In honor of National Child Support Awareness month in August, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) has teamed up with Feeding America® to help support local families amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The department is calling on staff to donate to food banks in their communities. Feeding America, which has a nationwide network of 200 food banks, has created a special online donation tool for the department, which will direct staff contributions to their local food banks. The donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. More information can be found online at: www.feedingamerica.org/csaware.

This August marks the 45th anniversary of the Child Support Enforcement Program, established in 1975 with Section IV-D of the Social Security Act. In years past, the HFS’s Division of Child Support Services has marked National Child Support Awareness Month with service projects that connect staff to their communities. Last year, employees voluntarily donated more than 9,000 books and $4500 to focus positive attention on the importance of families. As of June 2020, 1 out of 5 households in the U.S. report not having enough money to purchase food to meet the needs of their families. In the state 2020 fiscal year, more than $1.3 billion in child support was collected and disbursed. Illinois encourages parents to apply for the free services offered by HFS.  They can be explored at: www.childsupport.illinois.gov.