County Administrator Appoints Tulare County Child Support Services Director

Debra Olvera has been appointed Director of Tulare County Child Support Services by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors. Olvera was selected by the Board on Tuesday, April 6, from a field of more than 150 applicants who responded to a statewide recruitment.

Steve Worthley, Chairman of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, said board members were very impressed with Olvera's performance in her current position as the deputy director, and in particular Olvera's oversight of the transition in 2008 from local case management to the statewide automated child support enforcement system. Under the new statewide system both staff and customers benefit from having access to centralized case information, payment options, and access to every child support agency in the state.

"We were very impressed with Debra Olvera's past accomplishments in child support, and her interest in working with other departments to improve county services across the board," Chairman Worthley said.

County Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau said Olvera will be a welcome addition as Tulare County's newest department head.

"Debra has been a tremendous asset to us in the past and I look forward to working with her on future county issues," Rousseau said.

Olvera's new appointment becomes effective April 12.

"My focus will be on leading my department to provide quality child support services to the public in support of the State and County initiatives," Olvera said.

Olvera's appointment was prompted by the retirement on January 30, 2010 of former Child Support Services Director Peggy Anderson after 20 years of County employment.

Olvera have served as the Deputy Director of the Tulare County Child Support Services Department since August 2001, and has worked in the department since September 1995. She began her County employment in May 1987 as a Training Officer in the Department of Public Social Services.

The Tulare County Child Support Services Department has an annual budget of $17 million and currently has 226 allocated positions. The Department currently manages 37,000 child support cases and distributed $37.8 million in total collections last fiscal year.