In Title IV-E cases, excess funds are rare but occur when the monthly child support collected is more than the child’s foster care maintenance payment for the month, but not more than the monthly support obligation ordered by the court. This is known as current month excess.

Excess funds can also occur when the federal and state governments have been fully reimbursed, and there are remaining funds. This is known as second excess collection.

The Child Support Division in the OAG (not DFPS) determines both of these types of excess funds. Excess funds are used for services and items that serve the child’s best interest.

45 C.F.R. §302.52(b)(2) and (b)(3)External Link

DFPS staff members determine the child’s best interest by consulting with the DFPS regional attorney and considering the child’s current and foreseeable needs. If staff members can purchase the item or service with other funds, then they do not use the excess funds. Staff members may use the excess funds for the child’s hobbies, extracurricular activities, and normalcy events.

The DFPS Accounting Unit sends each region a quarterly report of the children who have excess funds from child support payments, and the amount that each child has. This report alerts caseworkers of the excess funds.