Setting Realistic and Accurate Child Support Orders
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. This fact sheet describes examples of effective state policies for establishing and modifying child support orders for low-income parents. Two of the strongest predictors of compliance with a child support order is the paying parent’s income and the amount of support compared to that income. Orders not aligned with a parent’s ability to pay cause problems for states, too.
Read MoreApplying Human-Centered Design to Human Services: Pilot Study Findings
Human-Centered Design (HCD) is way of developing solutions to service delivery challenges with the end-user in mind. The Administration for Children and Families recently studies the application of HCD principles to its human services programs. The Washington State Division of Child Support was one of three pilot sites. Washington wanted to apply HCD to improve its modification request process.
Read MoreDo Carrots Work Better than Sticks? Results from the National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration
The results of the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED) grant may have been modest, but these types of programs will move the child support program forward. CSPED tested the effectiveness of alternative methods of enforcing child support orders: adjusting orders, reducing punitive enforcement, and offering employment services to parents.
Read MoreSimplify, Notify, Modify: Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Incarcerated Parents’ Requests for Child Support Modifications
This report, part of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project, presents findings from a behavioral intervention, developed in collaboration with the Washington State Division of Child Support (DCS), to increase the number of incarcerated noncustodial parents in Washington who apply for modifications to reduce the amount of their child support orders. Incarcerated noncustodial…
Read MoreBehavioral Intervention Materials Compendium
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project team, led by MDRC and sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, partnered with eight state and local agencies to design and implement 15 behavioral interventions, involving close…
Read MoreNudging Changes in Human Services: Final Report of the BIAS Project
This is the final report (2017-23) of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project conducted by MRDC under a contract with the federal Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in which 15 state and local agencies participated. The project consisted of identifying problems that are appropriate for behavioral interventions, designing interventions, and conducting…
Read MoreHelping Noncustodial Parents Support Their Children: Early Implementation Findings from the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Demonstration (CSPED) Evaluation
In 2012, OCSE competitively awarded grants under the Noncustodial Parent Child Support Demonstration (CSPED) Project to child support agencies in eight states to provide enhanced child support, employment, parenting, and case management services to noncustodial parents who are having difficulty meeting their child support obligations. Also in 2012, OCSE competitively awarded a cooperative agreement (under…
Read MoreOperation Access Evaluation Report
The State of Colorado received a three-year federal grant to improve child support services for military families. El Paso County was chosen as the pilot site due to its large military population on four installations. This project, known as Operation Access, was designed to improve collaboration and communication between the local child support services office…
Read MoreLow Income Fathers and Child Support Debt: A Primer for Financial Literacy and Fatherhood Service Providers
This is a link to a document that is intended to provide very basic information about poor noncustodial parents and their contact and connection with the child support system. http://www.cffpp.org/publications/Child%20Support%20Debt%202011.pdf
Read MoreDollars and Sense: Improving the Determination of Child Support Obligations for Low Income Fathers, Mothers, and Children
This is a link to a report on the concerns of low-income parents gained from discussions of participants in the Center on Fathers, Family, and Public Policy’s Common Ground Project. The report also includes recommendations for public policy to address these concerns in the areas of family law and policy. The report encompasses an overview…
Read MoreTaking the First Step: Using Behavioral Economics to Help Incarcerated Persons Apply for Child Support Order Modifications
This report presents findings from a behavioral intervention designed to increase the number of incarcerated noncustodial parents in Texas who apply for modifications to reduce the amount of their child support orders. Incarcerated noncustodial parents have a limited ability to pay their child support orders each month, due to their incarceration, which can lead to…
Read MoreColorado Early Intervention and Simplified Modification Project
This report covers Colorado’s Section 1115 grant to increase child support payments and reduce arrears through early intervention and modification of support orders in two counties, Denver and Pueblo. The research was conducted by the Division of Child Support Services with the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Read MoreDeadbeats, Deadbrokes, and Prisoners
This report examines child support legislation with respect to incarcerated parents, and the policies that parents who are incarcerated are “voluntarily unemployed”, and therefore not eligible for modifications of their child support orders.
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