Title IV-D and the Private Bar: 'Help Us Help You' Blog Series

By Elodie Meuser, Marion County Prosecutor’s Office

In May of 2021, Deputy Prosecutor Ambrosia Hauser and I presented a CLE to the IndyBar Family Law Section entitled "Title IV-D and the Private Bar: Help Us Help You." This year, we plan to provide updated information to the Family Law Section via this new blog series as we continue to ask that you help us help you.

This month we will begin with what we hope is helpful information. Later this year, we will provide more tips for dealing with our agency and give you updates on case law relevant to child support and related issues. Also, we are preparing for a change from the computer system that all support agencies now use in Indiana called the Indiana Support Enforcement Tracking System (ISETS) to a new program called the Indiana Verification Enforcement Support Tracking (INvest), which is scheduled for rollout in Marion County in October 2022. We will highlight some upgrades that we hope are beneficial to you and your clients.

As a starting point, federal law requires every state in the country to implement a program to streamline the process to establish paternity and support and to enforce child and medical support obligations. This law is found in the federal Social Security Act (Title 42 of the U.S. Code, Chapter VII, Subchapter IV, Part D). This is where we get our moniker: Title IV-D. In addition, we must follow federal regulations of the Title IV-D program (45 C.F.R. Section 300-399). In Indiana, this program was developed to have all county prosecutors’ offices work in conjunction with the State Child Support Bureau to carry out the judicial and administrative tasks, functions and processes mandated by law (Indiana Code Section 31-25-4 and Indiana Administrative Code Section 465). Because some of the processes we utilize are administrative rather than judicial, our agency actions are governed by Indiana’s Administration Order and Procedures Act (Indiana Code Section 4-21.5-1-1 et seq).

In our office, we have approximately 45,000 active child support cases and many times that in closed or inactive cases. Each deputy prosecutor is assigned a group of cases, called a keysplit or caseload, for which he or she is responsible (subject to change at any moment). Each case in ISETS has a unique case number (this is also the account number at the Clerk’s Office), and a keysplit or caseload is assigned to each deputy prosecutor based on the last two digits of that ISETS number. Since our CLE in 2021, we have changed the caseload assignments. We no longer have deputy prosecutors solely responsible for establishing paternity, so each deputy prosecutor is responsible to establish paternity and support as well as the enforcement of support for all of their cases. With that change, and changes in staff, the case distribution as of February 4, 2022 is:

00-13 Terence Swihart
14-27 Kelly Sweeney
28-42 Nisha Harland
43-56 Ambrosia Hauser
57-66 Elodie Meuser
67-71 David Morris
72-85 Heather Ressler
86-99 Melinda Knox

Because these assignments may change at a moment’s notice (or if you don’t have the ISETS case number), please feel free to contact me directly at elodie.meuser@indy.gov and I can direct your inquiry to the appropriate deputy prosecutor. You may email familyadvocate@indy.gov for information as well. Our main phone number is 317-327-1800, which is answered by live operators (assuming we are in the office and not working remotely). You can leave a voicemail message, and we attempt to return all calls timely.  Similarly, you can call 317-327-1805, which is the attorney message line  It is not answered by a live operator, but those messages will be forwarded to the appropriate person for a response. Our general fax number is 317-327-1801, but we have several fax machines in the office. You can also fax us at 317-327-1941.

You may also find these websites helpful:

• Indiana Department of Child Services, Child Support Bureau. Here, you will find links for enrolling in services, ways to pay child support and more about the State’s Title IV-D program.
• Indiana State Central Collection Unit (INSCCU). INSCCU is the State Disbursement Unit for Indiana which was established to process support payments for the state. This is where child support payments are mailed or processed electronically (not to the Prosecutor’s Office; we do not handle the money). 
• Marion County Clerk's Office. The Clerk’s Office also uses ISETS and has access to the same information as the Prosecutor’s Office. Usually, the courts will order the Clerk’s Office to provide addresses for service purposes when requested. The Clerk’s Office accepts cash payments and can establish and update child support accounts. They are also the keeper of the support payment history records and are the agency you should get the records from. 
• Indiana Child Support Guidelines. Hopefully, this is self-explanatory.
• Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines. Custody and parenting time are not IV-D issues, but the deputy prosecutors are somewhat familiar with the guidelines and can answer basic questions when they arise in completing initial paternity judgments and modifications. Prosecutors will not litigate parenting time disputes but will attempt to assist the parties in coming to a full agreement.
• Online Child Support Calculator for Practitioners. Our office uses the online calculators rather than a downloaded program.
• Pro se Litigant's Self-Service Legal Center. We often refer pro se litigants to this website if they need to file pleadings or submit evidence to the court.
• Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is the federal agency dealing with the administrative aspects of child support enforcement. The OCSE has resources and statistics you may find interesting.

Thank you for your interest in the Title IV-D program. If you have any questions, please contact me at elodie.meuser@indy.gov or 317-327-1822. We look forward to working with you!

If you would like to submit content or write an article for the Family Law Section, please email Kara Sikorski at ksikorski@indybar.org.

Subscribe to Family Law Section news here!