Providing Equal Access to Justice

This fact sheet is part of the Centering Child Well-Being in Child Support Policy series from the Ascend at the Aspen Institute and Good+Foundation. A key indicator of whether parents will comply with a child support order is their perception of the fairness of the process. This policy brief describes practices that improve the fairness of the child support process based on the procedural justice principles of respect, voice, neutrality, understanding, and helpfulness. These practices include support orders that reflect the payor’s ability to pay, requirements for service of process that reflect modern methods of communication, and use of alternative methods for court.