As a public safety entity, the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department works closely with local law enforcement and social service agencies to eliminate child abuse and supports child support enforcement.

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) on the Responsible Fatherhood Initiative for offenders in our custody. This program includes DOR staff at the House of Correction to provide inmates with information regarding child support obligations. In the near future, the program will also include an enforcement function where inmate funds will be garnished for the payment of child support.

The Sheriff's Department and DOR regularly conduct data matches between our inmate population and the state's child support database to ascertain those in our population who have obligations (and often arrears—unpaid principal, interest, and fines).

For more information on children's resources and child support programs in the Commonwealth, go to the following organizations:

• Massachusetts Citizens for Children
• Prevent Child Abuse Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Child Support Most Wanted
• Massachusetts Child Support Enforcement Agency

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