{"id":11029,"date":"2012-08-13T17:42:25","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T21:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=11029"},"modified":"2012-08-16T15:46:44","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T19:46:44","slug":"county-workers-often-targets-for-abuse-commended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=11029","title":{"rendered":"Oft-maligned county workers get commended"},"content":{"rendered":"

Domestic Relations Office praised for delivering deserved financial support to children<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong><\/span>, Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Employees from the enforcement unit of the Domestic Relations Office fill the jury box in Courtroom Two for a group photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Imagine trying to wrangle child-support payments from individuals determined to avoid them or playing a role in jailing someone chronically delinquent.<\/p>\n

Such scenarios occur routinely in Chester County\u2019s Domestic Relations Office, where the vernacular includes arrears counseling. paternity tests, and wage attachments.<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, the opportunity to observe Pennsylvania\u2019s Child Support Awareness Day presented county officials with a chance to accentuate the positive and thank the staff of 79 workers for their commitment and dedication.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is, in fact, a very good day for Chester County,\u201d said President Judge James P. MacElree II, who presided over a celebratory program this morning attended by about 100 people, including county officials, employees, and some of the employees\u2019 relatives.<\/p>\n

For the fifth year in a row, Chester County led third-class counties in Pennsylvania with child-support payments, state records show. The county collected nearly $65 million in 2011, about $6 million more than Lancaster County, which logged the second-highest total. For the first time ever, the county topped all 67 counties in collections per case.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t hear a lot of praise and accolades from our clientele,\u201d said Joseph M. Waters, who has headed the office since 1988. He said workers were encouraged to invite family members to join them because they typically provide a venue for venting. \u201cI know that when we come home at the end of the day, you get it,\u201d Waters told the relatives, eliciting appreciative nods.<\/p>\n

Waters said his staff, which \u201cgets yelled at every day\u201d and endures untold indignities with class, has grown by only seven workers in the past 25 years. He said for every dollar his office spends out of its operating budget, it gets \u201can amazing return\u201d of $10 in child support. For county taxpayers, who fund one-third of the budget, the return is a whopping 30 to 1, he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joseph M. Waters, who directs the Domestic Relations Office, displays one of the blue ribbons distributed by the state to commemorate Child Support Awareness Day.<\/p><\/div>\n

Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone presented the office with a proclamation and the gratitude of the board, commending the staff for working to make the best of some difficult family dynamics. \u201cI also know that you do it with compassion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Judge Katherine B.L. Platt, who oversees Family Court, said the longevity of the staff has provided \u201cinstitutional memory and institutional camaraderie\u201d that fosters the office\u2019s mission. \u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s about \u2026 all about protecting children,\u201d\u00a0 she said, adding that the additional staff has make the office\u00a0 \u201cmore than seven times more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacElree said his involvement in the system goes back almost four decades when he was assigned to domestic relations as an assistant district attorney and learned the ropes from then-President Judge D.T. Marrone. \u201cThe Marrone solution,\u201d as it came to be known, involved finding the individual most in arrears, having him hauled out of court in handcuffs, and then taking a break \u2013 an interlude that always encouraged others \u201cto open their checkbooks,\u201d MacElree said.<\/p>\n

Waters said the high collection rate means nothing to children who\u00a0 aren\u2019t receiving the support they deserve. \u201cOur work is far from over,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of people who still need our help.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Domestic Relations Office praised for delivering deserved financial support to children By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times Imagine trying to wrangle child-support payments from individuals determined to avoid them or playing a role in jailing someone chronically delinquent. Such scenarios occur routinely in Chester County\u2019s Domestic Relations Office, where the vernacular includes arrears […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[1764,1768,1767,1766,1765],"class_list":["post-11029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-chester-county-domestic-relations-office","tag-child-support-awareness-day","tag-joseph-m-waters","tag-judge-katherine-b-l-platt","tag-president-judge-james-p-macelree-ii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}