SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV)— The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) is recognizing August as Child Support Awareness Month after celebrating 50 years of the program.
The department said they are looking forward to spending the next decade working towards holistically serving its families. This includes providing additional support to parents who are paying the support. They state that the program’s mission is to improve the lives of children and create a more stable and successful future for families in Illinois.
“This year’s Child Support Awareness Month is a chance to celebrate a milestone in this program’s history, reflect on how it has served families in Illinois over the past 50 years, and recognize the program’s improvement over the years,” said HFS Director Elizabeth M. Whitehorn. “With its future focused on innovations and whole-family care, Child Support Services will only continue to improve the lives of Illinois families for years to come.”
Illinois’ Child Support Services program made great progress according to the federal key performance indicators established by the Office of Child Support Services. Illinois ranked for the first time in Illinois history in the top 30 states in the U.S. for comprehensive child support services overall. Illinois also ranks 16th overall in paternity establishment percentage, which is the state’s highest ever ranking. the 16th placement is in reference to how many children in the state get their paternity established, divided by how many children were born to parents out of wedlock.
“The future focus for Child Support Services will remain on the well-being of entire families,” said HFS Division of Child Support Services Administrator Bryan Tribble. “This year, the Family Resource Connections program became a permanent part of efforts to shift focus to a whole-family approach that will ultimately better serve the children of Illinois. The Department is fully committed to continuing to advance the well-being of families moving forward.”
Child Support Services also announced its intent to make the Family Resource Connections program permanent. This program provides individualized solutions to help parents’ needs and foster a better outcome for families. After initially being a pilot program, the program has now been officially adopted and will grow and change in the years to come. Child Support Services serves more than 330,000 families in Illinois, covering over half a million children.
