Dr. Steven J. Golightly

Dr. Steven J. Golightly, Director of the Los Angeles County Child Support Services Department (CSSD), was recognized on May 22 for his Department’s innovative efforts to improve child support services for L.A. County residents and his zeal for developing future leaders for government service to the public.

Dr. Golightly received the Clarence A. Dykstra Award for Excellence in Government in Los Angeles at the 69th Annual Awards Luncheon of the Southern California Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). ASPA is a widely-respected national society promoting excellence in the practice and teaching of public and non-profit administration.

Since 2007, Dr. Golightly has served as Director of Los Angeles County CSSD, the largest locally administered child support agency in the country. The ASPA award noted that Dr. Golightly has taken his Department from low performance to one of the top child support agencies in the state, collecting almost $1 billion in child support the past two years for families and children. ASPA added “his award-winning predictive analytics program changed the trajectory of the Department’s collection records and it is now a best practice in the nation.”

“I believe that it is a privilege and an honor to be able to somehow help to improve the quality of life for children, the parents and the families we touch every day in our work,” said Dr. Golightly on receiving the award. “Everyday we should remember that what we do as public servants does matter, it matters everyday. The impact that we can have here in America’s most populous county is immense.”

The ASPA award also noted Dr. Golightly’s work of developing new public sector leaders within L.A. County as President of the L.A. County Management Council and through his work in the California State University system. He is an Assistant Professor of the College of Business and Public Administration for Dominguez Hills and an Adjunct Faculty member (with full professor status) at Northridge, teaching Master of Public Administration degree course work.

Dr. Golightly is the past President of the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA), the largest association of child support professionals in the nation. He also is past President of the California Child Support Directors Association which provides training and education for leadership and staff of California’s local, county child support agencies.

The executive also has served as Interim Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services and the Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Atlanta, Georgia.