State-changed factors for the maintenance of children

The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is changing the way it determines interest in child support obligations from automatic evaluation of interest to evaluation only by court order.

Announcing the change on Wednesday, the department said it would “eliminate inequality between low-income families cared for by the department and families with private child support schemes.”

Illinois is one of 15 states that automatically calculated interest. The department found that the agreement disproportionately affected blacks and low-income families.