Good advertising campaign!
Maybe some day states will have the sense to ban them.
La. casinos seize $800,000 for owed child support
Angel Pellegrin plays a video poker machine Friday at Jack's in Houma.
Benjamin Oliver Hicks/Staff
Benjamin Oliver Hicks/Staff
Published: Friday, March 8, 2013 at 6:35 p.m.
The state's casino interception program captured more than $806,000 in casino winnings in 2012 from non-custodial parents owing child support payments.
Amelia Belle Casino in Morgan City seized nearly $50,000 for the program. State law allows casinos to collect child support from people who win more than $1,200.
Hollywood Casino in Baton Rouge seized the most — $106,771 — of the state's 18 non-Indian casinos.
Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services officials said the program has been a successful tool in collecting overdue support.
“In our work to assist families who rely on court-ordered child support to provide for their children, DCFS uses every avenue available, like casino intercepts, to collect the more than $1.2 billion owed by non-custodial parents statewide,” said DCFS Secretary Suzy Sonnier in a statement.
Former Sen. Nick Gautreaux introduced the legislation in 2010, and Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the bill that year. Casinos run the gambler's name through a child support database to see if any money is owed.
Other states with similar laws include Mississippi, Indiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Colorado and West Virginia.
Reece Middleton, executive director of the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling, said he sees the benefits of the program, but it might also be an administrative burden on casinos.
“Who would stand up and be against this and say, ‘Well, we want people to use welfare money in our casinos that's intended for the DCFS'? You just don't say that.”
Middleton said he wonders if the program is intended more to punish casinos than to benefit child welfare services.
“It just seems like a lot to ask from a casino,” he said. “I don't see how they keep up with it.”
“Is it beneficial for us? No,” said Wade Duty, executive director of the Louisiana Casino Association. “But it is beneficial for children who have parents who are not paying their child support.”
Duty said the law is just another requirement the casino industry has to comply with.
“I wouldn't say that it's too much,” he said. “Casinos are used to being a highly regulated industry, and if it's a requirement then that's what we're going to do.”
Duty said the program doesn't involve too much of a financial constraint on casinos because it's not necessarily their money that's being lost.
“These are winnings that would normally be paid to a player,” he said. “But because that player has an obligation that supersedes his interests, then it's going to be routed to DCFS for distribution to the dependent child.”
The only money coming out of the casinos' pockets, Duty said, is the labor costs and time it takes to make sure the money is remitted to the state.
“We are in the customer service business, and if you have to suspend everyone's jackpot while you hunt through a 120,000-name database then it gets very cumbersome,” he said. “But DCFS did a really good job about listening to our concerns, and they produced a product that is easily searchable.”
Casino interceptions is just one of many avenues the state can use to enforce these payments.
Failure to pay court-ordered child support can result in liens against a non-payer's property; seizure of assets; suspension of driver's, hunting or fishing licenses; interception of state and federal tax refunds; passport denial; and contempt of court charges, among other enforcement actions.
Any parent or person responsible for a child can receive services from the state's Child Support Enforcement program. For information or to apply for services, visit www.dcfs.la.gov/CSE.
You can also search the database for Louisiana delinquent child support payers at www.dcfs.la.gov/delinquent.
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