​In commemoration of National Child Support Awareness Month in August, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced a free opportunity for parents to establish a written parenting time plan that sets out a schedule for when a child spends time with each parent. Parents with an open child support case in Oregon, and who do not currently have a parenting plan, agreement, or a court order addressing parenting time qualify for a free mediation to establish the agreement.

“Parenting time arrangements can be a stressful matter for families, so a plan is critical in helping parents find suitable ways to co-parent their children,” said Attorney General Rosenblum. “This opportunity gives parents the tools they need that will ultimately help their children connect and develop strong bonds with both parents.”

Oregon’s child support program was awarded a federal grant to fund parenting plan mediators through September 2015.The mediators will help parents communicate, give suggestions about
schedules, solve disagreements and, ultimately, help write the parenting plan.

The Oregon Child Support Program administers more than 235,000 child support cases and processes more than $1 million in child support payments every day. In Oregon, the amount of time that a child spends with each parent is a factor in determining the amount of child support a parent must pay. If a parenting plan exists while a child support order is being established or modified, the child support calculation will include the appropriate parenting time credit.

The Oregon Child Support Program is a federally funded program administered by the Department of Justice, in coordination with many of Oregon’s district attorneys. Additional services from the program include establishing paternity, locating a non-custodial parent, establishing or modifying an order for child support, securing health care coverage for a child, determining the amount of support past due, enforcing support orders and providing accounting records.

Members of the public can learn more about the Oregon Child Support Program or request services through their local support office. For a list of Department of Justice and district attorney offices involved in the program, visit oregonchildsupport.gov.

For more information about requirements and resources available to obtain a parenting plan, visit oregonchildsupport.gov/parentingtime.