The New York State Office of Temporary
and Disability Assistance today announced that Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has
issued a Proclamation
marking August as Child Support Awareness Month in New York State.
“Child support is a vital source of
income for hundreds of thousands of children and families in New York, and is
often the key to keeping children from falling into poverty,” said Office of
Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) Commissioner Samuel D. Roberts.
“When children receive financial and emotional support from both parents they
are more likely to do well in school and succeed later in life.”
New York State’s child support program
provides custodial parents with assistance in obtaining financial support and
medical insurance coverage for their children by locating parents, establishing
paternity, establishing and modifying support orders and collecting and
distributing child support payments. The program serves nearly 900,000
children, collecting more than $1.8 billion annually on their behalf.
“This is a great time to reflect on the
success of our program while rededicating ourselves to continued innovation in
delivering these services,” said OTDA Assistant Deputy Commissioner and Child
Support Director Eileen Stack. “State and local child support staff remain
committed to ensuring timely and reliable child support payments and securing
medical coverage where appropriate.”
Throughout August, representatives of
OTDA’s Child Support Services will be participating in several events focused
on improving the delivery of services offered to children and families.
This week, county child support workers
from around the state will meet in Albany for two days of training to better
understand federal reporting requirements. The training is a joint effort
between OTDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families.
OTDA staff will also be meeting with
business owners to highlight the important role employers play in collecting
child support. Nearly $3 of every $4 in child support collected in New York
State are withheld from a worker’s paycheck.
OTDA is planning meetings with hospital
staff to highlight the importance of making available voluntary Acknowledgement
of Paternity forms to unmarried parents of newborns. If a child’s parents are
not legally married at the time of birth, the law does not recognize the father
as the child’s legal father and does not give him any rights to or
responsibilities for the child. These forms provide an opportunity to for
parents to establish the legal father of the child at the time of birth.
For more information on child support,
visit childsupport.ny.gov.
Source: Press Office, Governor Andrew M.
Cuomo
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