Levene v. Levene (Wyoming 2014)
In making a determination of voluntary unemployment, the court shall consider: (A) Prior employment experience and history; (B) Educational level and whether additional education would make the parent more self-sufficient or significantly increase the parent’s income; (C) The presence of children of the marriage in the parent’s home and its impact on the earnings of…
Read MoreLevene v. Levene (Wyoming 2014)
In making a determination of voluntary unemployment, the court shall consider: (A) Prior employment experience and history; (B) Educational level and whether additional education would make the parent more self-sufficient or significantly increase the parent’s income; (C) The presence of children of the marriage in the parent’s home and its impact on the earnings of…
Read MoreLP v. LF (Wyoming 2014)
Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14–2–504(a)(v) provides that a man is presumed to be the father of a child if: For the first two (2) years of the child’s life, he resided in the same household with the child and openly held out the child as his own. However, the statute only creates a presumption, which…
Read MoreDon’t Forget Dad: Addressing Women’s Poverty by Rethinking Forced and Outdated Child Support Policies
This is a link to an article in which the author explores the linkage between poverty among women and low income men, and posits that harsh and adversarial child support enforcement policies polarizes the parents, and have negative impacts on the father, mother, and children. The author proposes transforming the “current uniformly applied punitive policies…
Read MoreWelfare, Research, and Poverty Status of Female-Headed Families with Children 1987-2013 Congressional Research Service
This report focuses on trends in the economic well-being of female-headed families with children, the principal group affected by the replacement of Aid for Dependent Families with Children (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Female-headed families and their children are especially at risk of poverty, and children in such families account for well…
Read MoreOperation Access Evaluation Report
The State of Colorado received a three-year federal grant to improve child support services for military families. El Paso County was chosen as the pilot site due to its large military population on four installations. This project, known as Operation Access, was designed to improve collaboration and communication between the local child support services office…
Read MoreA Portrait of Father Involvement Three Years after Non-Marital Birth
This is a link to a report that provides an overview of the intersection of in-hospital Acknowledgment of paternity (AOP), formal child support, informal support, parental relationships, and father involvement. Analyses presented throughout this report are primarily descriptive in nature and aim to give a broad understanding of the characteristics associated with each topic.
Read MoreIn-Hospital Acknowledgement of Paternity Literature Review
This is a link to a literature review that summarizes what is known about paternity establishment, and the association between paternity establishment and the use of child support services. It is divided into three sections: (1) background and importance of paternity establishment, (2) factors associated with the use of child support services and provision of informal support,…
Read MoreDads on the Dotted Line: A Look at the In-Hospital Paternity Establishment Process
This is a link to a working paper that examines the process of voluntary paternity establishment from two perspectives—that of unmarried parents and that of birth registrars certified to administer the process. The study focuses on the context of the establishment process itself rather than the characteristics of those who establish paternity or do not.…
Read MoreLow Income Fathers and Child Support Debt: A Primer for Financial Literacy and Fatherhood Service Providers
This is a link to a document that is intended to provide very basic information about poor noncustodial parents and their contact and connection with the child support system. http://www.cffpp.org/publications/Child%20Support%20Debt%202011.pdf
Read MoreDollars and Sense: Improving the Determination of Child Support Obligations for Low Income Fathers, Mothers, and Children
This is a link to a report on the concerns of low-income parents gained from discussions of participants in the Center on Fathers, Family, and Public Policy’s Common Ground Project. The report also includes recommendations for public policy to address these concerns in the areas of family law and policy. The report encompasses an overview…
Read MoreIn Hospital Paternity Acknowledgment: A Portrait of Father Involvement and Support in the First Three Years after a Non-Marital Birth
This is a link to a report prepared by the Texas Child and Family Research Partnership for the Texas Office of the Attorney General, Child Support Division (OAG). It contains recommendations regarding ways to expand paternity education, increase or sustain federal performance of paternity measures, and reduce the incidence of rescissions of paternity establishments. Ultimately,…
Read MoreWhen Father Doesn’t Bother: Conditioning the Failure to Establish Paternity In-Hospital on Fathers’ Presence at the Birth
This is a link to a working paper in which the authors examine the failure to establish paternity in the hospital, where parents are offered an opportunity to voluntarily acknowledge the child’s paternity at the time of the child’s birth. Most fathers who are present at the time of the birth acknowledge paternity in hospital,…
Read MoreBuilding Assets for Fathers and Families: Colorado Triple Play Final Report
Colorado Triple Play, the name given to the Building Assets for Fathers and Families (BAFF) demonstration project in Colorado, was one of seven grants awarded by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to states around the country. The project, encompassing Adams and Jefferson Counties, began October 1, 2010 and operations continued through September 30, 2013.…
Read MoreBullock v. Bullock (Wyoming 2014)
A civil contempt order must be supported by clear and convincing evidence. Clear and convincing evidence is “evidence that would persuade a finder of fact that the truth of the contention is highly probable.” The elements of civil contempt are: “1) an effective court order that required certain conduct by the alleged contemnor; 2) the…
Read MoreMuir v. Kansas Health Policy Authority (Kansas 2014)
The Kansas Health Policy Authority did not erroneously interpret the law or act arbitrarily, capriciously, or unreasonably when it calculated a Medicaid recipient’s available income that could be used to pay the cost of medical care without first deducting amounts that the person had been ordered to pay in child support and maintenance.
Read MoreHow Do Child Support Order Amounts Affect Payments and Compliance?
This study examines the primary strategy used to prevent arrears growth from the time a court order was established: setting appropriate orders. The Research and Reports Unit from the Orange County, California Department of Child Support Services analyzed 102,332 California child support cases in order to determine the appropriate support amount to be set relative…
Read MoreUnderstanding Payment Barriers to Improve Child Support Compliance
The Research and Reporting Unit of the Orange County Department of Child Support Services (CSS) produced a multivariate examination of the number and type of barriers that prevent Non-Custodial Parents (NCPs) from making consistent child support payments. The study determined the major barriers associated with low payment compliance. NCPs predicted to yield low compliance are…
Read MoreBehavioral Economics and Social Policy: Designing Innovative Solutions for Programs Supported by the Administration for Children and Families
Insights from behavioral economics, which combines findings from psychology and economics, suggest that a deeper understanding of decision-making and behavior could improve human services program design and outcomes. Research has shown that small changes in the environment can facilitate behaviors and decisions that are in people’s best interest. However, there has been relatively little exploration…
Read MoreTaking the First Step: Using Behavioral Economics to Help Incarcerated Persons Apply for Child Support Order Modifications
This report presents findings from a behavioral intervention designed to increase the number of incarcerated noncustodial parents in Texas who apply for modifications to reduce the amount of their child support orders. Incarcerated noncustodial parents have a limited ability to pay their child support orders each month, due to their incarceration, which can lead to…
Read MoreReview of the Pennsylvania Child Support Guidelines
This is a link to a report prepared for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, representing the federally mandated quadrennial review of Pennsylvania’s child support guidelines. It examines child support guidelines models, identifies similarities and differences between Pennsylvania’s guidelines approach and the approaches of other states, presents findings from the analysis of case file data…
Read MoreAnalysis of Federal- State Financing of the Child Support Enforcement Program
This report by the Congressional Research Service describes the current system of child support financing, analyzes trends in child support collections and expenditures, and discusses the effect of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) rolls on child support enforcement program financing. It also explains how child support collections are distributed to families and the state…
Read MoreChild Support Models and the Perception of “Fairness”
This is a link to a research paper on the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) website that provides an overview of each of the three different models of child support guidelines – Income Shares, Melson, and Percentage of Income – and examines the perceptions of fairness of each model. In recent years, states have…
Read MoreThe Impact of Child Support Enforcement Policy on Non-marital Childbearing
This is a link to a discussion paper on the Institute of Research on Poverty (IRP) website that concludes that improved child support enforcement makes it more likely that men will choose to avoid having nonmarital children.
Read MorePolicies to Require and Enable Less-Educated Noncustodial Parents to Work and Provide Financial Support for Their Children
This is a link to a discussion paper on the Brookings Institution website that outlines three policy strategies to help low income noncustodial parents find work and meet their financial obligations to pay child support.
Read MoreThe Impact of Child Support Enforcement on Fertility, Parental Investment, and Child Well-being
This is a link to a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper. The authors found that increasing the probability of paying child support, in addition to increasing resources available for investment in children, may also alter the incentives faced by men to have children out of wedlock.
Read MoreTruth and Consequences Part III: Who Pays When Paternity is Disestablished?
This is a link to the last in a series of three monographs about paternity disestablishment. This monograph discusses the fiscal consequences to the child, the parents, and the state if paternity is disestablished.
Read MoreChild Support Cost Avoidance in 1999: Final Report
This report updates and expands upon the earlier microsimulation approach used by Wheaton and Sorensen (1998).
Read MoreReducing Welfare Costs and Dependency: How Much Bang for the Child Support Buck?
The report examines the degree to which the nation has been successful in reducing welfare costs through child support, and estimates the welfare savings that might be expected if more fathers were to pay child support.
Read MoreChild Support Enforcement: Departures from Long Term Trends in Sources of Collections and Caseloads Reflect Recent Economic Conditions
GAO examined (1) how CSE collections and caseloads have changed in recent years, (2) how states have responded to federal funding changes, and (3) how states have responded to DRA’s “family first” policy options.
Read MoreLinking the Past and the Future: Building a Longitudinal & Predictive Child Support Knowledge Management System
This report is about a grant received by the State of Washington to build a child support data warehouse.
Read MoreFactors Associated with Nonpayment of Child Support
Despite the employment of an automated enforcement system, recent statistics show that only half of non-custodial parents pay the full amount of what they owe. Understanding the reasons for noncompliance is critical in improving the child support enforcement system and providing suitable financial support to custodial-parent families. This is a link to an IRP report…
Read MoreMaryland’s Paternity Acknowledgement Program: Participant Entries Into the Public Child Support and Welfare Systems
This report by the University of Maryland School of Social Work attempts to answer the question of who is and who is not participating in Maryland’s Paternity Acknowledgement Program, and how many of the children of participating parents are known to the State’s welfare program within one year of birth.
Read MoreTruth and Consequences: Part II. Questioning the Paternity of Marital Children
There is wide variation among the states on the issue of paternity disestablishment for marital children. While some states have enacted legislation, few have adopted a comprehensive scheme that deals with potential challenges by husbands, wives, and paramours. This is a link to a monograph that discusses the need for states to have a comprehensive…
Read MoreTruth and Consequences: Part I. Disestablishing the Paternity of Non-Marital Children
In some states, there are detailed procedures for challenging paternity acknowledgments; in other states, there is little or no statutory guidance in this area. Some states have statutory and case law to guide the process of paternity disestablishment when paternity has been adjudicated or presumed, while others offer little guidance. This is a link to…
Read MoreChild Support Program Promotes Marriage and Reduces Non-Marital Child Bearing: Research Fact Sheet
This is a link to a CLASP Research Fact Sheet, which provides a brief listing of the effects of child support on family formation and stability. States with stronger child support enforcement programs have lower non-marital birth rates and lower divorce rates than states where child support is not as effective.
Read MoreChild Support Payments Benefit Children in Non-Economic as Well As Economic Ways: Research Fact Sheet
This is a link to a CLASP Research Fact Sheet, which provides a brief listing of the non-material advantages of child support.
Read MoreThe Effect of Child Support and Self-Sufficiency Programs on Reducing Direct Support Public Costs
This report examines cost avoidance of government funded programs attributable to regular child support income. While the report examines cost avoidance in Washington State, the methodology could be used by other states.
Read MoreOvercoming the Barriers to Collection Final Report
This report summarizes findings of a Washington State Child Support research project entitled Child Support Performance Measurements: A Test for Working Hard-to-Collect Cases. The goal of the project was to find out whether increased collections on challenging cases would improve performance in the five federally measured areas.
Read MoreTo What Extent Do Children Benefit from Child Support?
Child support provides a significant source of income for poor families. Child support also reduces the number of poor children by a half million and lessens income inequality among children eligible for it. Unfortunately, about 70 percent of poor children eligible for child support were not getting it in 1996.
Read MoreChild Support Offers Some Protection Against Poverty
The authors find that child support payments reduce the number of poor children by a half million. Unfortunately, about 70 percent of poor children eligible for child support were not getting it in 1996.
Read MoreThe Potential of the Child Support Enforcement Program to Avoid Costs to Public Programs: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature: Final Report
The purpose of this study is to synthesize the theoretical and empirical literature on cost avoidance and to build a comprehensive and coherent framework to evaluate the intricacies of child support cost avoidance.
Read MoreChild Support Arrears: Compilation of Three Reports
This report is a compilation of three reports: New Approaches to Child Support Arrears: A Survey of State Policies and Practices (March 2001); Understanding Child Support Arrears in Colorado (March 2001); Dropping Debt: An Evaluation of Colorado’s Debt and Retroactive Child Support Initiative (April 2001). The research was conducted by the Division of Child Support…
Read MoreFeasibility of Collecting Fees for Child Support Services
This Report was written in response to a June 28, 2000, recommendation by the Washington State Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to implement fees and recover costs for child support services.
Read MoreServing Parents Who Leave Prison: Final Report on the Work and Family Center
The report focuses on ex-offenders with Colorado child support cases who were offered assistance with employment, child support, and family reintegration.The research was conducted by the Division of Child Support Services with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Read MoreDo Nonresident Fathers Who Pay Child Support Visit Their Children More?
This report examines the answer to the question raised by the title. Children who have child support orders and receive child support payments have more frequent contact with their nonresident fathers. Children living in poverty were less likely to have seen their fathers in the previous year than were children whose family earnings exceeded the…
Read MoreAn Evaluation of the Colorado Arrears Forgiveness Demonstration Project: Final Report
This final report covers a demonstration project in two Colorado Counties in which non-custodial parents (NCP) were offered opportunities for forgiveness of state debts in exchange for regular support payments over a ten month period. This research was conducted by the Division of Child Support Services with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Read MoreThe Madrina Project
This is a report on the results of a federal Special Improvement Project (SIP) Grant for the Yakima, Washington Child Support Office to reach out to the Hispanic community and provide culturally relevant services.
Read MoreExamining Child Support Arrears in California: The Collectibility Study
This report was prepared in response to a mandate from the California State Legislature to analyze how much of the $14.4 billion in child support arrears owed statewide in March 2000 was realistically collectible.
Read MoreDetermining the Composition and Collectibility of Child Support Arrearages: Volume II –the Case Assessment
The second of two reports, this Report examines the history of the non-custodial parent’s (NCP) involvement with the child support program, and reviewed orders calculated using the Washington State child support guidelines, the quality of work performed by the field staff, payment and debt records, and identified NCP barriers to payment.
Read MoreDetermining the Composition and Collectibility of Child Support Arrearages: Volume I – the Longitudinal Analysis
The first of two reports, this Report examines the composition of arrearages and summarizes the findings of the study regarding the correlation between a non-custodial parent’s (NCP) earnings level and the NCP’s accumulated arrearages.
Read MoreState of Washington Joint Agency Collection Project
This report summarizes the results of a federal grant to study ways to assist incarcerated and recently released non-custodial parents (NCP). Three agencies collaborated: the Department of Social and Health Services Division of Child Support, the Employment Security Department, and the Department of Corrections, all of which share a common interest in the success of…
Read MoreGetting Noncustodial Dads Involved in the Lives of Foster Children
This policy brief provides data that suggest that many, if not most, foster care children in the United States were not living with their father at the time they were removed from their home.
Read MoreCost Avoidance and Cost Recovery in California’s Child Support Program: SFY 2000-01
In 2003, the Child Support Directors Association of California contracted with the Urban Institute to develop a cost avoidance estimate for California using the same methodology used for the Office of Child Support Enforcement study. The results of that study are presented here (for state fiscal year 2000-01) and cover the following programs: the California…
Read MoreDeclining Employment among Young Black Less-Educated Men: The Role of Incarceration and Child Support
In this paper, researchers document the continuing decline in employment and labor force participation of black men between the ages of 16 and 34 who have a high school education or less.
Read MoreIncreasing Healthcare Coverage for Children: A New Coordinated Approach Findings from Colorado
This report covers Colorado’s 1115 demonstration grant to try a new approach to increasing the number of IV-D children with health care coverage through private insurance, Medicaid, SCHIP and other sources. The research was conducted by the Division of Child Support Services with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Read MoreArrears Leveraging Pilot Project: Outcomes Achieved & Lessons Learned
This report evaluates the ALPP, Maryland’s Arrears Leveraging Pilot Project, designed to encourage low-income, non-paying child support obligors to pay their current support by rewarding consistent payment with reduction or elimination of state-owed arrears.
Read MoreThe Intersection of Incarceration & Child Support: A Snapshot of Maryland’s Caseload
This is a report on the population of incarcerated parents with child support cases and arrearages.
Read MoreThe Child Support Program: An Investment that Works
This is a link to a monograph that discusses the financial and non-financial benefits of the child support enforcement program.
Read MoreIn Everybody’s Best Interests: Why Reforming Child Support Distribution Makes Sense for Government and Families
This is a link to a policy brief. Fully implementing distribution reforms and eliminating welfare cost-recovery from the child support program has the potential to boost the income of millions of low-income children. More than $2 billion per year is currently withheld by the government to reimburse welfare costs. This money could be going to…
Read MoreStrategies for Preventing the Accumulation of Child Support Arrears and Managing Existing Arrears: An Update
Many states are changing their policies to reduce the amount of arrears that will accumulate in the future. Several states are also developing programs and approaches to existing cases so that some of the existing debt can be dealt with. The link is to a paper describing some of these state efforts.
Read MoreChild Support Cooperation Requirements and Public Benefits Programs: An Overview of Issues and Recommendations for Change
This is a link to a monograph that explains the child support cooperation requirements in five programs: TANF, Food Stamps, Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and child care.
Read MoreUsing the Internet to Provide Ethnic and Culturally Diverse Populations with High-Quality Child Support Information: The Case of Beehive
The Urban Institute partnered with the One Economy Corporation in applying for a special improvement project (SIP) grant from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to develop high-quality online child support information specifically developed for families in low-income and ethnic and culturally diverse communities. This grant was awarded and used to prepare three…
Read MoreFamilies Left Behind: The Hidden Costs of Incarceration and Reentry
This policy brief is intended to help focus attention on the hidden costs of U.S. criminal justice policies.
Read MoreEvaluation of Strategies to Improve Medical Support Enforcement in Washington State
This report looks at the strategies Washington has used to increase the number of children in the child support caseload with access to health insurance. The two primary strategies are establishing a centralized medical support unit, and conducting data matches with insurance companies.
Read MoreProcess Evaluation of the Bright Start Demonstration Program’s Implementation
This report is the process evaluation of Washington’s original three year demonstration grant for Washington’s Bright Start Program which is designed to enhance in-hospital paternity establishment, and offer parents information about marriage, genetic testing, and parenting plans.
Read MoreThe Implementation of the Partners for Fragile Families Demonstration Projects
This report describes the design and implementation of the Partners for Fragile Families (PFF) demonstration projects.
Read MoreChild Support Outcomes of Maryland’s In-Hospital Paternity Acknowledgment Program
This report by the University of Maryland School of Social Work summarizes the research on the impact of Maryland’s voluntary paternity acknowledgment program by looking at the child support caseload and comparing if and how certain child support outcomes differ between children for whom paternity was acknowledged and those for whom it was not.
Read MoreDebtors’ Prison – Prisoners’ Accumulation of Debt as a Barrier to Reentry
This is a link to an article published in the July-August 2007 Journal of Poverty Law and Policy that discusses how unrealistic levels of debt and cost-recovery policies enforced by criminal justice and child support agencies can undermine the criminal justice system’s rehabilitation goals, the child support system’s goals to support children, and society’s interest…
Read MoreAssessing Child Support Arrears in Nine Large States and the Nation
In September 2007, child support arrears that had accumulated across the nation had reached $107 billion. The purpose of this report is to provide information about the individuals who owe child support arrears, estimate how much arrears are likely to be collected, and identify the factors that have led to their rapid growth.
Read MoreColorado Parenting Time/Visitation Project
This is a report on a Colorado demonstration project held in two counties to determine if increased access and visitation led to more engagement of non-custodial parents (NCP) with their children, and the payment of child support. The research was conducted by the Division of Child Support Services with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Read MoreState Use of Debt Compromise to Reduce Arrearages
This is a report on the prevalence, characteristics, and outcomes of debt compromise programs used by State child support enforcement (CSE) agencies to reduce child support arrearages.
Read MorePartners for Fragile Families Demonstration Projects: Employment and Child Support Outcomes and Trends
The Partnership for Fragile Families Demonstration projects, operating in 13 sites across the country, provided a range of services aimed at increasing the capacity of young, economically disadvantaged fathers in becoming financial and emotional resources to their children and sought to reduce poverty and welfare dependence. As part of a multi-component evaluation, this report examines…
Read MoreReducing Child Support Default Orders in Colorado
The project explored strategies that child support agencies might use to increase non-custodial parent (NCP) participation in proceedings to establish child support orders and reduce default orders. The research was conducted by the Division of Child Support Services with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Read MoreThe Potential Impact of Increasing Child Support Payments to TANF Families
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 includes incentives for states to increase the amount of child support that is “passed through” to families on welfare, rather than retained to offset welfare expenditures. Beginning October 1, 2008, the federal government will share in the costs of a $100 per month pass-through for families with one child…
Read MoreDemographic Survey Results from Nine-State IV-D Programs
In FY 2007, the national child support program served 17 million children and collected $25 billion in child support, yet little is known about the underlying demographic and economic characteristics of the individuals served. To remedy this lack of information, Courtland Consulting and the Urban Institute, under contract with the federal Office of Child Support…
Read MoreBankruptcy and Child Support Enforcement: Improved Information Sharing Possible without Routine Data Sharing
The Bankruptcy Abuse and Prevention Act of 2005 required the GAO to study the feasibility of matching bankruptcy records with child support records to assure that filers with child support obligations are identified. This report contains the results of this study.
Read MoreConfronting Child Support Debt: A Baseline Profile of Maryland Arrears
This report provides data on the composition of child support arrearages in Maryland.
Read MoreCalifornia Compromise of Arrears Program Report to State Legislature
In response to a dramatic growth in child support arrears in the 1990’s and a study of the arrears by the Urban Institute, the California Legislature enacted a law allowing compromise of arrears when debt is owed the state. The legislation also required the Department of Child Support Services to report back to the Legislature…
Read MoreEvaluation of the Bright Start Demonstration
This report is the evaluation of Washington’s original three year demonstration grant for Washington’s Bright Start Program, which was designed to enhance in-hospital paternity establishment, and offer parents information about marriage, genetic testing, and parenting plans.
Read MorePreventing Child Support Arrears in Texas by Improving Front-end Processes
In 2003, the Texas Office of Attorney General fundamentally altered the process of establishing child support orders, going from a highly judicial process of establishing orders to a process that establishes most orders administratively. It also substantially improved the issuance of income withholding orders. This report describes the implementation of these reforms and measures their…
Read MoreEarly Intervention & Child Support Outcomes: Lessons Learned
In an effort to reduce the growth of child support arrears balances and boost current support collections, the Office of Child Support Enforcement recommends the adoption of “early intervention” strategies. The goal of early intervention is to engage non-custodial parents in the child support process and develop a relationship with them.
Read MorePartner Up Final Evaluation Report
This report covers a grant received by the Colorado Division of Child Support Enforcement to identify policies that support healthy relationships and marriage. The research was conducted by the Division of Child Support Services with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Read MoreState Child Support Pass-Through Policies
This is a link to a chart that shows laws enacted by state legislatures through the 2008 legislative session to pass through collected child support to families receiving TANF assistance and to disregard the passed through support income in determining eligibility for and the amount of assistance.
Read MoreNon-custodial Parents: Summaries of Research, Grants, and Practices
This report summarizes past grant and research projects funded by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) focusing on non-custodial parents, and points readers to more comprehensive information.
Read MoreUpdate Evaluation of the Bright Start Demonstration Program
This report is a sequel to the September 2008 report, and provides updated information regarding Washington’s Bright Start Program, which was designed to enhance in-hospital paternity establishment.
Read MoreColorado Early Intervention and Simplified Modification Project
This report covers Colorado’s Section 1115 grant to increase child support payments and reduce arrears through early intervention and modification of support orders in two counties, Denver and Pueblo. The research was conducted by the Division of Child Support Services with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Read MoreEvaluation of the Bright Start Genetic Testing Program
This is an evaluation of Washington’s 1115 demonstration grant to improve the rates of in-hospital paternity establishment by enhancing relationships with hospital staff, and providing free genetic testing to couples who were uncertain about the child’s paternity or did not want to sign an acknowledgment in the hospital.
Read MoreChild Support Enforcement: Tribal Programs
This report describes the components of tribal Child Support Enforcement (CSE) programs and discusses issues related to jurisdictional matters, paternity establishment, child support enforcement methods, nonpayment problems, and consistency of tribal programs with each other and with state CSE programs
Read MoreWho Pays Child Support in Baltimore City: Noncustodial Parents Payment Compliance
Baltimore City, Maryland’s caseload represents about one-third of Maryland’s child support cases. With such a large caseload, the payment compliance outcomes in Baltimore City affect the overall state outcomes. This brief examines payment compliance specifically in Baltimore City to determine differences from the rest of the state.
Read MoreArrears Stratification in Washington State: Developing Operational Protocols in a Data Mining Environment: Outcome Study
This report to Washington State Child Support Division by ECONorthwest summarizes the results of a grant to Washington State to conduct and study arrears stratification. It includes lessons learned and best practices.
Read MoreThe Underground Economy
The report of a task force led by former Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Maura Corrigan to examine the underground economy, and how it deprives minor children of financial support from their parents.
Read MorePromising Antipoverty Strategies for Families
In this paper, researchers review changes in family structure, the relationship between family structure and employment, and early evidence on differential impacts of the recession on families.
Read MoreFinal Report for the E-referral Demonstration: Project Summary, Training Implementation Evaluation, and Final Data Analysis
This report looks at the results of a three-year 1115 grant from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement to the State of Washington to improve electronic referral and data sharing among the child support, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid agencies.
Read MoreEvaluation of the $150 Child Support Pass-Through and Disregard Policy in the District of Columbia
In April 2006, the District of Columbia implemented a child support pass-through and disregard policy for families in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) caseload, passing through the first $150 per month of child support paid to these families and disregarding this amount when determining their TANF benefits. This study provides a process evaluation…
Read MoreTossed on a Sea of Change: A Status Update on the Responsible Fatherhood Field
This is a link to an update on fatherhood programs across the nation covering programmatic priorities, funding, and evidence-based practices.
Read MoreThe Families Forward Program: Final Evaluation Report
This is a link to the final evaluation report on a child support debt reduction demonstration program, Families Forward, in Racine County, Wisconsin representing a collaboration among three entities: the Wisconsin Bureau of Child Support, the Racine County Child Support Department, and the Institute for Research on Poverty. The program aimed to reduce child support…
Read MoreThe Noncustodial Parent Employment Program: Employment & Payment Outcomes
This study takes an empirical look at the early outcomes achieved by non-custodial parents who were referred to Maryland’s Noncustodial Parent Employment Program (NPEP), which provides intensive case management and assistance with conducting a job search.
Read MoreDeadbeats, Deadbrokes, and Prisoners
This report examines child support legislation with respect to incarcerated parents, and the policies that parents who are incarcerated are “voluntarily unemployed”, and therefore not eligible for modifications of their child support orders.
Read MoreThe Use of Civil Contempt and Criminal Nonsupport as Child Support Enforcement Tools: A Report on Local Perspectives and the Availability of Data
This is a link to the first of two reports focused on child support and incarceration. Together, these reports will represent a first step in an effort to better understand Wisconsin’s use of two enforcement tools that may result in incarceration: civil (or remedial) contempt and criminal (or punitive) nonsupport.
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