HOUSTON – Months after the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) switched to a new child support payment system, parents across the state say they’re still waiting for money that should have already reached their bank accounts.
For some families, those delays are creating financial crises forcing them to seek government assistance and food pantries to stay afloat.
Sugar Land native Alexandria Dobkowski is one of many parents caught in the middle. The freelance writer and editor now lives in Washington state, but her child support payments are processed through the Texas system.
Dobkowski says she hasn’t received her full payments since the summer — and the missed money has had real consequences.
“I definitely rely on that support to feed and clothe our children,” she said. “It’s very urgent. I can’t manage really the entirety of everything without it.”
When her August payment didn’t arrive, she began calling the OAG’s office daily to figure out what was wrong. She says those calls can last for hours, often ending without answers.
“They don’t have any information,” she said. “They never have any ETA. They don’t know when a problem is going to be resolved. It’s pretty much just a wall.”
Dobkowski says representatives with the OAG have told her the payments from her ex were received by the state but never distributed.
“They have the money from the non-custodial parent,” she explained. “It’s there, they show that it’s been made, but it’s not showing up in the web portal and it’s certainly not being distributed to the families.”
“It’s not my ex’s doing,” she added. “It is the state that is not releasing these payments to the families.”
The missed payments have left Dobkowski facing late fees and the risk of falling behind on rent.
“I have late fees from missed bill payments,” she said. “I can’t do what I need to do to keep my family housed and fed without the Texas OAG releasing these payments that they already have the money for.”
The delay forced her to apply for SNAP benefits, something she never expected to do.
“I actually qualified for assistance because of the non-payment,” she said. “It’s incredibly frustrating… not only are we not getting what we should, but now I’m looking at not being able to even feed my family.”
Dobkowski says she’s also relied on local food pantries to get through the past few weeks.
The Texas OAG made a major update to its child support payment system over the summer. Since then, KPRC 2 has heard from dozens of parents experiencing delays, missing deposits, or errors that have left them without vital funds.
Parents who’ve reached out to KPRC 2’s 2 Helps You team report spending hours on hold with the OAG, filing complaints, and getting few, if any, updates.
One mother of seven said she’s called the office “every day for about two weeks” without getting a timeline for when she’ll be paid. Another parent said their child support payments help cover “therapy, medical expenses, groceries, and our mortgage — the essentials that keep us afloat.”
Dobkowski says that with so many families struggling, she doesn’t understand why a solution hasn’t been found.
“If this has been a known problem for months, there should be at least a backup system,” she said. “I just don’t understand how this could continue to be a problem.”
In a statement to KPRC 2, a spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General said there are no widespread issues with the new system:
“There are no system-wide issues regarding child support payments. In fact, since ChAMP has gone live, over 8.6 million payments have been disbursed to custodial parents totaling over $1.75 billion in support. For any customer with a case-specific question or issue, our staff is available to assist by calling (800) 252-8014. Due to confidentiality laws, we are not able to comment on specific cases.”
Despite that assurance, parents like Dobkowski say their experiences tell a different story.
“If this has been a known problem for months, there should be at least a backup system,” she said. “I just don’t understand how this could continue to be a problem.”
KPRC 2 has repeatedly reached out to the Office of the Attorney General since July for clarification on what’s causing these delays and when families can expect full payments to resume. Follow-up questions about specific cases have not been answered.
At least one formal complaint has been filed with the Texas State Ombudsman, which investigates public complaints against state agencies. That office referred our inquiries back to the Attorney General’s Office.