Local agencies cooperate to help children
Published 4:22 pm Monday, December 14, 2015
Teamwork: Representatives from the 19th Judicial Circuit and the Chilton County Department of Human Resources who were recognized include: Shaun Nix, Amber Darnell, Tamela Minor, Marilyn Colson, Judge Rhonda Hardesty, District Attorney Randall Houston, Marsha Scott, C.J. Robinson, Referee Tina Moon, Beverly Parker, Jacren Scarbrough and Alisha McDonald. (Contributed photo)
Contributed | Department of Human Resources
Representatives from the 19th Judicial Circuit and the Chilton County Department of Human Resources received awards recently from the Alabama Department of Human Resources Child Support Enforcement Division.
This is the third consecutive year that the child support team has received state recognition.
This year, certificates were presented recognizing the highest percentage of increase in total collections and the highest percentage of increase in arrears payments collected in Category 1 size counties.
Tamela Minor, Chilton County DHR child support supervisor, said the award represented cooperation between the local DHR and the staff of the 19th Judicial Circuit.
More than 1,400 families have received child support services in Fiscal Year 2015, and more than $2.5 million was collected for the children in these families. This is support provided by parents and not by the state.
The Child Support Enforcement Division is a joint federal and state effort to help families establish paternity when necessary, obtain orders for payment of child support and secure compliance with child support court orders.
One of the goals of the program is to help families achieve self-sufficiency. The non-payment of child support is a key factor contributing to the impoverishment of children. Child support services are automatically provided to individuals currently receiving benefits thorough the Temporary Assistance for needy Families program.
Child support services are also provided to custodial parents of children, legal custodians of children, individuals having care and control of children, alleged fathers wanting to establish paternity, and custodial parents with emancipated children who are owed arrears that accrued under a court order while the children were minors and non-custodial parents.
These individuals may apply for services at the local Department of Human Resources at 500 Airport Road.
An initial application can be downloaded from www.dhr.alabama.gov. Additional information is also available on the website.
