August is Child Support Awareness Month in Ohio

Currently in Ohio, more than 1 million children are involved in the state’s child support system.

In order to recognize the importance of parents providing support for their children, August has been declared as Child Support Awareness Month in Ohio. Child support programs provide important services such as collecting child support for families, establishing the legal relationship between children and their parents, and enforcing court orders.

Ohio’s child support system has the third-largest caseload in the country and collects more than $2 billion in child support payments each year.

In 2012, the Athens County Child Support Enforcement Agency collected more than $6.2 million in child support payments for more than 5,500 children.

Most parents who are obligated to pay child support do so without any problems. In fact, the Athens County Child Support Enforcement Agency is only actively involved with a very small percent of the child support cases in the county. The Athens County Child Support Enforcement Agency thanks those parents who put their children first.

In addition to providing financial support, all parents are also strongly encouraged to provide emotional support by being involved in their children’s lives, engaging them in conversation and remaining active with them no matter how old they are.

Child support programs are designed to help provide children with the opportunity for a better life. Research shows that children who grow up with emotional and financial support from both parents become more productive adults.

For more information on the Athens County Child Support Enforcement Agency, call 593-5046 or 1-800-436-8933, log onto http://csea.athensoh.org or send an e-mail to csea@athensoh.org.