August is recognized as National Child Support Awareness Month — a time to highlight the critical role that child support plays in the well-being of children and families across Ohio.

Ohio’s Child Support Program serves one in four children, working to ensure they receive the financial support necessary for a healthier, more secure future. County Child Support Enforcement Agencies across the state are dedicated to helping children thrive by promoting responsible parenting and family self-sufficiency.

Child support services include locating parents, establishing legal parentage, setting up child and medical support orders, collecting and distributing payments, modifying orders when circumstances change, and enforcing unpaid obligations. These services are available to all families, including divorced and unmarried parents, custodial relatives, and children in foster care, regardless of income level.

Locally, the Trumbull County Child Support Enforcement Agency manages approximately 16,551 active cases and collects more than $ 26,871,000 in child support annually, helping to ensure that children in our community receive the support they need and deserve.

In observance of Child Support Awareness Month, the Trumbull County Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA), a division of the Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services, will offer the following amnesty programs during the month of August for parents who are behind in making their child support payments.

• License Reinstatement Amnesty — Payers who have had their driver’s license suspended through the CSEA may request reinstatement in return for a payment in the amount of one monthly obligation plus an additional $1 payment on their arrearage.

• Amnesty for Warrants on Contempt — Amnesty is offered for warrants on contempt for those payers deemed eligible, who have failed to appear for a child support related hearing or have failed to report to jail to serve their child support related contempt sentence. CSEA will withdraw their warrant if the payer makes a payment in the amount of one monthly obligation plus an additional $1 payment on their arrearage.

“Securing support for children is a top priority of the CSEA and it is our belief that these amnesty programs will have a positive impact by giving absent parents a means to resolve child support issues and give their children the support they deserve,” a news release from the CSEA states.

For further information about the amnesty programs, contact the Trumbull County Child Support Enforcement Agency at 330-675-2732.