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.
Read MoreThe Safety Net that Works: Improving Federal Programs for Low Income Americans
This document is a compilation of essays, ideas, and policy recommendations authored by individuals with expertise in various federal anti-poverty programs. The author of one of the essays, entitled Empowering Child Support Enforcement to Reduce Poverty, is Robert Doar, Resident Fellow and Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies, and former IV-D Director of the New York…
Read MoreThe Safety Net that Works—Improving Federal Programs for Low Income Americans
This document is a compilation of essays, ideas, and policy recommendations authored by individuals with expertise in various federal anti-poverty programs. The author of one of the essays, Empowering Child Support Enforcement to Reduce Poverty, is Robert Doar, Resident Fellow and Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studiesand former IV-D Director of the New York State Child…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreMore Child Support Dollars to Kids-Using New State Flexibility in Child Support Pass-Through
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) provides new state flexibility to pass through more child support dollars to children who currently receive or formerly received welfare. The federal government will pick up part of the cost if states exercise this new flexibility. These changes provide opportunities for states to devise new strategies to increase…
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 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 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 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…
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