How Child Support Offices Are Organized Across Wisconsin

If you need to start, change or enforce a child support order in Wisconsin, you will deal with a county office rather than one central counter. The state sets the rules, but local staff open your case, schedule court dates and track what is owed. Our directory lists 47 of these offices. They range from the Milwaukee Child Support & Social Service Office at 901 North 9th Street to the Crandon Child Support & Social Service Office in Forest County.

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF), through its Bureau of Child Support, supervises the program and sets statewide policy. Day-to-day casework belongs to county child support agencies. These are usually part of county government and often share a building or a name with social or human services. That is why so many listings read "Child Support & Social Service Office," such as the Antigo Child Support & Social Service Office at 837 Clermont Street in Langlade County.

Payments usually do not go across a county counter. Most are sent to the Wisconsin Support Collection Trust Fund, the state's central payment processor, which then forwards the money to the parent or caregiver who is owed support. Your county office can see those records and answer questions about what was received.

A county agency can help with these tasks:

Metro Offices and Rural Offices Work Differently in Wisconsin

Where you live shapes what a visit looks like. The biggest caseloads sit in the southeast and along the Fox River corridor. The Milwaukee office (414-278-5160) serves the state's largest county. The Green Bay Child Support & Social Service Office is at 305 East Walnut Street in Brown County (920-448-4090). The Kenosha office is at 8600 Sheridan Road (262-697-4500), and the Janesville office at 51 South Main Street serves Rock County (608-757-5700).

In larger counties, expect more structure. You will often be asked to call first, answer intake questions and wait for a caseworker to be assigned. The Appleton Child Support & Social Service Office at 401 South Elm Street (920-832-5058) covers Outagamie County. The Eau Claire office at 721 Oxford Avenue (715-839-4770) serves western Wisconsin families. Both are good examples of a mid-sized regional office with set phone lines and appointment-based help.

Rural counties run smaller operations. A few staff may handle intake, enforcement and paperwork for the whole county. The upside is that you can often reach the same person more than once. The downside is limited counter hours and sometimes a long drive. Several listings show only a post office box as their address:

A PO box is a mailing address, not a place to walk in. Call before you drive, and ask where the office is located and when staff are available. Our listings for Friendship in Adams County, Jefferson, and Juneau in Dodge County show phone numbers with a 414 area code, which is the Milwaukee area. If you call one of those, ask who will handle your case and where in-person help is offered. Elkhorn in Walworth County and La Crosse have no phone number in our database, so check with the county before visiting.

What to Bring When You Contact a Wisconsin Child Support Agency

Preparation saves weeks. Caseworkers can only act on information they can verify, and missing details are the most common reason an early case stalls. Gather what you can before you call, and tell staff what you do not have. They can often help find it.

Useful items include:

If the other parent's whereabouts are unknown, say so right away. The agency has locate tools, including employment and tax-related records, that private individuals cannot use. Even a former employer's name or a relative's town can be enough to start a search.

Ask whether your case already has a number. If you have ever received cash assistance, Medicaid or child care help, a case may have opened automatically. Your county office can confirm this and tell you its status in a short call.

Wisconsin Rules That Shape Your Child Support Case

Wisconsin uses a percentage-of-income standard written into DCF rules. The base percentages of the paying parent's income are 17 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 29 percent for three, 31 percent for four and 34 percent for five or more. These apply to income up to a state cap, and courts can consider more above it. When both parents have the children for at least 25 percent of overnights, a different shared-placement formula applies. Low-income and other special cases have their own adjustments.

Court commissioners or judges, not the child support agency, issue and change orders. The attorney who appears for the county represents the state's interest in establishing and enforcing support. That attorney does not act as your personal lawyer. If you need advice on custody, placement or your own rights, you may need a separate attorney or a legal aid program.

Enforcement in Wisconsin starts with income withholding, where support is taken from a paycheck and sent to the state. If that fails, agencies can intercept tax refunds, report debts, and seek driver's license or other license actions. In serious cases they can ask the court for contempt findings. None of this happens instantly, so keep your records and respond quickly to every notice.

Orders can be reviewed. If your income, work hours or the child's placement changes substantially, ask your county office how to request a review. Do not simply stop paying or deduct amounts yourself, because unpaid support builds up as a debt the court can enforce.

The child support program in Wisconsin is administered by the state's child support enforcement agency, which operates through a network of county-level offices that handle case intake, order establishment, payment processing, and enforcement across the state under the authority of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.

Child Support Offices locations are available in 47 cities across Wisconsin. They are spread across 47 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Montello, Ellsworth, Fond du Lac, which serve as regional hubs for child support case processing and interstate enforcement coordination for cases involving parents in multiple states.

Non-custodial parents in Wisconsin who are current on their support obligation and experiencing a significant change in income — such as job loss or medical disability — may be eligible to request a formal modification review through the state child support agency without having to hire an attorney.

Child Support Offices by Counties

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
J
K
L
M
O
P
R
S
V
W

Custodial parents in Wisconsin who receive public assistance are automatically enrolled in child support services as a condition of TANF or Medicaid eligibility. Parents not receiving public assistance can still apply for child support services voluntarily and typically receive the same level of enforcement assistance at little or no cost.

Browse Child Support Offices by county across Wisconsin to find the nearest location.

Choosing the Right County Office in Wisconsin

Your case belongs to a specific county, and calling the wrong one costs time. In most situations the responsible office is in the county where the court order was issued or where the child lives. If you moved after the order, the original county may still manage your case. Ask before you assume.

Smaller counties on our list include the Ellsworth Child Support & Social Service Office (PO Box 670, 715-273-6764) in Pierce County and the Chilton Child Support & Social Service Office at 206 Court Street (920-849-1454) in Calumet County. The Baraboo office at 515 Oak Street (608-355-3238) serves Sauk County. In the Fox Valley, the Fond du Lac office at 160 South Macy Street (920-929-3057) serves Fond du Lac County. Down near the Illinois line, Walworth County is served by an Elkhorn office with a PO Box 1001 mailing address.

Winter travel matters in northern Wisconsin, so phone or mail is often the practical choice. Keep a log of dates, names and what was said on each call. If an office tells you to send something, mail it with tracking or deliver it in person and keep a copy.

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families supervises the program through its Bureau of Child Support and sets statewide policy. Your actual case, though, is handled by a county child support agency. That is the office that opens your file, arranges genetic testing if paternity is in question, prepares court papers and pursues enforcement. Start with the office in the county where your order was made or where the child lives. If you are unsure, call the county listed in our directory and ask whether they hold your case. They can tell you if it sits in another county.

Wisconsin applies a percentage-of-income standard from DCF rules. The base percentage of the paying parent's income is 17 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 29 percent for three, 31 percent for four and 34 percent for five or more. A separate shared-placement formula applies when each parent has the children at least 25 percent of overnights. Courts can also adjust for low income, high income or other special circumstances. Your county office can explain how the formula applies to your numbers, but the judge or court commissioner makes the final order.

No, you can open a case and work with the agency without hiring a private attorney. Keep in mind that the attorney who appears for the county represents the state's interest in establishing and enforcing support. That attorney is not your personal lawyer and cannot give you advice on custody, placement or divorce. If your situation involves those issues, or you want someone to protect your individual interests in court, consider a private attorney or a legal aid organization. Ask your county office what services it offers before you decide.

In general, support continues until the child turns 18. It can continue to age 19 if the child is still attending high school full time and is expected to graduate by that age. The court order itself controls the details, so read the end-date language in your own paperwork. Unpaid support from earlier years does not disappear when the child ages out. Wisconsin agencies can keep collecting past-due amounts, which are called arrears. If you are unsure what your order says, ask your county office to review it with you.

The usual first step is income withholding, which sends support from the paying parent's paycheck to the state's payment processor. If the parent is self-employed or changes jobs, the agency can pursue other tools. These include intercepting tax refunds, reporting the debt, and seeking license actions. In serious cases the county can ask the court for a contempt hearing. Contact your county office quickly if payments stop, and give them any new employer or address you know. Do not wait for several months to pass, because delays make collection harder.

Not necessarily. Our listings for Crandon (PO Box 340, Forest County), Durand (PO Box 39, Pepin County), Black River Falls (PO Box 457, Jackson County) and Lac du Flambeau (PO Box 1198, Vilas County) show mailing addresses only. Call the listed number first and ask where staff meet clients and what hours apply. You can often handle forms by mail and questions by phone. For the Elkhorn and La Crosse listings, no phone number appears in our database, so contact the county directly before making a trip.