Kentucky officials are working to improve the state’s child support payment collection system, and late last week, the state attorney general announced the members of the first-ever Child Support Advisory Council.
The council consists of county attorneys from across Kentucky who will assist the Attorney General’s Office in enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Department of Child Support Services.
Amy Burke, Kentucky’s first chief of child support services, explained that extensive preparation went into transitioning child support services from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to the Attorney General’s Office.
“We built relationships with county attorneys and their child support staff. They welcomed us in with open arms, gave us a lot of things that were on their minds, helped us, and shared with us how they do this incredibly important work every single day,” Burke said.
Attorney General Russell Coleman confirmed that the transition officially took place on July 1 with minimal disruption to ongoing services. However, modernization remains a significant challenge.
“Built in a time when dial-up was novel, this is Atari-level technology running this very important system,” Coleman said. “We have started a major modernization effort. There is currently over a billion dollars in uncollected, unpaid child support.”
Coleman created the council through an executive order earlier this year. In 2023, the General Assembly passed legislation transferring the state’s child support function to the Attorney General’s Office from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
The Attorney General’s Department of Child Support Services currently has nearly 140 employees. In the last fiscal year, the program managed over 220,000 cases and collected more than $336 million.
Members of the Child Support Advisory Council:
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Joseph White – Clay County Attorney
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Angela Evans – Fayette County Attorney
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Jeremy Logsdon – Grayson County Attorney
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Mike O’Connell – Jefferson County Attorney
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Stacy Tapke – Kenton County Attorney
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Joseph Ross – Logan County Attorney
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Jennie Haymond – Madison County Attorney
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Jason Darnall – Marshall County Attorney
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Daniel Foster – McCracken County Attorney
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Corey Thomas – Spencer County Attorney
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