Child support funds please Person

At only half his request, contract can be maintained

By Alex Doniach, Commercial Appeal
June 18, 2007

Juvenile Court Judge Curtis Person didn't get all of the $6.5 million he requested for Juvenile Court's child support operations, but he said he's happy the state gave enough to keep the program going.

Last week, state legislators signed off on a $3 million increase to Juvenile Court's child support enforcement contract -- $1 million in state funds and $2 million from the federal government in a matching agreement.

"This gives us the opportunity to move the program forward," Person said. "We're going to make every effort to improve."

The nonrecurring increase of $3 million from state and federal sources concludes months of lobbying from Juvenile Court officials to the state and Shelby County delegation.

The court's child support division, which collects child-support payments from non-custodial parents and provides counseling services, has not received an increase to its $11.9 million annual child support contract in three years, Person said.

He said without more money to hire case managers and lawyers, there would be no way to manage the 122,000 cases the court handles each year.

"We simply would have to abandon the contract because we would not have enough (staff) to meet the contract's performance standards," Person said.

This year, Department of Human Services commissioner Gina Lodge recommended an overall increase of $1 million for Juvenile Court, with $340,000 from the state and $660,000 drawn from federal sources. That request was not included in Gov. Phil Bredesen's budget.

Michelle Mowery Johnson, a spokeswoman for DHS, said although Person's child support operation is the largest in the state, it collects a smaller percentage of payments compared to other programs.

Johnson said DHS sees better outcomes when district attorneys operate the program.

In 11 of 31 districts -- including Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga -- private companies provide the services under contract with DHS. District attorneys general operate the services in 18 districts. DHS runs the program in one. Only in Shelby County does Juvenile Court administer the service.

In a letter delivered to Lodge April 16, Person said he could not improve his operation without the additional $6.5 million from state and federal dollars to hire more staff. Without the extra funds, he threatened to terminate the contract with DHS.

Lodge responded that since she had no indication that the state legislature was considering the request, she accepted Person's letter as a notice that he would terminate.

If the contract were to be terminated, child support operations would be taken over by a private company or by the district attorney's office.

Members of the Shelby County delegation then stepped in to rally dollars for the court.

Senate Republican leader Mark Norris of Collierville filed a proposed amendment to the state budget for the $6.5 million, which would amount to $2.16 million in state funds and the rest in matching funds from federal sources.

Senate Democratic leader Jim Kyle said the delegation compromised with a $1 million allocation in state funds to give the court a chance to turn itself around.

"What they've been given is a one-year reprieve," Kyle said. "If the collection efforts are at the same place next year, it's going to be real hard to do it again."

Person said he's grateful to the Shelby County delegation and plans to use the money to hire about 25-30 new caseworkers, five attorneys and extra clerical staff.

"This gives us the opportunity to continue to serve children and their families," Person said. "I want to develop the best program with the resources we have."