2023 Felix Infausto Award Recipient – Carla West
It has often been said that the highest honor of serving as President of ERICSA is selecting the recipient of the Felix Infausto Award. Early on in my tenure, I started thinking about what the award means to me. As stated on the ERICSA website: Felix Infausto was truly one of the founding fathers of URESA, the predecessor legislation to UIFSA. He was a man of vision and legal acumen, serving as advisor to the committee that drafted the original URESA statute as well as the Uniform Support of Dependents Law. In 1968, he originated the definition for the term “State” in the URESA statute, which established international reciprocity between the United States and certain foreign countries in child support. This annual award is presented to a valued member of ERICSA who has demonstrated the highest quality of outstanding leadership and contributions to this organization.
I am honored to have presented this award to Carla West. Carla has over 25 years of experience in child support from operations, supervision, training, and project management, and just about anything else you can think of. She has dedicated her life to improving the well-being of families. She is currently the Senior Director for Human Services for the state of North Carolina.
Carla is a past President of ERICSA and has served on numerous other boards and associations.
Most importantly, she is even more dedicated to her husband of over 35 years, her three kids, and her Aunt Linda.
Laura Stone, ERICSA Immediate Past President
History of Felix Infausto, Esquire
Felix Infausto was truly one of the founding fathers of URESA, the predecessor legislation to UIFSA. A man of vision and legal acumen, he served as advisor to the committee that drafted the original URESA statute as well as the Uniform Support of Dependents Law. In 1968 he originated the definition for the term “State” in the URESA statute which established international reciprocity between the United States and certain foreign countries in child support.
Mr. Infausto was born in Buffalo, NY in 1909 and died in 1992. He graduated from the Buffalo School of Law in 1932. In private practice until 1943, Mr. Infausto then began his 32 years of dedication to child support as legal counsel for the New York Department of Social Services. In 1952, during the early years of child support conference formation, he was responsible for the Council of State Government hosting annual conferences regarding the development and expansion of URESA. Most notably, he chaired the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association and was a life member Public Welfare Attorney’s Association, the American Judicature Society, the Inter-American Bar Association and both the National and Child Support Conferences. In 1970, he co-authored with W.J. Brockelbank, “Interstate Enforcement of Family Support” (2nd Edition) which is considered by child support professionals to be the authoritative reference for interstate and international child support. This book answered the crucial legal question in the late sixties and early seventies – “Did the law have meaning if thousands of families and children were left destitute and dependent, even though the obligor had the ability to pay and was in another state?”.
In 1969, Mr. Infausto was the first President of the Northeast Regional Conference on URESA, which in 1971 evolved into the Eastern Regional Conference which is presently ERICSA. Throughout his vibrant and prodigious career he maintained a number of prestigious affiliations and was appointed by the United States Secretary of State to attend the Conference on Private International Law at The Hague on Family Support.
The first recipient of the ERICSA Recognition Award in 1983, he and his lovely wife Claire continued for many years to attend this conference despite the obstacles of his physical handicap. It is truly in the spirit of Felix Infausto that this annual award is presented to a valued member of ERICSA who has demonstrated the highest quality of outstanding leadership and contributions to this organization.
Previous Felix Infausto Award Recipients
2022 — Pam Sala
2021 — Patrick (Pat) W. Quinn In Memoriam
2020 — Margot Bean
2019 — Elaine Tudor
2018 — Rob Velcoff
2017 — Patterson Poulson
2016 — James Dingeldine
2015 — Susan Schroeder
2014 — Cyndy Lucas
2013 — Nancy Crawford
2012 — John Graham
2011 — Robyn Large
2010 — Jeff Ball
2009 — Lee Sapienza
2008 — Sara McCollum
2007 — Christine Brogdon Dingeldine
2006 — J. Gordon Moseley
2005 — Mary Ann Nore
2004 — Yvette Hilderson Riddick
2003 — Ruth Bell Clark
2002 — Catherine Bayse
2001 — Arlene L. Robinson
2000 — Margaret Campbell Haynes
1999 — Paula Haedel
1998 — Gloria Harrelson
1997 — Vernon Drew
1996 — Hugh O. Stevenson
1995 — Steve Grossbard / Sarah Cooper
1994 — Joseph DiPrimio
1993 — Susan Paikin
1992 — Gordon F. Bailey, Jr.
1991 — Delores Van Horn
1990 — Anthony J. Voci
1989 — Evelyn Green
1988 — Judge Robert D. Thompson
1987 — Anita Crawford
1986 — Judge Joseph M.F. Ryan, Jr.
1985 — John Bischoff
1984 — John Sylvester
1983 — Felix Infausto
