The Los Angeles County Child Support Services Department has received two national awards recognizing its community outreach efforts to educate the public about child support services in L.A. County. The recognition came from the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA) and the National Association of Counties (NACO).
L.A.County CSSD received NCSEA’s ’07 Program Awareness award for the department’s community outreach in L.A. County during August 2006 for Child Support Awareness Month. The award was accepted by Steven Golightly, CSSD Director, at the 2007 NCSEA national convention in Orlando, Florida. NCSEA is the nation’s largest professional organization of child support professionals.
We are pleased to receive this national recognition because we are committed to making a difference for families and children in our County, said Director Golightly. We appreciate the recognition of our efforts to reach out to all communities.
L.A. County’s award-winning outreach in 2006 was organized by the CSSD Communications and Marketing Division and involved CSSD staff volunteers from all the Department’s divisions. It featured 40 outreach events and media appearances with a variety of community organizations, agencies and media outlets. It was part of the statewide observance of Child Support Awareness Month (CSAM) which highlights the importance of child support to families and recognizes the child support professionals dedicated to collecting support.
CSSD’s outreach program included child support workshops for community organizations, churches, the legal community and escrow professionals. The Department’s Torrance division staged a Saturday family fun fair to educate the South Bay community about child support issues. L.A. County’s effort also included appearances on English, Spanish, Cambodian and Chinese language media programs including City News Service, La Opinion, KMEX-TV, KSCI-TV and KTLA-TV.
Meanwhile, NACO honored L.A. County CSSD for its Employer Workshop, a free workshop for employers and payroll professionals that provides information on child support wage withholding and health insurance requirements. Since 2002, the Employer Workshop has reached 2,000 participants representing 1,700 companies with a workforce of over two million employees.
L.A. County Child Support Services collected $494 million in child support last year for families and children. The department provides free child support services to L.A. County residents including opening child support cases, establishing paternity, collecting child support, locating parents and modifying child support orders. For more information call 323-890-9800 or go to http:///www.cssd.lacounty.gov