As National Child Support Awareness Month begins, Mesa County is marking a quiet but meaningful milestone: 50 years of its child support program.

The half-century mark isn’t just symbolic. It comes at a time when nearly 6,000 active child support cases are being managed by the county’s team—highlighting both the enduring demand and the evolving role of the program in helping families stay afloat.

Fifty Years of Quiet Impact

Started in 1975, Mesa County’s child support office began as a federally mandated service under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. Today, it operates as part of the Mesa County Department of Human Services, offering a mix of legal, administrative, and family-centered support.

“It’s about more than payments,” said a county official. “It’s about helping kids have a stable start, and making sure parents—on both sides—understand the systems that support them.”

A Modern Approach to Support

Located in the workforce center on 29 ½ Road, the office is designed as a one-stop hub for families navigating the child support system.

The services are free—and go beyond just financial enforcement. Parents can apply for child support, get help completing paperwork, request in-home paternity testing, or modify existing orders based on changing circumstances.

And it’s not all punitive. “We try to remove the stigma,” said one administrator. “This is about collaboration, not punishment.”

Thousands of Families, Quietly Supported

As of June 2025, the county’s child support division was managing 5,928 open cases. That’s roughly one in every 26 residents in Mesa County, according to 2024 census estimates.

The caseload includes a range of situations: custodial mothers, non-custodial fathers, shared custody households, and even grandparents acting as legal guardians.

While the monthly totals vary, the financial reach is significant—tens of millions of dollars in support pass through the county’s systems annually, often making the difference in whether a child has school supplies, healthcare access, or after-school care.

Celebrating the Hidden Workforce

This year’s National Child Support Awareness Month also recognizes the people behind the scenes—caseworkers, legal aides, clerks—many of whom work with families for years, tracking progress and responding to life’s shifts.

Mesa County’s program doesn’t typically make headlines. But for the families it serves, it can be a quiet constant through job changes, relocations, divorces, or custody arrangements.

As one longtime employee said: “We don’t always see the outcomes, but we know we’re part of something that matters.”