On Nov. 6, during the Jessamine County Fiscal Court Meeting, the staff of the Jessamine County Child Support Office announced that the federal government granted their office an outstanding performance award for Kentucky offices with 2,000-4,000 cases. This category put Jessamine County in the running against 40 to 50 other counties.
“The federal government judges the state performance and how much money the state gets by four separate federal ratios, so then the state looks at each of the counties to see how we’re doing in those federal ratios. We won based upon our performance in those four federal ratios,” county attorney Brian Goettl told the Jessamine Journal. In Kentucky, child support offices are employed by the fiscal court, meaning that the Jessamine County Child Support Office is a part of Goettl’s office.
State child support enforcement operations receive their funding from the federal government. In Kentucky, the state government collaborates with every county attorney to conduct child support enforcement in each county.
There have only been two occasions when the Jessamine County office’s expenditures exceeded their reimbursement to the fiscal court in the past 21 years, according to Goettl. Goettl cites this as one of the main reasons the office is receiving this award.
“The fiscal court is always there to make sure that we have the resources that we need,” Goettl told the Jessamine Journal. “My child support workers and everyone in my office is dedicated to serving the people of Jessamine County. It’s because of the hard work that each of them do every day without any thanks. So, it was a good reward for their hard work.”
Goettl and his staff were also named Child Support Office of the Year in Kentucky by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Division of Child Support Enforcement in 2017.
“Jessamine County is proud of County Attorney Brian Goettl and his staff and their commitment to provide the best service to the residents of Jessamine County. His office is a voice for those seeking resolution regarding Child Support issues. I appreciate their hard work and extend my congratulations to Brian and his staff,” Jessamine County Judge-Executive David West said at the 2017 awards ceremony. At the Nov. 6 Fiscal Court Meeting, West commended the Jessamine County office for “leading the way.”