August is Child Support Awareness Month

In a recent Jackson County Commissioners meeting, Tammy Osborne-Smith the director of the Department of Jobs and Family Services introduced a new member of her staff, Kim Seitz, as the new child support supervisor.

The visit on Tuesday, July 25, was two-fold however, as after the introductions were made and they spoke briefly about the impact of child support to families and the community, they asked the commissioners to join them in supporting August as Child Support Awareness Month. The commissioners showed their support by approving resolution 133-17.

Governor John Kasich declared August Child Support Awareness Month as a way to let the public know that the Ohio Child Support program impacts more children than any other public program, and in the State of Ohio alone the program serves one in every three children.

The State of Ohio bases its child support program on the essential belief that children deserve financial support, and that if children truly are our future it is imperative that the child support program aid in the healthy development of children, including the emotional and financial support of both parents.

This program ensures that parents financially support their children when living apart and it provides many other important services including collecting child support for families, establishing the legal relationship between children and their parents, enforcing court orders and health insurance coverage.

Each year Ohio establishes paternity for more than 56,700 children born to unmarried parents. Ohio has the third largest caseload in the nation with nearly one million cases and collects more than $2 billion dollars per year on average. Child support is the second largest source of income for single parent families. Locally, the Jackson County Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) maintained a collections rate of more than $3,557,000 in IV-D Child Support in 2016 with a caseload of 2,193 open cases.

One improvement to the program is the Ohio Child Support Customer Service Web Portal which provides customers with an active child support case the opportunity to get case details online. Customers can print up to two years' worth of payment records and send email communications to their local case manager.

The Web Portal also supplies access to other program areas via web links, which may be used as a method to report changes, and it includes easy to follow YouTube tutorials on how to complete registration.

This Web Portal provides convenient access to customers that may otherwise be unable to contact their local CSEA during normal business hours.

For more information and details on how to register, visit www.jfs.ohio.gov/ocs/.

Coming soon, a convenient smartphone app will be available for anyone with a smartphone, so customers should check the Web Portal for updates.