Centering Child Well-Being in Child Support Policy

The child support program has been fostering a culture change for the past few years from a program of strict enforcement to one that puts child well-being at its center. This paper frames a toolkit which explores recommended policies and practices to support the culture change. The toolkit includes information on family distribution, reducing arrears, right-sizing orders, income supports, family stabilization, and justice. The framing paper considers the importance of fathers, the history of the program, the effect of traditional policies, and the advantages of a realistic and evidence-based approach to program policy.

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The Limited Reach of the Child Support Enforcement System

This report examines the declining caseload in the national child support enforcement program in comparison to the population of child support-eligible families, which has remained unchanged over the past two decades. The report attributes most of the decline to the reduction in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) cases, which shrinks the pipeline of mandatory…

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In 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…

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State 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.

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