Finance & Accounting

The Finance and Accounting unit of the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) is responsible for the collection and distribution of child and spousal support payments payable through the State Disbursement Unit (SDU). The SDU is a centralized collection and disbursement unit for child support payments from employers, income withholders, the person paying support (PPS)/obligors and others. The SDU must process all IV-D cases and non-IV-D cases with income withholdings, and must distribute all payments, except disputed arrears, within two (2) business days of receipt by the SDU. Disputed arrears disbursement may be delayed until the resolution of any appeal.
 
In addition to receiving and distributing all payments, an SDU is responsible for:

  • Accurately identifying payments;
  • Promptly disbursing payments to the person receiving support (PRS) (as appropriate); and
  • Furnishing payment records to any parent or to the court.

The CA Department of Child Support Services has a new payment collection process for ACH debit/credit card payments. These collections are now routed through ExpertPay and then sent to the SDU for posting. To avoid delayed payments, we recommend that you make your payment by the 10th of each month. For more details, click here.

Related Services

Child Support Payment Distribution
Child Support Payment Collection

Related Forms & Documents

Case Balance Information
Direct Deposit
Electronic Pay Card
Make A Payment
Payment History and Information
Statewide Customer Service Survey--English
Statewide Customer Service Survey--Spanish

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