Officials in Kentucky are working to improve how the state collects child support payments. Late last week, the state attorney general announced the members of the first-ever Child Support Advisory Council.
The Council is made up of county attorneys from across Kentucky who will assist the A-G’s Office in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Department of Child Support Services.
Amy Burke is the first chief of child support services for Kentucky. She said there was a lot of preparation needed to transition child support services from Health and Family Services to the Attorney General's Office.
“We built relationships with county attorneys and their child support staff. They welcomed us in with open arms, gave us a lot of things that were on their minds, helped us, and shared with us how they do this incredibly important work every single day,” she said.
Attorney General Russell Coleman said the transition took place on July 1, with minimal disruption to those delivering child support services. However, one major obstacle they face is modernization. He said they inherited severely outdated equipment.
“Built in a time when dial-up was novel, this is Atari-level technology running this very important system. We have started a major modernization effort. There is currently over a billion dollars in uncollected, unpaid child support,” he said.
General Coleman created the council by executive order earlier this year.
In 2023, the General Assembly passed legislation to move the commonwealth’s child support function from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services into the Attorney General’s Office.
There are currently nearly 140 employees in the Attorney General’s Department of Child Support Services. In the last fiscal year, the program handled more than 220,000 cases and collected over $336 million.
Here is the full list of ten members of the Child Support Advisory Council:
- Clay County Attorney – Joseph White
- Fayette County Attorney – Angela Evans
- Grayson County Attorney – Jeremy Logsdon
- Jefferson County Attorney – Mike O'Connell
- Kenton County Attorney – Stacy Tapke
- Logan County Attorney – Joseph Ross
- Madison County Attorney – Jennie Haymond
- Marshall County Attorney – Jason Darnall
- McCracken County Attorney – Daniel Foster
- Spencer County Attorney – Corey Thomas
