BROOKSVILLE– Raising a child comes with a price tag. For a one parent household the cost can sometimes stretch household income to the limit, officials said.

Child support payments are intended to offset the cost of raising a child when the parents are not sharing a household, officials said on Friday.

Not paying court ordered child support can land a responsible party in the court system, officials said.

On Thursday, Michael Poe, 50, was indicted by a Bracken County grand jury for flagrant nonsupport. According to the indictment, Poe allegedly owes $29,830.24 in unpaid child support.

He is not alone, court officials said.

Not commenting on Poe’s specific case, Kentucky Child Support Enforcement officials said they prefer a scenario where a person getting behind on support payments comes forward before the arrears becomes unmanageable.

“Under the statute, courts may become involved when arrears exceed $1,000 or are six months behind,” said Steven Veno, KCSED Deputy Commissioner. “We encourage noncustodial parents, as soon as possible, to request a court modification of support payments if they lose their job or have a significant reduction in their income. They owe the support amount on record until the payment is modified.”

Support arrangements are two sided; if income of the custodial or noncustodial parent changes by 15 percent up or down, KCSED should be notified for recalculation, Veno said.

The Child Support Program has many tasks, officials said.

It locates noncustodial parents, establishes paternity, establishes financial and medical support, and enforce orders covering each category; it also reviews support orders for possible modification.

Current economic times had not affected collection of child support in the way officials had anticipated, Veno said.

“We thought there may be a decrease, but in the last year there was about a three percent increase in collections over the previous year , the year before that the increase had been five percent, but it was still an increase,” Veno said. ” What we have been seeing is an increase in requests through the courts for modification of payments due to job losses.”

For information on child support eligibility and support services, contact the local child support office or call the Kentucky child support hot-line at 800-248-1163.

For more area news, go to www.maysville-online.com.

To report a news tip contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 276.