Final Impact Findings from the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED)

The Office of Child Support Enforcement sponsored the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration Grant to study the effect of child support-led employment programs on the payment of regular child support. Under this grant, noncustodial parents (NCP) were divided into two groups: one received no special services and the second received special services in the areas of case management, enhanced child support services, employment, and parenting. The researchers used three sources of data, a baseline survey, a 12-month follow-up survey, and administrative data, to make their findings. The research showed that CSPED had statistically significant impacts on five of the seven key domains. The key domains included compliance with child support orders, current child support orders, current child support payments, NCP satisfaction with child support services, NCP employment, NCP earnings, and NCP sense of responsibility for children.