What are the responsibilities and job description for the Child Support Officer - Houston County position at Minnesota Merit System?
Houston County Public Health & Human Services is seeking 2 full-time Child Support Officers. Reporting to, and under the general supervision of the Financial Services Director, a Child Support Officer (CSO) works with the County Attorney’s Office to establish paternity, enforce child support orders, and to locate absent parents.
Also works with income maintenance staff, other social services staff, and others; testifies in court proceedings; and maintains all requisite relevant legal documentation. Drafts legal documents of significance within established formats and guidelines for submission to the County Attorney and ultimately the district court.
• Interviews mother and alleged father in paternity cases to explain related laws, responsibilities and rights and to secure acknowledgment of paternity.
• Arranges interviews and appointments for genetic testing of alleged fathers, mother and child to establish paternity.
• Locates absent parents through cooperative efforts with law enforcement agencies, Department of Human Services, the post office, employers, custodial parents, relatives and other information sources.
• Interviews parents to obtain case information, employment status and to determine their ability to pay child support.
• Initiates interstate/intrastate actions to establish orders or enforce existing child support orders from other jurisdictions in order to secure child support payments.
• Negotiates out of court child support related settlements for approval by appropriate authority.
• Initiates necessary legal action to establish a court order for support and/or reimbursement, or to enforce an existing court order.
• Selects and refers appropriate cases to the county attorney for legal action.
• Prepares legal documents for review and signature of the county attorney.
• Interviews witnesses for trial as necessary.
• Testifies in court on behalf of agency or client, prepares court documents, provides financial and current case status information.
• Gathers information, reviews finances and makes recommendations for the amount of child support to parents, attorneys and the court.
• Participates in modification of child support and appeals hearings.
• Processes cases to comply with court orders regarding income withholding, cost-of-living adjustments, liens and medical insurance provisions.
• Monitors billings and payments on accounts and contacts obligors to resolve delinquent payments expeditiously.
• Takes appropriate legal action to establish an order for medical support or to enforce an existing medical support order.
• Contacts clients who have received overpayment of public assistance money, sets up recovery payment plan and monitors compliance.
• Handles case correspondence and all necessary case maintenance.
• Retrieves, enters and changes information from paper and computer files (including use of the statewide child support and income maintenance computer systems) in order to obtain and correct case information, monitor case status and oversee the progress of enforcement actions.
• Responds to inquiries about the child support program from any inquiring party, including employers, attorneys and clients.
• Make referrals to other agencies such as social services, legal services, job service, etc., as appropriate.
• Provides data to supervisor regarding work processing/flow and problem cases.
• Implements program changes as mandated by the legislature and the Department of Human Services.
• May assist in the preliminary investigation of suspected fraud cases and preparation of those cases for fraud prosecution.An Associate of Arts in criminal justice, law enforcement, paralegal, social work, psychology, human services, or business administration or completion of a technical or community college child support AAS or diploma program.
OR
A high school diploma, or GED, AND one of the following:
Two years of experience working in child support programs and having responsibility for carrying out part of child support collections (i.e., as a Support Enforcement Aide, Collections Officer), experience as an Eligibility Worker determining eligibility for public assistance programs, or experience in a government agency with responsibility for collection of fees
OR
Three years of experience providing clerical or other support services to child support staff, or experience as a legal secretary or paralegal (performing research on cases, gathering necessary documents for trials, preparing documents and pleadings, assisting attorneys in court, etc.)
OR
Four years of experience in collections work in the private sector.
Pre-Employment
• Pass a criminal history/background checkThe examination will consist of a rating of training and experience based on the information you provide in your application and your responses to the supplemental questions included in the application process. You must read the questions carefully, answer truthfully, and include any experience claimed in your answers to the supplemental questions in the "work experience" section of your application. Any experience claimed in your answers to the supplemental questions but not included in the Work Experience section of you application will not be credited. You will be asked to verify your degree with official transcripts upon hire.
Once your application has been submitted changes cannot be made. If you have a change in location availability or your contact information changes please email dhs.merit.system@state.mn.us with the new information and include your applicant ID.
Note: There are two steps to this application process
1. Submit a Merit System Child Support Officer application by clicking here: 937-OC - Child Support Officer
AND
2. Submit your application to Houston County at: https://www.governmentjobs/careers/houstonmn no later than 4:30 p.m., Friday, May 22nd 2026. Please attach a cover letter to your application file. If special accommodations are needed to complete this application for employment, please contact the Houston County Personnel Dept. at 507.725.5822. EOE
Also works with income maintenance staff, other social services staff, and others; testifies in court proceedings; and maintains all requisite relevant legal documentation. Drafts legal documents of significance within established formats and guidelines for submission to the County Attorney and ultimately the district court.
• Interviews mother and alleged father in paternity cases to explain related laws, responsibilities and rights and to secure acknowledgment of paternity.
• Arranges interviews and appointments for genetic testing of alleged fathers, mother and child to establish paternity.
• Locates absent parents through cooperative efforts with law enforcement agencies, Department of Human Services, the post office, employers, custodial parents, relatives and other information sources.
• Interviews parents to obtain case information, employment status and to determine their ability to pay child support.
• Initiates interstate/intrastate actions to establish orders or enforce existing child support orders from other jurisdictions in order to secure child support payments.
• Negotiates out of court child support related settlements for approval by appropriate authority.
• Initiates necessary legal action to establish a court order for support and/or reimbursement, or to enforce an existing court order.
• Selects and refers appropriate cases to the county attorney for legal action.
• Prepares legal documents for review and signature of the county attorney.
• Interviews witnesses for trial as necessary.
• Testifies in court on behalf of agency or client, prepares court documents, provides financial and current case status information.
• Gathers information, reviews finances and makes recommendations for the amount of child support to parents, attorneys and the court.
• Participates in modification of child support and appeals hearings.
• Processes cases to comply with court orders regarding income withholding, cost-of-living adjustments, liens and medical insurance provisions.
• Monitors billings and payments on accounts and contacts obligors to resolve delinquent payments expeditiously.
• Takes appropriate legal action to establish an order for medical support or to enforce an existing medical support order.
• Contacts clients who have received overpayment of public assistance money, sets up recovery payment plan and monitors compliance.
• Handles case correspondence and all necessary case maintenance.
• Retrieves, enters and changes information from paper and computer files (including use of the statewide child support and income maintenance computer systems) in order to obtain and correct case information, monitor case status and oversee the progress of enforcement actions.
• Responds to inquiries about the child support program from any inquiring party, including employers, attorneys and clients.
• Make referrals to other agencies such as social services, legal services, job service, etc., as appropriate.
• Provides data to supervisor regarding work processing/flow and problem cases.
• Implements program changes as mandated by the legislature and the Department of Human Services.
• May assist in the preliminary investigation of suspected fraud cases and preparation of those cases for fraud prosecution.An Associate of Arts in criminal justice, law enforcement, paralegal, social work, psychology, human services, or business administration or completion of a technical or community college child support AAS or diploma program.
OR
A high school diploma, or GED, AND one of the following:
Two years of experience working in child support programs and having responsibility for carrying out part of child support collections (i.e., as a Support Enforcement Aide, Collections Officer), experience as an Eligibility Worker determining eligibility for public assistance programs, or experience in a government agency with responsibility for collection of fees
OR
Three years of experience providing clerical or other support services to child support staff, or experience as a legal secretary or paralegal (performing research on cases, gathering necessary documents for trials, preparing documents and pleadings, assisting attorneys in court, etc.)
OR
Four years of experience in collections work in the private sector.
Pre-Employment
• Pass a criminal history/background checkThe examination will consist of a rating of training and experience based on the information you provide in your application and your responses to the supplemental questions included in the application process. You must read the questions carefully, answer truthfully, and include any experience claimed in your answers to the supplemental questions in the "work experience" section of your application. Any experience claimed in your answers to the supplemental questions but not included in the Work Experience section of you application will not be credited. You will be asked to verify your degree with official transcripts upon hire.
Once your application has been submitted changes cannot be made. If you have a change in location availability or your contact information changes please email dhs.merit.system@state.mn.us with the new information and include your applicant ID.
Note: There are two steps to this application process
1. Submit a Merit System Child Support Officer application by clicking here: 937-OC - Child Support Officer
AND
2. Submit your application to Houston County at: https://www.governmentjobs/careers/houstonmn no later than 4:30 p.m., Friday, May 22nd 2026. Please attach a cover letter to your application file. If special accommodations are needed to complete this application for employment, please contact the Houston County Personnel Dept. at 507.725.5822. EOE
An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer
Salary : $27 - $36