MOUNT VERNON — Nearly $4.9 million in child support dollars found its way to Knox County families during the first seven months of 2026.
Knox County Job & Family Services has 2,963 open active child support cases.
Child Support Supervisor Cyndi Foor said the county collected $4,877,602 in child support between Jan. 1 and July 31.
The county’s Seek Work program, which helps noncustodial parents meet their financial obligations, had 492 participants and brought in $580,662 during the same period.
“For our child support collections, the state average is 71.75 percent. Knox County is at 76.88 percent,” Foor said. “Luckily, it’s the resources that we have, and the Seek Work program and things like that as well.”
Knox County exceeded state averages in four other key performance categories tracked for July:
• Paternity establishment: 97.13 percent in Knox County versus 94.25% statewide.
• Child support order establishment: 94 percent versus 93 percent statewide.
• Child support collections: 76.88 percent versus 71.75 percent statewide.
• Arrears collections: 72.7 percent versus 63.84 percent statewide.
Foor highlights large collections
Foor cited several notable enforcement cases this year. In November 2025, the department placed a lien on a property to collect $92,000 in child support owed under an order established in 1997. That collection sent $88,174 to the family after decades of nonpayment.
“It was a very old case. A lot of times individuals are hard to find, but we use all resources available to try to locate them and make them be responsible,” Foor said. “So the mom was very grateful for that.”
JFS Director Scott Boone said that scenario is more of a last-ditch effort as JFS and the courts offer multiple opportunities for people to pay.
“With seek work, there’s a lot of collaboration to try to help people fulfill their financial obligations, but that’s a great story in terms of how we were able to collect a large amount over the course of a very long time,” he said.
In another case, the department collected $40,000 across three cases from the estate of a deceased individual. A third case involved a family who received $19,000 from an inheritance in May.
The department is also reviewing a list of Knox County residents with unclaimed funds identified through an annual report from the Ohio Department of Commerce. Foor estimates the county could collect roughly $54,000 from that source.
In-house paternity testing pays off
The department recently brought genetic testing for paternity in-house rather than contracting with an outside agency.
Foor said the change cut wait times for missed appointments, which previously could take several months to reschedule.
Knox County residents now complete the DNA swab at the JFS office, and JFS ships the samples to a genetic testing lab. Individuals living outside the county are scheduled at the nearest available testing facility.
Ohio child support statistics
• 1 in 5 children are involved with child support programming.
• 42 percent of Ohio children are born to unmarried parents.
• $1.6 billion in child support collected in 2025.
• 70 percent of the $1.12 billion collected in fiscal year 2025 came from employers through income withholding.
• $73 million collected from taxes in fiscal year 2025.
Events mark awareness month
August was Child Support Awareness Month, and the department marked the occasion with several events, including a “Green Day” photo on the front steps of the county service center Aug. 5 and a “Justice Bus” that offered five free legal consultations to residents between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Staff also visited local landmarks — including the Kokosing Gap Trail, the Gambier bridge, Kenyon College, the Norris sunflower farm, Ariel-Foundation Park and the Bridge of Dreams — to photograph the county for the Ohio Child Support Professionals Association’s annual photo contest. Knox County has won the past two years.
