What are Locator Services?
Federal law requires each state to centrally store all child support cases and support orders. Basic information in each State Case Registry is sent to the Federal Case Registry, which is a national database that enables States to locate custodial and non-custodial parents. Information in the database is compared whenever a new entry is made, alerting States when a participant is involved in a case or order in another State. Additionally, child support cases and orders in the Federal Case Registry are compared to data in the National Directory of New Hires, which keeps a listing of all employees in the United States. Local child support agencies access the State and Federal databases to locate parents and their employment information in order to establish payment methods or to initiate income tax return federal and state intercepts. See the Federal Parent Locator Service Web site for more information.
