Geauga JFS Top in Assuring Child Support Payments

November 22, 2012

Geauga County Job and Family Services ranks first in Ohio for collecting child support in several categories defined by the state.

The achievement was announced last Thursday by JFS Director Tim Taylor and Assistant Director Paul Reiman, who were promptly given verbal pats on the back by the Geauga County Commissioners.

Out of Ohio’s 88 counties, the 12-member county child support division ranks first in all the collection categories measured by the federal government, Taylor said.

He said the most important categories are:

• Current child support, verifying collection of 83.70 percent of current child support compared to a statewide county collection average of almost 70 percent.

Success in current collection is measured by the federal government in dollars, Reiman said.

Geauga County collected $11.7 million out of $14 million that was owed in federal fiscal year 2012, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, he added.

Only the Geauga and Delaware county child support divisions collected more than 80 percent of owed child support, while the remaining 86 counties collected under 80 percent, Taylor said.

• Collecting 80.54 percent of child support from parents who are in arrears in their monthly payments.

The statewide collection average is about 69 percent.

This category is federally measured in the number of cases where a parent is in arrears in child support versus the success in making these cases pay, Reimer said.

In Geauga County, 1,767 cases — which is each time a parent fails to pay support — out of 2,194 cases were resolved, he said.

Only Geauga, Noble and Putman counties had arrears collections of more than 80 percent, according to Taylor’s state statistics.

The Geauga County child support division has consistently collected more than 80 percent in this category since 2004, which Taylor attributed to the agency’s overall success in collections to the child support staff.

“We’ve got Paul (Reiman) here, who is division director and does a very good job, some excellent supervisors and an overall good staff who have the kind of work culture to meet and exceed (federal) standards,” Taylor said. “They are very dedicated to making sure people pay child support to those who are supposed to get it.”

The commissioners approved a resolution honoring the achievement, which states the following:

WHEREAS, Geauga County Job and Family Services Child Support Enforcement Division is administrated by Paul Reiman, under Director Tim Taylor and includes 12 outstanding, experienced staff members; and

WHEREAS, the Geauga County Child Support Enforcement Division partners with the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office on hundreds of child support cases in both the general and juvenile divisions of the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, and in working with the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office in executing outstanding bench warrants on child support cases; and

WHEREAS, the Geauga County Child Support Enforcement Division with a total of 3,203 open cases as of the end of September 2012 currently ranks 56th out of 88th in the State of Ohio for total caseload size and has collected $15,734,707.57 in total support in fiscal year 2012, performing above 80 percent in all four performance categories — Current Support Collection, Collection on Arrearage Cases, Support Establishment and Paternity Establishment — for the second year in a row and for the fourth time in the last seven years; and

WHEREAS, the Geauga County Child Support Enforcement Division under these categories, the Current Support Collection was ranked number one in the state for the sixth year, with a current collection rate of 83.70 percent, a statewide performance rate of 66.55 percent and a statewide county average of 69.76 percent; the Collection on Arrearage Cases was ranked number three in the state with an arrearage collection rate of 80.54 percent, a statewide performance rate of 63.79 percent, and a statewide county average of 69.28 percent; the Support Establishment was ranked 28th in the state, but was still 14.5 percent higher than the performance goal of 80 percent, a statewide performance rate of 85.15 percent and a statewide county average of 90.71 percent and the Paternity Establishment ranked 31st in the state, but was still 23.08 percent higher than the performance goal of 80 percent, a statewide performance rate of 93.13 percent and a statewide county average of 100.52 percent with all 88 counties ranking over the 80 percent performance rate; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Geauga County Commissioners do hereby recognize and honor the Geauga County Job and Family Services Child Support Enforcement Division for being ranked number one in the state.