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The child support process

Any parent or legal guardian of a minor child in need of child support may open a case with our office. If you hav​e recently obtained a child support order, we need a copy of your court order and information regarding payments received to proceed with enforcement of your order. If you do not have a court order for Child Support our office can obtain one for you. Once your completed application is signed and received by our office, the process begins.

We can assist you with the following services:

• Case opening
• Establishing court orders for parentage​, child support and medical coverage
• Locate the non-custodial parent and their assets for service of process, establishment and enforcement
• Collect and distribute support payments including payment records and account maintenance
• Modify court orders when appropriate
• Enforcing court orders for collection of child, spousal and medical support

DCSS is required to collect a $35 annual fee for services provided in child support cases where:

• The family has never received CASH public assistance
• The custodial party received more than $500 or more in child support payments during the previous Federal Fiscal Year (October 1 –September 30) and no fee was paid in another state

Services not provided by Santa Clara DCSS:

• We do not legally represent either the custodial or non-custodial party’s interests
• We cannot assist with custody and visitation matters
• We cannot obtain divorce decrees or represent parties in these actions
• We cannot establish or modify spousal support orders

For the Self-Service Child Support Case Information System, click the following link:

Customer Connect