Military Grant Benefits Service Members

El Paso County Child Support Services,  Colorado Springs, CO, operated by YoungWilliams, is implementing its second year of a three-year grant to provide outreach and educational services to local installations, the service members, and their families.

A dedicated military liaison regularly visits the local installations and speaks with service members and their families about child support.  He provides any appropriate child support service such as intake, genetic test sample collection, and establishment conferences.  He answers questions about modification and enforcement, and refers parents to a visitation mediator, which is provided by the state through a separate program.  “We try to support the troops’ mission by resolving issues that may impact the service members’ families while the soldier or airman concentrates on his or her duties,” stated Jeff Ball, El Paso County Child Support Services Project Manager.  “Being able to address sensitive family issues quickly is key.  We have had over 300 contacts to date and opened over 100 cases.  We also work with the Judge Advocate General staff and the community services staff to educate them about our local practices.”

The federal grant from the Office of Child Support Enforcement was awarded to the State of Colorado.  The State in turn asked El Paso County’s program to implement the grant since three Air Force bases and one Army post are located within the county.  The El Paso County Commissioners approved the grant as an add-on to the child support services contract with Young Williams.