On Monday, Governor Wes Moore signed State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling’s legislative initiative, “The St. Mary’s County – Transfer of Child Support Unit and Personnel to the Child Support Administration Bill (HB 526)” into law.
At the request of State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling, the St. Mary’s County Delegation submitted HB 526 during the 2023 legislative session, providing fiscal savings to St. Mary’s County taxpayers of over $330K annually.
The move will streamline processes for individuals by providing all child support needs through just one Department; clients can meet with Child Support Advocates, and case management support services will be expedited.
“With the passage of HB 526, St. Mary’s County will join the ranks of 20 Maryland counties who have integrated both the establishment and enforcement components of the Child Support program under one umbrella at the St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services. SMCDSS will continue offering Child Support case management services at both locations. However, legal services are only provided at the Leonardtown office,” said Alexis Zoss, Director of the Department of Social Services in St. Mary’s County.
State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling said, “It just makes good sense to realign the Child Support Services in this way. We will save the people of St. Mary’s County hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. I appreciate Senator Jack Bailey and the members of the Southern Maryland Delegation for their support of this one-stop-shop initiative to improve services while simultaneously creating guaranteed fiscal savings for our county year after year.”
The law becomes effective on October 1, 2023. St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services is located at 21775 Great Mills Road in Lexington Park and 23110 Leonard Hall Drive in the Joseph D. Carter State Office Building in Leonardtown. Customer Service phone hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
