How do I register?
Click the "Register Now" button on the Log-in screen;
you will be prompted to enter your SSN. Once you enter your SSN and click "Continue", you will begin the
registration process. On the Registration page, you must enter the following fields:
User ID
Date of Birth
Email Address
Password
Secret hint question
Answer
Once all the required fields are filled out correctly, click "Register" at the bottom of the screen,
you will receive a confirmation message that you have successfully registered and now have access
to eChild. You will also receive an e-mail with the register confirmation and the security question
answer at the e-mail you provided.
How do I Re-register with eChild?
Go to the log-in screen and click "Forgot your password" link. You will be prompted to provide
your SSN, click "continue". On the next screen you will be prompted for the security hint
answer. Click on the 'Re-register' button. You will be navigated to the Registration screen
to fill in all required fields and click "Register". A confirmation email will be sent to the
email provided.
What happens if I forget my password and security answer?
You may restore access to eChild by going through the re-registration process; see How do I
re-register with eChild.
What is my User ID?
A unique name used to identify you. You may choose a minimum of 6 characters and may be any combination of
letters and numbers; spaces are not allowed.
What happens if I forget My User ID?
Go to the eChild Log-in screen and click on "Forgot your User ID". Enter your SSN and Date of Birth.
An e-mail will be generated to the e-mail address you previously provided during registration.
What are the User ID rules?
The User ID must be at least 6 characters.
The User ID can have a maximum length of 25 characters.
The User ID cannot contain a space (blank value) within the word.
The User ID is not case sensitive.
The User ID can be a combination of letters and numbers.
What if my birth date is not valid for my SSN?
Call Customer Services Information Line: 1.800.332.6347.
Why do I need an email address?
You need an email address to receive confirmation after registration, and to receive a temporary password
in the event that you forget your password.
Please note that a temporary password will be emailed to your email address used during registration. Therefore,
it is important that you keep your registered email address current on the eChild profile. If you decide to
change your email address, we recommend that you update your web profile with new email address to ensure the
delivery of eChild emails.
What should I do if I don't have an email address?
You can register for free email at a free email service provider such as
Hotmail or
Yahoo.
What should I do if my email address has changed?
It is important that you keep your registered email address current on the eChild web profile.
If you have changed your email address, login to your eChild account. After logging in, click the
"Update my Web Profile" link on the left hand side. This will take you to 'My Web Profile' page.
Enter your new email address and any other information you want to change and click update.
What happens if I forget my email address?
If you used during registration to eChild or you no longer have access to that email address;
you can have your temporary password delivered to your new email address. Click on the link
"Forgot your password" on the Log In page. Enter your SSN and click "Continue". Do not answer
your hint question on the Password Reminder page and go to the section where it says "If you
can't remember the answer, please click on the below button to Re-register." and click "Re-register"
button. This will take you to the re-registration page. Enter the information including your new
email address and a temporary password will be emailed to the new email address entered during
re-registration to eChild.
What do I do when I get a temporary password?
You must log in using the temporary password at which time you will be required to change the temporary
password to a password of your choosing. The password must be at least 8 characters long.
Please note that a temporary password will be emailed to your email address used during registration. Therefore,
it is important that you keep your registered email address current on the eChild profile. If you decide to
change your email address, we recommend that you update your web profile with new email address to ensure the
delivery of eChild emails.
What happens if my password is expired?
If you do not login to eChild for a period of more than 180 days, then your password will expire.
You will be directed to the re-registration screen when you attempt to login after an inactive
period of more than 180 days. You need to re-register, in order to gain access to eChild again.
Also note that your account will be removed from eChild, if you do not login to eChild for over a year.
You will need to do a new registration to gain access.
What are the password rules?
The password must be at least 8 characters.
The password can have a maximum length of 15 characters.
The password cannot contain a space (blank value) within the word.
The password must have at least one upper case letter
The password must have at least one number
The password should be different from the previous three passwords
The password cannot be the User ID
What happens if I forget my password?
Click on the link "Forgot your password?" on the Log In page. Enter you SSN, click "Continue" and answer the
secret hint question, click "Submit". A temporary password will be emailed to the email address provided
during your registration to eChild.
What are secret hint questions and answers?
From a list of randomly generated questions, you must choose one (1) secret hint question. You must provide
an answer to the secret hint question you choose. The answer can be a maximum of 40 characters and any
combination of letters and numbers.
What happens if I forget my secret hint questions answer?
If you forget your secret hint question answer, enter your User ID on the log in page and click the 'Forgot Your Password?'
link. Enter your SSN and click the 'Continue' button. This will take you to the Password Reminder page. Go to the section
where it says 'If you can't remember the answer, please click on the below button to Re-register.'
and click 'Re-register' button. This will take you to the re-registration page. Begin the registration
process. Enter the information and a temporary password will be emailed to the email address entered
during re-registration.
What should I do if I did not receive expected email from
eChild? Try one or more of the following solutions.
Verify your e-mail: If you are able to login into eChild, click the
“Update my Web Profile” link on the left hand side. This will take you to ‘My Web Profile’ page. Verify that
eChild has your correct e-mail address. If not, enter your correct email address and click update.
Check spam, junk or bulk e-mail folders: Search your spam, junk or bulk
e-mail folders for the e-mail from eChild. Sometimes emails from eChild get delivered there instead of your inbox.
If so, select the eChild email and click “Not Spam”, “Not Junk” or any similar button of your email program.
This will ensure the delivery of all future eChild emails to your inbox.
Add eChild to your address book or safe senders list: Here are the
instructions for some popular email programs.
AOL Add eChild "From" address, no-reply@dhr.state.md.us, to your AOL address book:
Click the Mail menu and select Address Book.
Wait for the "Address Book" window to pop up, and then click the Add button.
Wait for the "Address Card for New Contact" window to load.
Paste no-reply@dhr.state.md.us into the "Other E-Mail" field
Make eChild ‘From’ address the "Primary E-Mail" address by checking the associated check box.
Click the Save button.
Yahoo Set up a filter to redirect eChild emails into your inbox:
Open your mailbox and click on Mail Options (upper right hand corner)
Select Filters (bottom left corner).
Click the Add link on the Filters page.
Update the "From header:" rule with the following 2 pieces of information: "contains" and no-reply@dhr.state.md.us (This tells Yahoo! to identify eChild email based on it’s "From" address.)
Click the Choose Folder pull-down menu and select inbox.
Click the Add Filter button.
Hotmail Add eChild "From" address, no-reply@dhr.state.md.us, to your Hotmail Safe List:
Open your mailbox and click “Options” (upper right corner).
Click the “Junk E-Mail Protection” link (top of page).
Select the “Safe List” link (second from bottom).
Copy and paste no-reply@dhr.state.md.us into the dialog box titled “Type an address or domain.”
Click the “Add” button next to the dialog box.
Gmail Add eChild “From" address, no-reply@dhr.state.md.us, to your Gmail Contacts List:
Click Contacts along the left side of any Gmail page.
Click Add Contact.
Copy and paste our "From" address, no-reply@dhr.state.md.us, into the primary email address dialog box.
Click Save.
Outlook 2003 Add eChild "From" address, no-reply@dhr.state.md.us, to your Safe Senders list:
On the Tools menu, click Options.
On the Preferences tab, click Junk E-mail.
On the Safe Senders tab, click Add.
In the Add address, enter no-reply@dhr.state.md.us
Click OK.
Re-register with eChild: If you have not received a temporary password
in your email even after trying all the above solutions, eChild may not have your correct email address. You need to
re-register to eChild by following the step 3 of “What happens if I forget my password?” question.
Glossary of Fields:
eChild
Support displays a summary of your child support case(s) and
their related court orders.
Custodial
Parent is the parent with whom the child(ren) live.
Non-Custodial
Parent is the parent that does not live with the child(ren).
Case
# is the assigned number which represents a child support
case. This number links all parents and child(ren) with their cases.
Other
Parent displays the name of the other parent for this child
support case. Clicking on the actual name will display the Update Parent Information page
Court
Order is the child support court order number assigned by
the court.
Current
Amount Due is the amount that the court has set to be paid
for child support.
Last
Payment Issued is the date that the last child support check
was sent to the custodial parent.
Last
Payment Amount is the amount of the last child support check
that was sent to the custodial parent.
Date
Due is the date that the next child support payment is
due.
Arrears
are (past due) child support.
Current
Support is the the amount of child support due for the
current month.
Total
Monthly Obligation Owed is the sum of all current support and arrearage
support obligations in the calendar month.
Current
Balance Owed for This Month is the sum of all current support and arrearage
support obligations for this month less any payments that have been made for this month.
Total
Balance Owed is the sum of the total monthly balance and the remaining
balance of past due support owed.
Custodial
Parent Payment History lists the last six months of payment
activity for a case.
Amount
Posted is the amount of money applied to each court order for
which you are the custodial parent.
Amount
Retained by State is the amount of money held to reimburse the
state for any Temporary Cash Assistance (Public Assistance, Medical
Assistance and Welfare) received by the custodial parent, on behalf
of a child included in the court order for child support.
Amount
Disbursed is the amount that was paid to the custodial parent.
Payment
Type is how the payment was paid to the custodial parent: check
or direct deposit.
Payment
Date is the date that the payment was issued to the custodial
parent.
Payment
Cashed is the date the child support check was cashed. This
date is provided by the bank.
Non-Custodial
Payment History lists child support payments received, for your
child support court orders within the past six months.
Amount
Received
is the amount received on a specific court order. If
you have more than one court order, and have made one payment, that
payment amount and payment received date may appear on more than
one court order. The amount applied will show how much of that payment
was applied to the specific court order.
Amount
Applied is the amount that was applied to the specific court
order. If you have more than one court order or case for child support,
a payment will be split among all of your court orders. If you wish
to make a payment on a specific court order or case, you must note
that court order number or case number on a check or money order.
Payment
Received is the date that the payment was received by the child
support office.
FAQ
