcing support orders on behalf of custodial parents in the province. The office is on track to collect more than $35 million in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2011.
When the office opened in 1986, it was estimated that 85 per cent of custodial parents in the province did not receive regular support payments. Collection rates have steadily risen since then, to the point where the office will collect more than 92 per cent of the money owed to custodial parents in 2010/11. This is the second-highest collection rate in the country.
"It's very rewarding to see such impressive results," Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan said. "Every dollar collected by the Maintenance Enforcement Office helps custodial parents and their children. Our government is pleased to support those efforts."
Enhancements to The Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Act (1997) were passed in May, 2009. Those enhancements include giving Maintenance Enforcement the ability to suspend a driver's licence in cases where a parent is at least three months behind in their payments.
In addition, a new Maintenance Enforcement computer system is scheduled to be brought online in 2012. The new system will improve service to clients by allowing for web-based access to payment and enforcement information, and it will enable employers to submit payments electronically, in cases where wages are garnished.
