State Does More to Catch Deadbeat Parents

By Elsa Heidorn

Laramie, WY – Wyoming increases child support collections every year, but this year it did particularly well. The Department of Family Services' Brenda Lyttle says she thinks the big jump is partly due to the redoubled efforts of her staff. Also, the legislature increased pay for her staff in the last session, and Lyttle says that has helped reduce turnover, making them more effective. Lyttle says the legislature was receptive to another request, too.

Lyttle: I went in and talked to the legislature and told them that we needed income withholding to be done more quickly. We made some changes to the income withholding statutes.

Lyttle says rising wages for many workers in the state has also helped her agency collect more support payments for kids.