Former director Alicia G. Key retires after 24 years of state service
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today announced that Charles Smith has been promoted to Deputy for the Child Support Division. Smith was selected to lead the Child Support Division when Alicia G. Key retired after 24 years of state service, including nine years as director of the Child Support Division.
“Charles Smith is a lifelong public servant who has committed decades of dedicated service to the Child Support Division and Texas families,” said Attorney General Abbott. “Having risen through the ranks of the Child Support Program from child support officer to regional administrator–and most recently Deputy Director–Charles is uniquely qualified to lead the Child Support Division. Together Charles and his predecessor, Alicia Key, made the Texas Child Support Program number one in the nation—and with Charles at the helm as Deputy for Child Support we will continue to collect record-breaking child support for Texas families.”
Smith began his career with the Office of the Attorney General in 1988 as a volunteer in the Lubbock child support office. He has held various positions within the Child Support Division, including child support officer, office manager and regional administrator for the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Prior to assuming his new position, Smith served as deputy director of child support and field operations.
In his new role, Smith will direct a division of 2,700 employees who provide child support services to more than 1.4 million families throughout Texas. For the state fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, the Child Support Division collected $3.6 billion in child support. The Texas child support program ranks first in the nation for the amount of child support collected, a position it has held for the past six years.
Smith, who also serves as secretary of the National Child Support Enforcement Association, was elected president of the Western Interstate Child Support Enforcement Council (WICSEC) at the organization’s annual training conference held this week in Kansas City, Mo. His term begins immediately. WICSEC is a nonprofit organization of public and private child support professionals from the states, tribes and territories west of the Mississippi River. The organization fosters cooperation in the delivery of child support services to children and families within its jurisdiction.
Under state and federal law, the Office of the Attorney General can assist families who request child support services and must serve families who currently receive or have received public assistance. Services offered by the Child Support Division include locating absent parents; establishing paternity for children born to unmarried parents; establishing, enforcing, and modifying child and medical support orders; and collecting and distributing child support payments.
