FRANKFORT, Ky. (Nov. 23, 2010) – The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) has announced the state’s 20 top-performing child support contracting officials and one that made significant improvement during the past year.

The winners were announced last month at a reception in Frankfort hosted by the CHFS Child Support Enforcement Program (CSE).

The CSE, part of the CHFS Department for Income Support (DIS), administers child support enforcement jointly with local contracting officials for all 120 counties.

“Families don’t often see the hard work our child support contractors perform on their behalf,” said DIS Deputy Commissioner Steve Veno, who leads the CSE.

“These county officials are a link between child enforcement staff and the public,” said Veno. “We value their partnership in helping families in need of assistance and support.”

Contracting officials are ranked based on their paternity establishments, the establishment of child support orders, child support collections and arrearage (past-due) collections.

Rankings for the 2009-10 fiscal year were made based on number of active cases.

Top performing counties with 1,000 or fewer cases are as follows:
1. Morgan County, County Attorney Steve O’Connor 
2. Crittenden County, County Attorney Rebecca J. Johnson
3. Adair County, County Attorney Jennifer Hutchison-Corbin 
4. McLean County, County Attorney W.E. Quisenberry Jr. 
5. Livingston County, County Attorney Billy N. Riley
6. Trigg County, County Attorney H.B. Quinn
7. Lyon County, County Attorney Brandon Knoth 
8. Washington County, County Attorney Hamilton B. Simms

Top performing counties with 1,000-2,000 cases are as follows:
1. Allen County, County Attorney William Hagenbuch Jr.
2. Oldham County, former County Attorney John Fendley, currently Courtney Baxter
3. Breckinridge County, County Attorney Bradley Butler
4. Grayson County, County Attorney Thomas Goff
5. Logan County, County Attorney Thomas Noe II
6. Meade County, County Attorney Margaret Matney
7. Montgomery County, County Attorney Kevin Cockrell

Top performing counties with 2,000-4,000 cases are as follows:
1. Harlan County, County Attorney Fred M. Busroe Jr.
2. Hopkins County, County Attorney Todd P’Pool
3. Bell County, County Attorney Neil Ward

Top performing counties with 4,000 cases or more are as follows:
1. Hardin County, County Attorney T. Steven Bland
2. Warren County, County Attorney Amy Hale Milliken

The Lyon County Attorney’s Office, led by County Attorney Brandon Knoth, won the Greatest Improvement Award for the second year in a row. Last year the Lyon County program improved from a rank of 117 to 57 statewide. This year they achieved another significant increase from 57th to ninth statewide.

The Contracting Official Office of the Year was Casey County.

Veno said the quality of the state’s child support enforcement program also contributes to the success of other cabinet services.

“Child support income is vital to the health and well-being of many children,” he said. “But providing for children takes more than just financial means. Child support is one part of a network of assistance that gets families on the path to self-sufficiency.”

CSE also honored several individuals who were nominated by their peers.

The John R. Fendley Child Support Attorney of the Year Award went to Assistant County Attorney Honorable Stephen Wheatley from Hardin County.

The award was recently renamed for Fendley, the former Oldham County attorney who died in June after an accident at his home.

“Oldham County has consistently been a top performer, and John Fendley was a main reason for that,” Veno said. “This award is the perfect way to recognize the dedication of county attorneys like John Fendley. Stephen Wheatley embodies the traits that we all respected in John.”

The Tim Olds Customer Service Award was presented to Paula Sturm from the Northeastern Regional Office.

Tim Olds was an employee of the Child Support Enforcement Program who exemplified outstanding customer service. Olds answered phones, met with custodial and noncustodial parents and assisted community partners in matters involving child support. Shortly after his retirement in 2007, Olds unexpectedly passed away.

Vanessa Morgan from the Eastern Mountain Regional Office was named Field Employee of the Year.

Policy, Training and Customer Service Section Supervisor Mary Sparrow of Frankfort’s Central Office received the Central Office Employee of the Year honor.

The Contracting Official Employee of the Year was Barbara Cravens from Morgan County.