The addresses of nearly 4,000 custodial parents were accidentally released by the state agency that collects child-support payments, according to the Department of Social and Health Services.

Because the release of the addresses was a violation of health privacy laws, the Division of Child Support on Tuesday released a statement notifying the public about the inadvertent disclosure of private information.

Adolfo Capestany, a spokesman for the division, said that none of the released addresses were determined to be highly sensitive, such as those belonging to foster families, or the addresses of victims of domestic violence. Capestany said the individuals whose information was released have been notified and the state has apologized for the mishap.

According to Capestany, a letter was sent at the beginning of July to the employers of noncustodial parents, informing the employers that the workers' children should be placed on the employees' health-care insurance.

Those letters correctly included the addresses of the children and their custodial parents, Capestany said.

However, copies of those letters, which should have had the custodial parents' addresses removed, were inadvertently sent to the noncustodial parents, he said.

Custodial parents are given physical or legal custody of a child by court order. Typically, a child lives with the custodial parent.

Capestany said an error in the coding of the federally required insurance-enrollment form caused the snafu. The mistake was discovered on July 20, he said, and since then, the Division of Child Support has identified the cause of the mistake and made changes to minimize the chance of it occurring again.

In addition, he said, the division has established a toll-free number to provide information about any risk of identity theft or the possibility of physical or emotional harm as a result of the information released by the child-support division.

Those who may have been affected can call the Division of Child Support's Community Relations Unit at 1-800-457-6202.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com

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