Over the last two years, roughly $422,000 was stolen from a Connecticut Department of Social Services account after multiple individuals obtained banking information for a child support account held by DSS and used the information to pay off hundreds of thousands in credit card charges.
DSS Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves first notified Comptroller Sean Scanlon and the Auditors of Public Accounts in a January 2026 letter informing them “of an active investigation regarding unauthorized electronic access to, and withdrawals from, a bank account used for disbursements to child support obligees.”
“At this point in time, it appears that no state or federal funds are implicated, and no child support obligees have been denied payments or had personal information compromised,” Barton Reeves wrote.
Reached for comment, department spokeswoman Christine Stuart reiterated that no state or federal funds were affected by the breach and said the department has successfully recovered most of the money through the bank. The Connecticut State Police are now investigating.
“There is an open law enforcement investigation regarding the unauthorized withdrawal of funds from a bank account used for disbursements to child support obligees,” Stuart wrote in an email. “At this point in time about two-thirds of the money has been recovered through the bank. Unfortunately, DSS is unable to comment further because of the open investigation.”
DSS later updated their figures to indicate that three-quarters of the funds have been recovered thus far, leaving an outstanding loss of $102,366.
Sources familiar with the matter indicate the child support funds were accessed to pay off thousands in credit card balances, and that many of the payments were made under fake names. What banking information these individuals obtained and how they obtained it is unknown at this time. The theft was purportedly uncovered during an audit.
The Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) is under DSS and responsible for, among other things, collecting and distributing child support payments, and offer services supporting 120,000 families. Under federal law, every state must provide child support services, according to OCSS’s website, and can work with the Judicial Department to enforce child support payments with a majority of administrative and enforcement cost covered by the federal government under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.
According to the 2025 Single Statewide Audit, DSS expended a total of $56.4 million on child support services with $46.3 reimbursed by the federal government.
According to the OCSS website, the office is working on a project to upgrade the technology used by OCSS and child support enforcement services, and the office has an online portal through which child support payments can be made.
The 2025 Single Statewide Audit found DSS had failed to impose sanctions on federal assistance payments to “non-cooperating” parents who are not making their support payments. Under federal guidelines, DSS “must deduct at least 25% of the amount of assistance or deny the individual assistance” altogether. The department responded that it had implemented a “new child support non-cooperation referral process” in November 2025.
DSS’s child support account is not the only place where state government administered money is being stolen. Theft of DSS administered SNAP benefits increased by a dramatic 1,800 percent between 2023 and 2024, largely due to illegal card skimmers that copy EBT card information and phishing scams, according to a report by CT Mirror.
According to Commissioner Barton Reeves letter the department and the bank were continuing to “investigate the circumstances,” of the unauthorized access to the child support fund.
**This story was updated with newer figures showing that three-quarters of the funds have been recovered**
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🤔 Let me guess, unregulated and multiple loopholes???? No accountable oversight. Does the state do unannounced competency and complacency check ups on employees? All? Any?
”It is absolutely staggering to see DSS play the victim over a $400,000 internal security failure when they ruthlessly prosecute citizens for pennies in comparison. When a father falls on hard times and asks for a simple payment plan over $1,500, DSS throws him in jail without a second thought. Yet, they manage to hemorrhage nearly half a million dollars to fraudsters using fake names and write it off as an ‘investigation.’ The double standard is sickening. They crush the people they claim to serve while their own house is completely out of order.”