LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A new director has been hired to oversee the county's child support program, which has been marked by widespread failures and considered one of the nation's worst.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously selected Philip Browning to the county post, the largest of its kind in the nation. Browning, who previously headed Washington's child support agency, will begin work Aug. 6. His annual salary will be $155,000.

Los Angeles County has more than 500,000 child support cases -- twice the amount of the entire state of Alabama. An investigation by the Los Angeles Times revealed the county's program was badly flawed. Officials failed to collect support in more than 92 percent of its cases, held on to millions of dollars that were supposed to go to needy families and often charged the wrong men for child support, according to the Times investigation.

"We needed a fresh voice of leadership and reason who could bring order to a troubled department," said Supervisor Mike Antonovich. "This brings closure to a troubling era where we did not have a district attorney or a department that was meeting the needs of the people."

Browning will be part of a new state Department of Child Support, an umbrella group that will have uniform guidelines for all of California's 58 counties. The state took the child support programs away from county district attorneys.

SacBee

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