A

Parent Locator Service (PLS)

A service of the Office of Child Support Enforcement to find missing parents.

Parent Locator Service (PLS) is a service that custodial parents can use to locate missing parents, usually to obtain child support payments, but in some cases, to find a non-custodial parent who has kidnapped a child. The PLS relies on federal government records such as computer databases, income tax, and Social Security earnings and benefits records. At the state level, the PLS uses motor vehicle registration, driver's license, welfare, police and prison, and worker's compensation records. The PLS is operated by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), established in 1975 as a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help enforce payment of court-ordered child support. Working through a network of regional and state agencies, the OCSE uses the Parent Locator Service and other investigative techniques to locate the missing parent.