Child Support Agency

Cases come to the Child Support Agency in various ways:

• By application
• Through automated referral from family assistance programs
• From child welfare programs
• Through the court system

If you have an existing Outagamie County court case, you may apply for our services free of charge by filling out this short application(PDF, 102KB) and return it to the Child Support Agency including a copy of your court order.

If you are new to Child Support services, you are required to complete the long form application.

If the mother of the child is not married to the father of the child, the Agency can help legally determine the identity of the child's father. This process is called "establishing paternity." Establishing paternity guarantees a child's right to receive financial support, medical support, and inheritances from the father. It also guarantees the father's rights to visitation with the child, make decisions for the child, placement with the child, and in some circumstances, financial support for the child.

To establish paternity, complete the Paternity Establishment Application.

The Agency can assist in obtaining a child support order against a parent who is not living with and directly supporting his or her child. This can be in a situation where parents are married but separated and not pursuing a divorce, or a situation where paternity was established but no support order made (because the parents were living together at the time), or in a situation where a child is temporarily placed in foster care or an alternate care placement.

To establish a child support order, complete the Child Support Order Application.

The Agency has a number of tools to enforce court orders for child support or medical support.

• Interception of a payer's income tax refunds (an additional small fee is charged for this service)
• Liens against real and personal property
• Denial or suspension of recreational, occupational, or driver's license
• Civil court charges of contempt
• Criminal court charges of felony nonsupport
• Passport denial
• Automatic income withholding
• Automatic National Medical Support Notice
• Financial account seizure
• Credit Bureau reporting
• Bank account matching program

Enforcement tools include:

To enforce a child or family medical support order, complete the Medical Support Enforcement Application.

The Agency may review and consider whether to pursue a revision of an existing child support order upon a request by either parent. The Agency uses the State Percentage Standards (DWD40) to determine support unless there is a good reason to deviate.

To request a review of a child or family support order, complete the Support Order Review Application.

The Agency can try to find absent parents by using the State Parent Locator Service if you provide the parent's name and social security number. If the absent parent has moved to another state, the Agency can ask the other state to find him/her. The Agency can also search throughout the United States for the absent parent by using the Federal Parent Locator Service. There is a $25 fee for this service.

To request locate-only services (without establishing support), complete the Locate Services Application.

Children First is a program designed to encourage and enable parents to contribute to the financial support of their children.

Parents owing support who are unemployed or underemployed may be court ordered to participate in the Children First program because they do not make regular payments. Children First agencies provide case management and employment services to parents who are court ordered to participate in the program. A parent in the Children First program successfully completes the requirements of the program by making on-time child support payments for 12 weeks, or by completing 16 weeks of participation. Contact the Outagamie County Children First Case Coordinator or your Child Support Specialist for more information.

Legal Advice – Free Family Law Legal Advice Flyer(PDF, 136KB)

Custody and Placement or Visitation issues – Outagamie County Family Court Program resources

Assistance with serving papers on pro-se motions within Outagamie County may be found at Outagamie County Sheriff's Civil Process service. If you need assistance serving papers in a different county; please contact that county’s Sheriff Department.

Establishing or enforcing spousal support orders (maintenance) – Wisconsin Court forms for post-judgment maintenance

Pro-Se divorce – Outagamie County Family Court Commissioner resources

Obtaining or enforcing restraining orders – Wisconsin restraining order forms and information