ELKHART — The Child Support Division, which is under Title IV-D section of the prosecutor’s office, has increased the total amount collected by 68 percent in the last 10 years, reaching an “all-time high” in 2012.

Elkhart County Prosecuting Attorney Curtis Hill held a press conference this morning, Jan. 24, in which he said the child support divisions brought in more than $22 million in 2012, an increase of 7.6 percent from the previous year.

In addition, Hill said although the budget for the Prosecutor Attorney’s Child Support IV-D program was of $1,244,261, with collections of more than $22 million, every $1 spent by the office toward child support enforcement resulted in $17.88 collected. He also said about two-thirds of the money spent was reimbursed by the federal government.

The child support division of the prosecutor’s office handles about 12,000 active cases.

Hill talked about the programs that have been developed in the last few years, including the creation of a position known as the child support investigator.

Dave Florchinger, the CSI for Elkhart County, works to locate those who fail to pay child support and brings them to the Elkhart County Jail for further court proceedings aimed at collecting child support. About $211,690 was collected from bonds on the 222 cases Florchinger handled in 2012, some of which was given to the families in the child support case.

Each employee who works in the child support division has the autonomy to make adjustments to the programs, Hill said.

“I come up with some things from time to time but really they’re the ones to put the wheels on the bus to make this work, and they do this on a regular basis,” he said.