BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has collected more than $1.2 million from gamblers who owe back child support in the two years since the agency launched its Casino Intercept Program.
DCFS has collected $1,294,455.88 in child support arrears from 969 non-custodial parents following the pilot launch in September 2011 at Hollywood Casino in Baton Rouge.
“DCFS officially hit the $1 million collection mark in March of this year,” said DCFS Secretary Suzy Sonnier. “Reaching this amount in less than two years shows that the casino intercept program is an essential tool to ensure that non-custodial parents who owe child support meet their obligations of providing financial, medical and emotional support to their children.”
Currently, all 19 state-licensed casinos in Louisiana participate in the casino intercept program.
In Bossier casinos, DCFS collected $43,033 from Boomtown, $57,879 from DiamondJacks, and $37,851.91 from Horseshoe. Margaritaville in Bossier City joined the program in June and has collected $5,373.88 from five non-custodial parents.
To date, Hollywood Casino has intercepted the most money of Louisiana’s casinos – $147,831.68. The largest single collection to date came from the Amelia Belle in December 2012 in the amount of $23,298.42.
