Celebrating 50 Years of the Title IV-Program: Strengthening Families Through Child Support Services

By Amy Roehrenbeck, Esq., Executive Director, Ohio Child Support Professionals Association

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This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Title IV-D program. Signed into law by President Gerald Ford (a child of divorced parents himself), the IV-D program began as a cost recovery program, focused on recouping dollars being spent on public assistance benefits to low-income families. Since that time, the program has grown in its mission and reach both nationally and here in Ohio, where we serve 1 in 4 children and collect over $1.5 billion in support annually. August is Child Support Awareness Month and this offers a great opportunity to learn more about our program!

Ohio’s Child Support Program Serves 1 in 4 Children

Ohio’s child support caseload regularly ranks among the largest in the country. Our county agencies administer both judicial and administrative child support orders. These orders are administered for long periods of time, often from child infancy until graduation or emancipation. Unlike other human services programs, there is no income requirement to access child support services, and we serve families across the socio-economic spectrum.

Child support is about more than just money

Ohio county child support agencies deliver a robust set of services to ensure children’s well-being. These core services include:

• Location of parents to obtain paternity and/or support, or to enforce a child support order

• The establishment of paternity to determine legal fatherhood

• The establishment of child support and medical support orders to address the financial and healthcare needs of the child

• Modification of child support and medical support orders when circumstances change

• Enforcement of child support when a parent fails to pay

Child Support Partners are Key to our Success

Child support agencies work with many partners to establish, collect, and enforce orders to ensure that children receive the support they need to grow and thrive. These include employers, courts, private attorneys, sister programs such as Income Maintenance, Child Welfare, and Workforce, hospitals, fatherhood organizations, financial institutions, domestic violence advocates, and many others.

Learn More About the Services Child Support Has to Offer

To enhance your work through Groundwork Ohio, we encourage you to reach out to your local child support agency and find out what services are available to assist the families you serve. Whether it’s the determination of paternity for family formation, the pursuit of a child support order to strengthen a family’s economic stability, or a medical support order to secure healthcare coverage, your local agency can help!

Amy Roehrenbeck, Esq. is the Executive Director for the Ohio Child Support Professionals Association. Amy has been in the child support program for 24 years, serving as a county assistant prosecuting attorney before coming to the association in 2007.