JOHN J. HOFFMA...I\JActing Attorney General of New JerseyR.J. Hughes Justice ComplexP.O. Box 112Trenton, New Jersey 08625Attorney for Defendants

Raymond P. MartinezNew Jersey Motor Vehicle CommissionJohn Jay Hoffman, Esq.State of New JerseyNatasha JohnsonDepartment of Human Services,

Division of Family Development, Officeof Child Support Services

By: Francesco Ferrantelli Jr.Deputy Attorney General(609) 341-3689Francesco.Ferrantelli@lps.state.nj.us

ANDREANA KAVADAS, ALISHAGRABOWSKI, LAQUAY DANSBY, andPAULO AREDE,

Plaintiffs,

v.

RAYMOND P. MARTINEZ, the NEWJERSEY MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION,JOHN J. HOFFMAN, ESQ., the STATEOF NEW JERSEY, NATASHA JOHNSON,and the DEPARTMENT OF HUMANSERVICES, DIVISION OF FAMILYDEVELOPMENT, OFFICE OF CHILDSUPPORT SERVICES,

Defendants.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEYLAW DIVISION MERCER COUNTY

Docket No. MER-L-1004-15

CIVIL ACTION

CERTIFICATION OFPATRICIA RISCH

Patricia Risch, of full age, hereby certifies as follows:

1. I am employed' by the State of New Jersey, Department of Human

Services , Division of Family Development ("DFD") as an Assistant

Director in the Office of Child Support Services ("OCSS").

been employed in this position for 1.5 years.

2 . In my position as Assistant Director I I have personal

I have

knowledge of the procedures for automatic driverls license

suspension as statutorily mandated by N.J.S.A. 56:17-41.1 also

have personal knowledge of general child support enforcement

procedures taken by the courts and the Probation Division. Child

support enforcement procedures in New Jersey are operationalized by

DFD/OCSS and the Administrative Office of the Courts

("AOC")/Probation Division as set forth herein.

3. The OCSS is responsible for the oversight and administration

of the State/s Child Support Program. The OCSS is New Jersey's

designated IV-D agency for the purposes of federal child support

enforcement laws.

4. OCSS administers child support enforcement in accordance

with an interagency agreement with the Administrative Office of the

Courts ("AOCII). A true and accurate copy of this agreement is

attached to this certification as Exhibit A.5. The AOCI through the judiciary and through the Probation

Divisionl issues warrants and orders to effectuate judicial child

support enforcement I and determines its own policies for doing SOl

as reflected in AOC Directive #15-08. The Vicinage Probation

Divisionsl which are overseen by the AOCI are responsible for

enforcing court orders. DFD/OCSS does not have any authority to

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issue court orders. DFD/OCSS has authority to utilize.

administrative enforcement remedies to enforce support orders.

6. In 2009, New Jersey implemented a new automated statewide

system for tracking child support payments and obligations and

issuing notices to obligors, called New Jersey Kids Deserve Support

("NJKiDS") .

7. The interagency agreement between OCSS and the AOC requires

the AOC to electronically enter all court orders into the NJKiDS

system. (Exhibit A, pp. 13-14).

8. Once a Family Division judge establishes an order containing

a child support obligation, the obligor/noncustodial parent ("NCP")

automatically receives two notices: (1) the Form CS526 Uniform

Summary Support Order (the "USSO"); and (2) the Form CS002

Instructions for Compliance with Support Order. I have reviewed

Plaintiffs' Exhibit R, at pages 000013-18, and I can confirm that

those are true and accurate copies of these form notices.

9. The Instructions for Compliance with Support Order are

provided to obligors upon establishment of the child support order.t

10. The USSO is provided to obligors with every single court

order modifying or confirming any sort of child support obligation.

The USSO, under provision 13, states that the obligor's license

shall be denied, suspended or revoked if a Court issues a child

support related bench warrant.

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11. Before issuing or modifying a child support order, the court

applies the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines to determine the

amount of the order. The Guidelines are based on an income share

formula and takes into account the individual obligor and obligee's

gross income and expenses. The court sets child support payments

according to the Guidelines unless good cause is shown for it to be

modified or disregarded. ~ 5:6A.

12. The obligor can make a request to the court to modify the

child support obligation at any time due to changed circumstances,

and the child support order is subject to automatic court review

every three years upon the request of either the obligee or

obligor.

13. After the first instance that an obligor is delinquent past

fourteen days, the Probation Division sends a Notice of

Delinquency, Form CS022, to the delinquent obligor. I have

reviewed Plaintiffs' Exhibit R, p. 000001, and I can confirm that

as a true and accurate copy of the form Notice of Delinquency sent

to delinquent obligors.

14. The Notice of Delinquency advises the obligor that continued

non-compliance may result in the suspension of his or her driver's

license.

15. If an obligor remains noncompliant after receipt of the

Notice of Delinquency, the Probation Division performs a review of

the case to determine whether to request an Enforcement of

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Litigant's Rights ("ELR") hearing on behalf of the

obligee/custodial parent or County Welfare Agency. R. 5:7-5(a).

The obligee may also file a motion to enforcement litigant's rights

pursuant to ~ 5:7-5(a)

16. A request for an ELR hearing is generally the first judicial

enforcement activity against an obligor.

17. If an ELR hearing is requested by the Probation Division, a

Form CS040, Notice of Motion, and a Form CS041, Certification in

Support of Motion, is provided to the obligor. The Notice of

Motion for an ELR hearing advises the obligor that failure to

appear at the hearing may result in the issuance of an arrest

warrant. I have reviewed Plaintiffs' Exhibit R., p. 000003, and I

can confirm that this is a true and accurate copy of the form

Notices of Motion used by the Probation Division to initiate ELR

hearings.

18. The ELR hearing is held before a Child Support Hearing

Officer (CSHO) at the Probation Division. A party who appears

before a CSHO has the right to object or "appeal" a CSHO IS

recommended decision and be heard immediately (usually on the same

day) before a Family Division Judge. ~ 2:25-3(d) (2).

19. If the obligor fails to appear at an ELR hearing, and the

court is satisfied that the obligor received notice of the hearing,

the CSHO will recommend and the court will issue, upon accepting

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the recommendation,

Warrant II ) •

20. If the obligor appears at the ELR hearing, following the

a ~'larrant for Failure to Appear ("FTA

hearing the court may issue an Order in Aid of Litigant's Rights,

to which the USSO is attached.

21. A bench warrant stipulation in an Order in Aid of Litigant's

Rights provides that the court will issue a bench warrant for the

obligor's arrest without additional notice if the obligor fails to

make future regularly scheduled payments, or if the obligor fails

to make a lump sum payment by a certain date.

22. NJKiDS automatically alerts the assigned Probation Division

case worker if an obligor on bench warrant status fails to comply

with the payment schedule set forth in the Order in Aid of

Litigant's Rights. Upon recognizing such a violation, the case

worker requests issuance of a failure to pay warrant ("FTP

Warrant") from the Family Division judge for the obligor's arrest.

23. At such time that the Probation Division requests issuance

of a warrant, the obligor may receive Form CS594, "Notice of Intent

of Bench Warrant," from the NJKiDS system. This notice informs the

obligor that failure to comply with the court order may result in a

driver's license suspension. I have reviewed Plaintiffs' Exhibit R,

p. 000002, and I can confirm that this is a true and accurate copy

of Form CS594.

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24. Once the judge signs the bench warrant, AOC sends an alert

to the Sheriff's Department, who enters the information into the

National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") database within three

days of issuance.

25. An obligor can check his or her bench warrant status from

the child support customer service portal at any time, at

www.njchildsupport.org.

26. When the obligor comes before the court to address a bench

warrant, the court conducts a review of the obligor's employment

history and financial status by completing Form CS700, "Obligor

Questionnaire." A true and accurate copy of this questionnaire is

attached to this certification as Exhibit B.

27. At the conclusion of the bench warrant hearing, the court

can discharge the bench warrant or lift the obligor' s driver's

license suspension. The results of the bench warrant hearing are

memorialized in an Order in Aid of Litigant's Rights.

28. All the notices referenced herein are sent by regular mail

to the obligor's address on record with NJKiDS. The obligor can

update his or her contact information by notifying the Probation

Division, by contacting OCSS's toll-free Child Support Customer

Service Hotline, or by logging onto the customer service portal at

www.njchildsupport.org.

29. N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.43 establishes an independent separate

process for suspending delinquent obligor's driver's, professional,

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occupational, recreational or sporting licenses. This process only

applies after all other enforcement remedies have been exhausted

and is separate from the automatic driver's license suspension

provision of N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56.41{a).

I certify that the foregoing statements made by me are true. I

am aware that if any of the foregoing statements made by me are

willfully false, I am subject to punishment.

1 Patricia RischDATED::J/ 2-'{ II rc

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