Resources
Child Support Resource Library
Welcome to the YoungWilliams Child Support Resource Library. Search by keywords or use the filters to select categories of interest to you. Currently, our Library consists of academic and government research articles and reports from around the country, federal opinions, and case law from states in which our full service child support projects are located.
Artz v. Norris (Mississippi 2015)
Court of Appeals held finding of contempt against father was appropriate, father could not unilaterally modify court order and make child support payments directly to child without the court’s approval, and father was liable for his payment toward the child’s medical insurance premium even though mother’s new husband employer paid for the insurance.
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Hayes v. Hayes
Hayes v. Hayes (Tennessee 2015)
Martin v. Phillips (Kansas 2015)
Reasonable Child Support Orders: The Relationship between Income and Collections
This is a study conducted by the University of Maryland School of Social Work. The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) has recognized the importance of creating support orders that balance a custodial parent’s need for support and a noncustodial parent’s ability to pay it. The authors conducted a multivariate linear regression utilizing a sample of 3,680 new Maryland child support orders to estimate the effect of high support orders relative to an obligor’s income—order-to income ratio—on child support collections. The results show: 1) the average order-to-income ratio for Maryland obligors is about 20%; 2) Obligors paid an average of 56% of their current child support, and 3) Obligors with orders between 30% and 35% of their income had a collection rate that was 17 percentage points lower than obligors with orders under 10% of their income. The study concludes: there is a point at which a child support order is too high and beyond an obligor’s ability to pay. These high orders are ineffective as they result in lower, not higher, collections, and lead to arrearage accumulation.
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 that parent; (D) Availability of employment for which the parent is qualified; (E) Prevailing wage rates in the local area; (F) Special skills or training; and (G) Whether the parent is realistically able to earn imputed income.
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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 that parent; (D) Availability of employment for which the parent is qualified; (E) Prevailing wage rates in the local area; (F) Special skills or training; and (G) Whether the parent is realistically able to earn imputed income.
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LP 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 “imposes on the party against whom it is directed the burden of proving the nonexistence of the presumed fact is more probable than its existence.” Wyoming Rule of Evidence 301.
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Don’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 into nuanced, flexible, and creatively supportive government assistance that incorporates parental autonomy, self-determination, and the potential for collaboration.” Volume 20 | Issue 4 Article 3 2012
Welfare, 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 over half of all poor children in the United States. The report details trends in income and poverty status of these families, prior and subsequent to enactment of the 1996 welfare reform law and other policy changes. The report focuses especially on welfare dependency and work engagement among single mothers, a major dynamic that welfare reform and accompanying policy changes have attempted to affect. It also examines the role of programs other than TANF in providing support to single female-headed families with children.
