Hope Lions Hear About Office of Child Support from Matthew Wade Kimmel

The Hope Lions Club heard a fascinating program on the Office of Child Support Enforcement here in Hope from one of their attorneys, Matthew Wade Kiimmel.  Kimmel noted the local office is located at 811 North Hervey in the Johnson’s Shopping Center.  The office is a division of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

The local office serves six counties.  There are Hempstead, Nevada, Little River, Howard, Pike, and Sevier.  There are twenty employees locally.  These include an office manager, two administrative supervisors, twelve administrative employees, two attorneys, and three legal support specialists.

The OCSE’s mission is to help parents and caretakers build self-sufficiency and financial stability in their families as they raise the next generation of Arkansans.  The goal of the office is to establish and enforce court orders so that children get the financial and medical support they need.  OCSE will take the action necessary to accomplish those goals.  Their concert is protecting “the best interest of the child”.

The responsibility of the child support program is shared by federal and state agencies.  The federal agency is the Office of Child Support Services which is part of Health and Human Services.  In Arkansas, this program is administered by the Department of Finance and Administration.  There are 26 field offices across the state of Arkansas.

Kimmel explained an array of situations his agency has dealt with and how they deal with them.  He’s seen plenty of situations the average person might not consider when they think of what the agency does.

If you have questions about the Office of Child Support Enforcement and the services they offer, you can learn more by calling 777-8400 or stopping by their office at 811 North Hervey in the Johnson’s Shopping Center.