LOS ANGELES : D.A. Reports Strides in Collecting Child Support

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Wednesday it has made dramatic improvements this year in locating absentee parents and collecting child support payments.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said about 75,000 absent parents were located in the past month, compared to 25,000 in all of last year. In addition, the numbers of court-ordered support payments jumped from 1,795 in March to 3,261 in April.

Garcetti attributed some of the improvements to a new automated computer system. But the system, in operation since February, has had a rocky start, with many child support recipients complaining of delayed or misplaced checks.

The county’s child support enforcement program has been criticized by children’s advocates as inadequate and inefficient and the county in past years has ranked near the bottom in the state in collecting child support.

One frequent criticism is that the district attorney’s child support division is severely understaffed. Garcetti said Wednesday he has hired 25 new deputy district attorneys to address the problem.