Unpaid child, spousal support down to $58.8M after critical AG report

More Nova Scotia families are receiving the court-ordered spousal and child support payments they are owed since an auditor general's report into the provincial program last spring highlighted staffing shortages and weak enforcement of the rules.

Karen Hudson, the province's deputy justice minister, told the public accounts committee Wednesday there have been improvements to the Maintenance Enforcement Program, but work remains to be done.

In his report, Auditor General Michael Pickup noted $63.4 million in outstanding payments had accumulated since the support recovery program was established in 1996. The program is administered by the Justice Department.

Hudson said the amount of money owed to recipients — mostly women and children — has declined steadily in the last three years.

She said in 2015, amounts owing totalled $73 million. As of this fall, it's $58.8 million.

"Significant gains have been made," said Hudson.

Millions might never be recovered

However, she estimated as much as $14 million of that is unrecoverable.

"By that I mean the payer no longer has the ability to pay. Perhaps the payer is on income assistance themselves or perhaps the payer is in prison or perhaps the children are no longer dependent children," she said.

"They are inactive cases and not enforceable."

Pickup's report also noted the program sustained a loss of staff when the office was moved to New Waterford in 2013 under the former NDP government.

Hudson said the office has since been restructured to give enforcement officers more time to focus on individual files, particularly those cases where a spouse is not paying the full amount owing or not paying at all. Cases without problems are now being handled by the office's 10 enforcement assistants.

There are now 40 people dedicated to the program working in the office, including a new co-ordinator, a new manager of organizational development, a new file clerk and two new enforcement officers. The additions mean the office now employs 24 enforcement officers.

Program wants 55% compliance

Despite the changes, fewer than half the 15,000 families receiving support are getting all they're entitled to through the Maintenance Enforcement Program.

"Yes, we would like to get up about 50 per cent in terms of cases that are in full compliance, however we do know certain realities and the realities are these cases are sometimes complex," said Hudson.

Steven Feindel, the program's director, told reporters the goal was to increase that percentage to 55 per cent by the end of the year.

He said providing staff with training, better supervision and support was helping.