August is child support enforcement month.  The back-to-school season puts additional financial pressures on families who are not receiving child support that they are owed.

“Child Support Enforcement Month affirms Virginia’s commitment to supporting the emotional and financial needs of Virginia’s children,” said Virginia Department of Social Services’ (VDSS) Commissioner Martin D. Brown.  “Strong families make strong communities, and in these times, that’s exactly what our country needs. It all starts at home with families and VDSS’ commitment is to strengthen the families we serve at every customer contact.”

VDSS’ Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) Program currently serves more than 422,000 children in 353,000 cases and, in SFY2012, surpassed $657.1 million in collections – thereby bringing total collections to more than $9 billion since 1993.

“DCSE’s ultimate goal is to act in the best interest of Virginia’s children, which means providing each of them with two parents who are involved and invested in their lives. Often, the emotional support children receive from their parents is every bit as important as the financial support” said Deputy Commissioner and DCSE Director Nathaniel L. Young, Jr.

In addition to collecting financial support, DCSE closely aligns itself with VDSS’ Strengthening Families Initiative, which is committed to reducing non-marital births, connecting and reconnecting fathers with their children, and encouraging the formation and maintenance of safe, stable, two-parent families in which both parents focus on the healthy development of their children.

Virginia’s DCSE continues to be an award-winning program due to the implementation and improvement of initiatives focused on strengthening families, including: the Paternity Establishment Program, so every child knows his or her father; Access and Visitation, which reconnects non-custodial parents to their children; Intensive Case Monitoring Program, an alternative to incarceration for non-payment of support that helps parents overcome obstacles; and Fatherhood Initiatives to help fathers understand the crucial role they play in their children’s well being.

For more information on child support in Virginia, visit http://www.dss.virginia.gov/family/dcse/.