Strengthening Children, Youth and Families

Resources & Publications

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Feb 17, 2011 | CLASP Two Years Later: Impacts of Select ARRA Programs for Low-Income Workers & Families This document looks at select provisions in the Recovery Act that affected low-income people and their families. In areas where there is available data, it notes the impact of the program on the number of people who benefited from ARRA provisions. While the effect of the Recovery Act will be debated and analyzed by policy experts and researchers for years to come, some of the early evidence makes it clear that the Recovery Act benefited the nation by easing some immediate effects of the recession and preventing deeper hardship. Read Online | Download PDF
Jan 25, 2010 | CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2010 Our nation faces many domestic challenges, including improving access to affordable health care, improving access to education as well as education outcomes, and providing debt and foreclosure relief. CLASP's 2010 federal policy recommendations are equally essential to achieving healthy and thriving families and improving the nation's prosperity. Read Online | Download PDF
Sep 01, 2009 | CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2009 and Beyond The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has developed an extensive federal policy agenda for President Obama and the 111th Congress directed at improving the lives of low income people. That agenda is outlined in this document. Download PDF
Jun 12, 2009 | Michelle Vinson and Vicki Turetsky State Child Support Pass-Through Policies This chart lists all 50 states and the District of Columbias child support pass-through and income disregard policies as of June 2009. Download PDF
Feb 13, 2009 | Vicki Turetsky How Much Restored Child Support Funding Will Each State Receive Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act? The ARRA includes a 2-year suspension of a provision in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 that reduced federal child support funding to the child support enforcement program. The ARRA temporarily restores funding to help families continue to receive child support payments and prevent widespread cutbacks in child support services. Download PDF
Jan 08, 2009 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support Funding Stimulates an Economic Recovery Reversing the child support cuts would provide stimulus to the federal government, states, and to low-income families. This fact sheet describes why reversing the child support cuts is a cost-effective means to help low income families meet basic household expenses and will aid state and county budgets. Download PDF
Nov 07, 2008 | CLASP Beyond Stimulus: Shoring Up the Safety Net, Securing the American Dream The United States is entering into a recession which many will be longer and more severe than any we have faced in recent decades. As Congress and the new President consider what actions to take, CLASP calls for a package that goes beyond stimulus aimed at temporarily boosting consumer demand. This paper outlines actions that Congress should take immediately to strengthen safety net programs that provide critical assistance to vulnerable workers and families and to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to share in the benefits of recovery. Download PDF
Oct 16, 2008 | Alan W. Houseman and the CLASP Staff CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2009 and Beyond CLASP has developed an extensive federal policy agenda for the next President and Congress directed at improving the lives of low income people. The detailed agenda makes recommendations for changes in policy at all levels of the federal government: the White House, Federal departments and agencies, the budget and appropriations' process, and the law-making process in Congress. This publication provides an overview of our agenda organized into eleven key recommendations. Taken as a whole, the eleven recommendations call for increasing investments in effective programs and funding streams that concretely help children, youth, and families thrive; strengthening and modernizing the nation's safety net; and building supportive pathways for low-income youths and adults to good jobs that sustain families and communities. Download PDF
Jun 09, 2008 | Neil Ridley, Elizabeth Lower-Basch, and Matt Lewis Low-Income Workers and Families Hardest Hit by Economic Decline Need Help Now American workers and families are being squeezed between a declining labor market and increasing costs for food, fuel, and other basic needs. This paper describes the economy's impact on vulnerable adults and youth, and lays out recommendations for action that can make a real difference in the lives of low-income workers and their families. Download PDF
May 20, 2008 | Vicki Turetsky Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2007 This brief on legislation outlines the provisions of the proposed Responsible Fatherhood and Health Families Act of 2007. Download PDF
May 06, 2008 | Vicki Turetsky Preserve the Child Support System: Don't Let the New Hire Database be Hijacked for Immigrant Employment Verification Congress should not authorize the use of a child support data base, called the National Directory of New Hires, to establish mandatory electronic employment verification system as is proposed in the "New Employee Verification Act of 2008" (HR 5515). This use of the National Directory of New Hires will seriously undermine the goals and effectiveness of the child support system. Download PDF
May 05, 2008 | Vicki Turetsky; Tyler Moran (National Immigration Law Center) Testimony on Employment Eligibility Verification Systems and the Potential Impacts on SSA's Ability to Serve Retirees, People with Disabilities, and Workers. Written statement delivered before the Subcommittee on Social Security Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives Download PDF
Mar 04, 2008 | CLASP The Congressional Budget Resolution: Recommendations for a Blueprint in Support of Low-Income Individuals and Families President Bush's budget proposal sends a simple and stark message: even in an economic downturn, those at the bottom of the income scale don't matter. It is now Congress' turn to prepare a budget plan. The Congressional budget resolution should inflict no harm to low-income workers, restore prior cuts, and invest in the future by supporting the workforce and ensuring safe and healthy children. Download PDF
Jan 30, 2008 | Kirsten D. Levingston and Vicki Turetsky Debtors' Prison--Prisoners' Accumulation of Debt as a Barrier to Reentry First published by the Clearinghouse Review Journal of Poverty Law and Policy in Summer 2007, this paper describes the types of criminal financial sanctions levied against people as they make their way through the criminal justice system and the child support policies that lead to unrealistic and counterproductive payment obligations. Cost-recovery policies enforced by criminal justice and child support agencies are ill-advised, undermining the criminal justice system's rehabilitation goals, the child support system's goals to support children, and society's interest in fully reintegrating people after release from prison. Download PDF
Jan 29, 2008 CLASP Recommends Improvements to Economic Stimulus Package The following letter was sent to Senators suggesting improvements to the economic stimulus package to help those hardest hit by an economic downturn. Download PDF
Jan 29, 2008 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support: It Makes Sound Fiscal Sense to Restore Funding for Child Support Enforcement (4 of 4) The final fact sheet in this series illustrates why funding for child support enforcement should be restored. Download PDF
Jan 29, 2008 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support: Restored Federal Funding Needed to Implement New Child Support Pass-Through Options (3 of 4) Effective next year, new state options included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) will allow states to pay up to 100 percent of collected child support to current and former TANF families -- up to $2 billion more money for families every year. States and advocates alike support the new DRA distribution options. However, a cut in federal funding for child support enforcement also included in the DRA threatens state implementation of these new options. The third fact sheet in this series examines this issue. Download PDF
Jan 29, 2008 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support: Reversing Cuts Now Will Provide a Needed Boost to the Economy (1 of 4) Quick action is needed by Congress this year to reverse counter-stimulative federal cuts to state and child support programs included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Allowing these cuts to take effect will result in lay-offs of child support enforcement workers, and even worse, will cost families with children at least a billion dollars a year. In contrast, preventing the loss of federal funds will provide needed state relief, while ensuring that families do not lose support in an economic downturn. This is the first of four fact sheets on the subject. Download PDF
Jan 29, 2008 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support: Ripple Effects Throughout the Community (2 of 4) The child support program helps families become stronger and more self-sufficient. The program has other bridges into the community as well -- bridges that are at risk of collapse without adequate support. The impacts of the child support funding cut will ripple throughout the community, as illustrated in the second of four fact sheets on the subject. Download PDF
Jul 13, 2007 Child Support: Preserving and Expanding a Decade of Progress These slides are from a July 13 congressional briefing on the Child Support Protection Act of 2007 (S. 803 and H.R. 1386). The briefing, which was cosponsored by CLASP, explained the devastating impact of the child support cut--approved by Congress last year and scheduled to take effect this October--on states, counties, and families. Download PDF
May 03, 2007 | Jan Justice State Policy Regarding Pass-Through and Disregard of Current Month's Child Support Collected for Families Receiving TANF-funded Cash Assistance This chart lists all 50 states and the District of Columbia's child support pass-through and income disregard policies. Download PDF
Mar 22, 2007 | Danielle Ewen, Elizabeth Lower-Basch, Julie Strawn, and Vicki Turetsky Congress Should Take Action to Restore Flexibility and Funding Lost in 2006 Welfare Reauthorization and HHS Regulations On March 6, 2007, the House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support held a hearing on the changes made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) to programs assisting low-income families. In this testimony for the record, we discuss some of the early effects of the DRA and proposed regulations on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, child care, and child support participants and programs and offer recommendations as to how Congress should respond. Download PDF
Mar 19, 2007 | Vicki Turetsky It Makes Sound Fiscal Sense to Restore Funding for Child Support Enforcement The goal of the child support enforcement program is to ensure that children receive financial and medical support from their parents. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 cut funds from the program, threatening to reverse the progress made in its effectiveness over the last 10 years. This fact sheet offers several reasons that Congress should restore funding. Download PDF
Mar 12, 2007 | Vicki Turetsky Staying in Jobs and Out of the Underground: Child Support Policies that Encourage Legitimate Work This policy brief explains why policymakers and practitioners should manage the child support obligations of incarcerated and re-entering men to help them maintain regular employment, limit participation in the underground economy, reduce recidivism, and provide steady support to their children over time. A companion brief will outline specific child support strategies to help these parents reconnect to work and family. Download PDF
Feb 27, 2007 | CLASP and Policy Studies, Inc. Child Support Distribution Calculator This calculator was jointly prepared by Policy Studies Inc. (PSI) and CLASP, under a grant by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, to provide states and advocates with a tool to estimate the net cost or benefit to a state considering adoption of the child support pass-through and distribution options included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). The calculator compares the distribution of support under the DRA options to the distribution of support under the PRWORA status quo. Download Spreadsheet
Jan 30, 2007 | CLASP and CBPP Implementing the TANF Changes in the DRA: "Win-Win" Solutions for Families and States, Second Edition This report from CLASP and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is intended to guide state administrators and advocates as they consider implementing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provisions of the 2006 federal budget, called the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA). This report has been updated to reflect the Interim Final Rule and guidance issued by HHS in response to states' Work Verification Plans. The report discusses the legal structure of the work participation requirements; strategies for improving and increasing engagement in programs; strategies for increasing support for working families (through increased earnings disregards, stand-alone "work supplement" programs, and child support distribution options) and helping states meet participation rates; disability laws and ways to improve the effectiveness of TANF-related programs for individuals with disabilities; and the fiscal implications of the TANF, child care, and child support provisions. To view/print specific chapters, visit http://www.cbpp.org/archiveSite/2-9-07tanf.htm Download PDF
Dec 11, 2006 | Paula Roberts Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment: An Update of State Law Voluntary paternity establishment programs have been a great success for both parents and children. While federal law sets out the general rules for such programs, there is some state variation. Among the major differences involve 1) the ability of minor parents to use the voluntary establishment process, 2) the process for rescinding an acknowledgment, and 3) under what circumstances an acknowledgment can be challenged after the rescission period. This memo and its accompanying tables describe and analyze these state variations. Download PDF
Nov 13, 2006 | Linda Harris with Charles Modiano, consultant Making the Juvenile Justice - Workforce System Connection for Re-entering Young Offenders: A Guide for Local Practice This guidebook is designed to provide advice from the field to communities who are interested in pursuing more formal connections--or strengthening existing connections--between the workforce and justice systems. It draws on experiences in eight communities and focuses on on-the-ground challenges and solutions related to blending the cultures, adapting programming, engaging employers, and meeting performance. Download PDF
Oct 20, 2006 | Paula Roberts Proposed Medical Child Support Regulations This publication describes new proposed federal regulations relating to medical support enforcement and suggests issues on which interested people may wish to comment. Download PDF
Aug 29, 2006 | Jodie Levin-Epstein and Webb Lyons Targeting Poverty: Aim at a Bull's Eye Forty years after the war on poverty and a year after Katrina struck, commitments to tackle poverty are beginning to come back onto political and policy agendas. The report identifies efforts around the nation to set poverty targets -- numerical goals and timelines -- for the reduction or elimination of poverty. For example: In California, a 2006 bill calls for child poverty to be eliminated by 2026; in Connecticut, state law already establishes that child poverty is to be reduced by 50 percent by 2014. Among the reasons why poverty may be gaining attention is the increasing concern among many Americans that at some point they and their families may experience poverty. These and other issues are explored. Download PDF
Aug 28, 2006 | Vicki Turetsky Realistic Child Support Policies that Support Successful Re-entry These slides describe 8 child support strategies to improve employment and long-term child support outcomes for parents leaving prison. Click here for the PowerPoint version of this presentation. Download PDF
Aug 17, 2006 | Evelyn Ganzglass Ten Years after Welfare Reform, It's Time to Make Work Work for Families On the 10th anniversary of passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, CLASP calls for the implementation of a more holistic set of strategies that truly expand opportunities for low-income families to move into the middle class and achieve the American dream. Download PDF
Aug 02, 2006 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support Assignment and Distribution Provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act These slides summarize the new changes in child support assignment and distribution rules included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Download PDF
Jul 30, 2006 | Paul Legler (PSI) and Vicki Turetsky More Child Support Dollars to Kids: Using New State Flexibility in Child Support Pass-Through and Distribution Rules to Benefit Government and Families The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 provides new state flexibility to pass through more child support dollars to current and former TANF families. This policy brief describes the new DRA changes in assignment and distribution rules, and explains why they can improve child support compliance, assist families making the transition from welfare to work, help states meet work participation and child support performance rates, and reduce state costs. The policy brief is also available at www.policy-studies.com. Download PDF
Jun 29, 2006 | Paula Roberts Paternity Disestablishment in 2006 This is the latest update on developments in the area of paternity disestablishment. This piece also contains a detailed discussion of issues emerging as parents who have established parentage through the voluntary acknowledgment process attempt to disestablish paternity through the use of genetic testing. Download PDF
Jun 22, 2006 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support Provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act The fiscal year 2006 federal budget, signed into law on February 8, 2006, makes major funding and program changes to the child support program and creates a new federal grants program for fatherhood and marriage initiatives. This four-page brief offers a preliminary analysis of the child support and fatherhood provisions of the new budget law. Download PDF | Additional PDF
May 30, 2006 | Paula Roberts Final Regulation on Review and Adjustment of Child Support Orders This brief memo discusses the final federal regulation on states' ability to use a quantitative standard for determining whether an adjustment should be sought in a child support case when review indicates that some change may be appropriate under the state's child support guidelines. Download PDF
Feb 21, 2006 Audio Conference 02/21/2006 - Child Support Federal child support budget developments enacted and proposed. Download Audio | Additional PDF
Feb 10, 2006 | Paula Roberts Changes to the Child Support Program: An Overview of the Provisions of the 2006 Federal Budget and the 2007 Budget Proposal This brief describes the changes in the child support program that result from passage of the 2006 federal budget bill (called the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005) as well as the effective date for those changes. It also describes possible additional changes contemplated by the Bush Administration's fiscal year 2007 budget proposal. Download PDF
Jan 26, 2006 | Vicki Turetsky and Joan Entmacher (NWLC) Cuts to Child Support Enforcement in the Budget: A Fact Sheet In February, Congress is expected to vote on the FY 2006 budget agreement. The current version would cut federal child support funds by more than 20 percent--resulting in at least $8.4 billion in child support going uncollected over the next 10 years. This fact sheet offers a clear overview of the impact of the cuts on the child support enforcement program, states, and the families who benefit. Download PDF
Jan 18, 2006 | Vicki Turetsky Families Will Lose At Least $8.4 Billion in Uncollected Child Support if Congress Cuts Funds--and Could Lose Billions More In February, Congress is expected to vote on the FY 2006 budget agreement. The current version would cut federal child support funds by more than 20 percent. Despite the claim that families would not be hurt, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that at least $8.4 billion in child support would go uncollected over the next 10 years if the incentive match is eliminated. This report uses Congressional Budget Office projections to show how much funding each state stands to lose and how much child support will go uncollected if the cuts are enacted. Download PDF
Jan 09, 2006 | Paula Roberts The Child Support Provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 The conference agreement of the fiscal year 2006 federal budget (also called the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005) includes changes to the child support program. This short publication offers a clear description of the Act's specific changes to the financing of the child support program and how it works. The House is expected to vote on the Act on February 1, 2006. Download PDF
Dec 08, 2005 | Paula Roberts Parentage Case Update: Can a Child Have Two Mothers? Modern technology makes it possible for a child to have two mothers.Should the law recognize this? This memo analyzes three recent California cases that use traditional laws and methods of analysis to find that the law should.The cases may be useful to other jurisdictions trying to decide how to approach such situations. Download PDF
Dec 05, 2005 | Paula Roberts Child Support Cooperation Requirements and Public Benefits Programs: An Overview The TANF and Medicaid programs impose assignment and child support cooperation requirements on participating adults. The Food Stamp, SCHIP and child care programs may also contain child support cooperation requirements. This paper examines the rules in each separate program and then describes what happens if an individual is subject to a cooperation requirement in more than one program. The author makes recommendations for streamlining the requirements and making sure that individuals who are subject to the requirement of more than one program are treated fairly. Download PDF
Nov 17, 2005 | Vicki Turetsky Backing Away From Parental Responsibility: Child Support Budget Cuts Will Unravel a Decade of Progress Under the House of Representatives' proposed budget reconciliation bill, the child support program faces a 40 percent cut in federal funds over the next 10 years--funds the program uses to establish and enforce non-custodial parents' child support responsibilities to their children. The cuts threaten to reverse a decade of stunning progress in a program that serves two-thirds of all single-parent families in the United States and benefits more than 17 million children. This paper examines the importance of the child support program, the reasons behind its dramatic improvement in performance, and how these cuts would jeopardize families of all income levels. Download PDF
Oct 27, 2005 | Vicki Turetsky Update: Ways and Means Committee Approves 40 Percent Cut in Child Support Funds The Committee on Ways and Means has approved deep cuts to the federal funding for child support services, which would severely reduce states' ability to collect child support for low- and moderate-income families. This policy brief outlines the changes, and uses Congressional Budget Office projections to show how much funding each state stands to lose and how much child support will go uncollected if the cuts are enacted. Download PDF
Oct 25, 2005 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support-Related Provisions in New Katrina Relief Legislation This paper outlines the child support-related provisions of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Response and Recovery Act of 2005, signed into law on September 21, 2005. It also describes recent Health and Human Services policy guidance and pending legislation that would clarify the law. Finally, it recommends that Congress adopt additional short-term child support measures to help states impacted by the hurricanes. Download PDF
Oct 25, 2005 | Paula Roberts and Elaine Sorensen, of the Urban Institute State Strategies for Preventing Accumulation and Managing Existing Child Support Arrears The publicly funded child support program contends with over $100 billion in arrears (outstanding child support owed by obligated parents). To address this problem, a number of states revising their policies and developing strategies to both prevent the growth of arrears and resolve existing debt. This PowerPoint presentation describes these efforts, and includes a comprehensive bibliography of sources for further information. Download PDF
Oct 24, 2005 | Vicki Turetsky The Child Support Enforcement Program: A Sound Investment in Improving Children's Chances in Life The Child Support Enforcement program's performance has improved dramatically in recent years. This six-page report explains why the program is a sound investment--returning $4.38 in collected support for every dollar the government spends. (See also, The Child Support Program: An Investment That Works, July 2005.) Download PDF
Sep 16, 2005 | <a href=mailto:vturet@clasp.org>Vicki Turetsky</a> In Everybody's Best Interests: Why Reforming Child Support Distribution Makes Sense for Government and Families More than 17 million children are served by the public child support programbut many never see the funds collected on their behalf. Instead, collections are used to recoup the public costs of families' welfare cash assistance. Recent reform proposals would shift the program's emphasis from cost recovery to family support. This brief describes the regulations, and how families and government alike stand to benefit from the direct pass-through of child support payments to children. Download PDF
Aug 19, 2005 | Paula Roberts Recent State Efforts in Medical Child Support In August of 2000, the Medical Child Support Working Group issued a report recommending over 70 changes in medical child support that would facilitate the enrollment of more children being raised in single-parent families in public and private health care coverage. While efforts to implement the recommendations at the federal level have been slow, many states have moved ahead and developed innovative approaches to medical support establishment and enforcement. This memo updates state developments over the last two years. Download PDF
Jul 28, 2005 | Vicki Turetsky The Child Support Program: An Investment That Works This four-page paper provides data to explain how child support helps children and increases self-sufficiency. It also briefly discusses the federal program's performance and its funding. The paper was revised in July 2005 to include 2004 data. Pub No. 05-23. 4 pages. (See also the October 2005 update.) Download PDF
Jul 26, 2005 | Paula Roberts Medical Support Update: The Federal Scene In 1998, Congress enacted the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act (CSPIA). One outgrowth of CSPIA, the Medical Child Support Working Group (MCSWG), made nearly 80 recommendations for change in law, policy, and practice to improve the chances that children served by the child support enforcement program would obtain adequate, accessible, and affordable health care coverage. During the past 18 months, some progress has been made at the federal level to move forward on this agenda. This memo describes some of these recent developments. Download PDF
Jun 10, 2005 | Paula Roberts Paternity Disestablishment in 2004-2005 This memo analyzes the statutory and case law developments in paternity disestablishment from late 2004 and early 2005, as well as recently enacted statutes. The first appendix describes in detail the reported cases in 2004 and early 2005. The cases are divided by topic and listed alphabetically by state. The second appendix contains a chart listing the major state cases in the last eight years in regard to paternity disestablishment for marital children. The third appendix charts similar case law as regards non-marital children. Download PDF
Apr 15, 2005 | Paula Roberts Update on the Uniform Parentage Act (2002) The Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) provides a comprehensive framework for establishing the parentage of children born to both married and unmarried couples. The UPA was revised in 2002, and six states have enacted it in some form. This memo includes a table that compares major provisions of the model act to state enactments and variations. Download PDF
Feb 08, 2005 | Paula Roberts New Regulation on Review and Adjustment of Child Support Orders This memo describes a new Interim Final regulation on review and adjustment of child support orders in states using the guidelines method of adjustment. The Office of Child Support Enforcement is proposing to return to a policy under which these states can adopt quantitative standards for adjusting support orders. Such standards allow states to disregard adjustments of a small magnitude, even when such adjustments could be consequential for both low-income custodial parent families and obligors. Download PDF
Dec 30, 2004 | Paula Roberts Paternity Disestablishment in 2004: The Year in Review This memo analyzes the statutory and case law developments in late 2003 and 2004. It contains two appendices. The first appendix describes in detail the reported cases in 2004. The cases are divided by topic and listed alphabetically by state. The second appendix contains two charts listing the major state cases in the last seven years. One chart deals with disestablishment for marital children and the other for non-marital children. This memo follows up the publications titled Truth and Consequences, Parts I, II, and III and a memo from June 2004. All documents are available at www.clasp.org. Download PDF
Oct 20, 2004 | Paula Roberts OIG Studies on Possible Recoupment of SCHIP Costs Through the Child Support Program The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently conducted studies in several states on the potential for recouping State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) costs from non-custodial parents through the child support program. This memo summarizes the OIG recommendations and state actions so far for Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Download PDF
Oct 06, 2004 | Paula Roberts Litigation Success on the Issue of Recoupment of Child Support Overpayments This memo discusses the ramifications of the recent court decision in Gamble v. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The court found that the Eleventh Amendment barred monetary relief against the state and its officials. It also barred declaratory and injunctive relief against the state, but the Eleventh Amendment did not bar such relief against state officials. Plaintiffs counsel then successfully moved for a preliminary injunction to stop the state from recouping erroneous overpayments of child support. Download PDF
Oct 01, 2004 | Paula Roberts and Michelle Vinson State Policy Regarding Pass-Through and Disregard of Current Months Child Support Collected for Families Receiving TANF-funded Cash Assistance This chart lists all 50 states and the District of Columbias child support pass-through and income disregard policies as of August 31, 2004. Download PDF
Sep 13, 2004 | Paula Roberts Establishment of Paternity and Enforcement of Support Orders When a Member of the Military Is Involved The Department of Defense employs approximately 1.4 million active duty military personnel, 1.4 million reservists, 2 million retirees, and 800 thousand civilian employees. Many of these employees and retirees are non-custodial parents. This memo to child support advocates details how to deal with the military in establishing and enforcing support orders. Download PDF
Aug 27, 2004 | Abbey Frank Where the Funds Are: Potential Use of Child Support Funds for Transitional Jobs Programs Transitional jobs programs combine subsidized employment, skill development, and support services to help participants overcome substantial barriers to employment. This policy brief focuses on the ways in which states can leverage portions of federal child support funds to offset some of the costs of transitional jobs programs that are either targeted towards noncustodial parents or include noncustodial parents as a part of their client base. Download PDF
Jun 17, 2004 | Paula Roberts Paternity Disestablishment Case Update Since the publication of the CLASP series on paternity disestablishment, Truth and Consequences, (available in the 2003 section of the Child Support publications page) there have been a number of new reported paternity disestablishment cases. The newest cases are summarized in this memorandum, which updates the memo posted on this site in March 2004. Download PDF
May 21, 2004 | Paula Roberts Proposed Food Stamp Regulations that Involve Child Support Obligations Many of the households participating in the Food Stamp Program contain a person who either pays or receives child support. In 2002, Congress made changes in the food stamp laws that affect these households, especially those that contain a person who is paying child support. This memorandum summarizes the proposed regulations that cover these changes and discusses some of the issues they raise. Download PDF
Mar 25, 2004 | Paula Roberts SSI and Child Support In contrast to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program contains a mandatory child support disregard. However, at present, only 25 percent of those SSI children living with just one parent actually receive child support. Thus, a substantial number of SSI children might benefit from more aggressive pursuit of support on their behalf. This memorandum summarizes the options laid out in a recent Social Security Administration brief about how to increase child support, and overall income, for children receiving SSI. Download PDF
Mar 15, 2004 | Paula Roberts OIG Studies on Potential Medicaid Savings Through Cost Contributions from Noncustodial Parents This memorandum for state child support advocates summarizes recent reports from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on seven states potential for recouping some of their Medicaid costs for children in single-parent families through improved medical support enforcement. In particular, the OIG is interested in the capacity of noncustodial parents who did not provide private health care coverage to their children to contribute toward the cost of their childrens Medicaid coverage. The states for which OIG has released reports are Connecticut, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Download PDF
Mar 11, 2004 | Paula Roberts No Minor Matter: Developing a Coherent Policy on Paternity Establishment for Children Born to Underage Parents For the roughly 150,000 babies born each year to unwed minors, paternity establishment is a complicated issue. Paternity establishment provides children with crucial financial and emotional support and access to larger extended families. At the same time, it can cause problems for minor parents: immature youngsters might enter an ill-advised marriage; a young man might sign an acknowledgment for a child who is not his genetic offspring; or a young woman who is a victim of incest or statutory rape might be better off if paternity is not established. The potential rights, limitations, and obligations of the minor parents, their babies, and the grandparents all need to be considered in developing thoughtful approaches to this issue. This policy brief (which is based on a longer report) offers recommendations to states for developing consistent laws and policies to address paternity establishment among minor parents. Download PDF
Nov 26, 2003 | Paula Roberts Recent Cases on a Variety of TANF/Child Support Issues In the last three years there have been a number of reported cases dealing with the child support program and its relationship to the federal welfare program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). This memo summarizes cases that deal with issues commonly faced by child support clients and their attorneys. Download PDF
Nov 24, 2003 | Paula Roberts New Regulations on Obtaining Health Care Coverage from Non-custodial Parents Who Are Federal Employees If a non-custodial parent has health care coverage available through employment, the state must order the non-custodial parent to enroll the children in that coverage (unless the children are already covered by some policy other than Medicaid). Until October 30, 2000, however, this scheme did not apply to federal employees. While decision-makers could order non-custodial parents who were federal employees to provide health care coverage for their children, unless such employees voluntarily complied, there was no way to enforce the orders. A law was passed to ensure enforcement of health care orders to federal employees; however, a number of questions about its proper implementation that have kept it from being as effective as it could be. This memo outlines some areas of concern on which public comment might be helpful. Download PDF
Aug 15, 2003 | Paula Roberts Recent Federal Guidance on Important Child Support Program Issues In the last few months, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement has issued a number of important Action Transmittals (ATs) and Policy Information Questions (PIQs), covering a range of child support issues. This document summarizes these ATs and PIQs, which clarify adjustment of child support orders, paternity disestablishment, recoupment of child support overpayments, payments in foreign currency, and private health care coverage for dependents. Download PDF
Jul 16, 2003 | Elise Richer, Abbey Frank, Mark Greenberg, Steve Savner, and Vicki Turetsky Boom Times a Bust: Declining Employment Among Young Less-Educated Men During the 1990s, employment rates for less-educated young women rose significantly. Less-educated young men, however, did not experience a similar jump in employment rates. In fact, their employment rates remained stagnant during the decade, failing to return to higher rates of prior years. This report explores why these young men are not in the formal labor market and offers potential policies to raise their employment rates. Download PDF
Jun 16, 2003 | Paula Roberts New Child Support Regulations In February 1999, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) issued Interim Final Regulations implementing changes contained in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, and the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998. On May 12, 2003, OCSE responded to public comment on these changes and issued Final Regulations. This document discusses these regulatory changes. Download PDF
Jun 02, 2003 | Paula Roberts Failure to Thrive: The Continuing Poor Health of Medical Child Support The state child support enforcement program can better assist the uninsured children under its purview in obtaining coverage. First, it could require a parent with access to coverage to enroll the child and allocate any associated costs for premiums, co-payments, and deductibles between the parents. Second, when neither parent has access to private coverage, the state child support agency can provide information to the custodial parent about public coverage and help the custodial parent enroll the child in such coverage. This paper discusses the obstacles to obtaining dependant coverage in these two ways and provides examples of states that have overcome these obstacles. Download PDF
May 20, 2003 | Paula Roberts Rethinking the Medicaid Child Support Cooperation Requirement In order for low-income, custodial single parents to obtain Medicaid coverage for themselves, they must usually assign to the state any rights they have to private health care coverage and cooperate with the states child support enforcement agency in pursuing that coverage. If they fail to do so, their children can receive Medicaid benefits, but they cannot. This paper describes the Medicaid program and the child support assignment and cooperation requirements as well as the differences between the Medicaid and SCHIP programs in this context. It concludes with the recommendation that the Medicaid child support cooperation requirement be abolished. Download PDF
Apr 08, 2003 | Paula Roberts Truth and Consequences: Part III. Who Pays When Paternity is Disestablished? This monograph, the third in a three-part series on paternity disestablishment, addresses the fiscal consequences to the child, the parents, and the state if paternity is disestablished. Courts and state legislatures are dealing with the effect of disestablishment on past, present, and future child support obligations. Some are also addressing the circumstances under which a father who has disestablished his paternity may seek to recoup support he has provided to the child. A few states are also providing criminal penalties for those who intentionally establish the paternity of the wrong man. (Case law updated in August 2003.) Download PDF
Mar 21, 2003 | Paula Roberts Truth and Consequences: Part II. Questioning the Paternity of Marital Children This monograph, the second of a three-part series, explores the approaches that courts and legislatures are now taking on the issue of paternity disestablishment when marital children are involved. It explores the pros and cons of different approaches and suggests a path that balances some of the legitimate concerns of all parties in this difficult area. (Case law updated in August 2003.) Download PDF
Mar 04, 2003 | Paula Roberts Truth and Consequences: Part I. Disestablishing the Paternity of Non-Marital Children Since there is little federal guidance on challenging paternity acknowledgements, the issue has been left largely in the hands of state legislatures and courts. In some states, there are detailed procedures for challenging paternity acknowledgments; in other states, there is little or no statutory guidance in this area. Some states have statutory and case law to guide the process of paternity disestablishment when paternity has been adjudicated or presumed, while others offer little guidance. This document reviews the recent statutory and case law in this area and offers recommendations for bringing greater fairness and clarity to the process. (Case law updated in August 2003.) Download PDF
Oct 25, 2002 | Paula Roberts If You Don't Know There's a Problem, How Can You Find a Solution? The Need for Notice and Hearing Rights in Child Support Distribution Cases Under federal law, states receive substantial federal funding to provide child support services to single-parent families who request such services. In order to know whether the support has been properly allocated, the custodial parent needs a basic notice describing what was collected, from whom, when, by what means, and how the state distributed the money. If the parent feels that a mistake has been made, the parent needs access to a hearing procedure to dispute the allocation. These fundamental due process rights are granted by the federal constitution as well as federal law and regulation. However, many states follow neither the letter nor the spirit of the law, leaving custodial parents with little or no information about how their child support payments are being handled. States that do not now offer these rights to custodial and non-custodial parents should be encouraged to do so through legislation, administrative advocacy, or court order. The information provided in this paper should enable advocates to follow one of these strategies to obtain these rights for their clients. Download PDF
Sep 12, 2002 | Paula Roberts New Office of Child Support Enforcement Policy on Recoupment of Child Support Overpayments In the process of distributing child support payments, mistakes can be made. Sometimes the result is that a custodial parent receives an "overpayment.\" This document discusses the Office of Child Support Enforcement's new guidance on the steps states must take in attempting to retrieve child support overpayments. Download PDF
Jun 03, 2002 | Nisha Patel, Mark Greenberg, Steve Savner, and Vicki Turetsky Making Ends Meet: Six Programs That Help Working Families and Employers. A Guide for Business Leaders and Policymakers This new report, originally developed for a meeting cosponsored by the Welfare to Work Partnership, provides information on six work support programs: the Earned Income Tax Credit, child care, Food Stamps, health care, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and child support. It explains how each program promotes financial security for low-income families, as well as employment retention, which benefits both working families and their employers. The guide also describes barriers to program participation for eligible workers and offers resources for business leaders and policymakers about strategies to overcome these barriers. Download PDF
May 01, 2002 | Paula Roberts Pursuing Justice: A Strategic Approach to Child Support Arrears in California California is one of the states with a substantial amount of accumulated child support arrears. To address this problem, the state authorized the Urban Institute to analyze the arrears caseload and assess the likelihood of collection. Based on the Urban Institute analysis, CLASP developed this options paper, which describes steps the state might take to collect that which is collectible, prevent similar problems in the future, and develop an adjustment policy for those who can never fully pay. The paper is intended to model the kind of analysis states with similar arrearage problems might undertake. It also provides information current efforts in many states to deal with low-income non-custodial parents. Download PDF
Jan 01, 2002 | Sara Davis New Report from OIG Raises Questions About Child Support Distribution A two-page summary of a recent report issued by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) outlining their findings and recommendations concerning the problems many families leaving TANF experience in collecting the child support payments they are entitled to as they transition from welfare to self-sufficiency. The receipt of child support at this time of transition can be crucial as a family strives to become self-sufficient. Download PDF
Jan 01, 2002 | Sara Davis The Need for More Aggressive Implementation of Income Withholding Orders Involving Federal Employees A two-page summary of recent report issued by the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The summary describes problems with wage withholding against delinquent federal employees who are employed by HHS as well as the recommendations developed by the OIG to ensure that the children of federal employees receive the timely child support to which they are entitled. Download PDF
Oct 11, 2001 Written Testimony of Vicki Turetsky Vicki Turetsky is a senior Staff Attorney at CLASP. Submitted for the record in the October 11, 2001, hearing of the Social Security and Family Policy Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, which heard testimony on S. 685, the \"Strengthening Working Families Act of 2001.\" The statement urges the Senate Finance Committee to act favorably this session on the legislation, which includes child support distribution provisions. Download PDF
May 15, 2001 | Paula Roberts An Ounce of Prevention and A Pound of Cure: Developing State Policy on the Payment of Child Support Arrears by Low Income Parents Contains a brief description of state policies and practices that may contribute to the accumulation of unrealistically high support arrears, describes steps states might take to avoid this problem in the future, and provides a framework for deciding how much of already accumulated arrears -- if any -- states might want to forgive. Download PDF
May 15, 2001 | Vicki Turetsky Families Participating in the State Child Support Program This is a one-page fact sheet that highlights the importance of child support to low-income families, notes that \"welfare leavers\" are the largest group of families participating in the child support program, describes recent improvements in the program's performance, and cites research linking effective child support programs to reduced poverty, welfare caseloads, divorce rates, nonmarital and teen birth rates, and improved child outcomes such as paternal involvement and educational attainment. Download PDF
May 15, 2001 | Paula Roberts Recent Clarification of the Child Support Assignment and Cooperation Obligations of Parents and Children Applying for or Receiving Medicaid Briefly explains a critical distinction between the child support assignment and cooperation requirements applicable to child-only Medicaid households and those applicable to households in which both children and adults seek Medicaid coverage. Download PDF
Mar 15, 2001 | Vicki Turetsky Congress Should Reject \"Bounty Hunter\" Proposals Open Child Support Data This fact sheet describes proposals that would make personal financial data and law enforcement authority used by state child support agencies available to commercial child support collection agencies and other private child support collectors. While the proposal may sound innocuous on the surface, its adoption would be very detrimental to low-income families and raises serious privacy concerns. Download File
Mar 15, 2001 | Paula Roberts Final Regulations on Child Support Cooperation and Food Stamp Recipients Examines the provisions and final regulations that include allowing states to impose child support cooperation obligations on noncustodial parents who participate in the Food Stamp Program. It would also permit states to disqualify individuals who are behind in paying their child support from participating in the Food Stamp Program. Download PDF
Mar 15, 2001 | Paula Roberts Grievance Procedures for Participants in the Child Support Takes a look at the final regulations on grievance procedures that require every state to provide individual users of the child support (IV-D) system access to a complaint resolution process. This new regulation could be used as the basis for state legislation providing full due process rights to users of the IVD system. Download PDF
Nov 15, 2000 | Nicole Williams Insights from New Reports on State Disbursement Units This is an overview of the reports issued by the Office of Inspector General on states' progress in establishing State Disbursement Units (SDUs). Included are some problems states encountered through the transition to an SDU as well as lessons learned in the process. Download PDF
Nov 15, 2000 | Paula Roberts New Studies on Child Support Cooperation Requirements This is an overview of five studies issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), on the implementation of the PRWORA changes that deal with child support cooperation and good cause exceptions in the TANF program and a study that deals with those changes in the Medicaid program. (Copies of the OIG reports are available at http://www.dhhs.gov/progorg/oei/.) Download PDF
Nov 15, 2000 | Paula Roberts The Performance of the Child Support Enforcement System: Two Points of View This is a discussion of the progress reports issued by the United States Census Bureau and the Office of Child Support Enforcement that describe the state of child support enforcement efforts in this country. Download PDF
Nov 01, 2000 | Mark Greenberg Helping Families Keep Their Child Support: The Role of TANF Design Choices When TANF assistance is paid to a family, the family must assign its child support to the state, and, typically, the family receives little or no benefit from the support that has been paid. However, states can act to ensure that families get the benefit of child support paid by nonresident parents. This set of an overheads, from a presentation to TANF and child support administrators at a meeting of the American Public Human Services Association, explains how states can ensure that families benefit from child support. Download PDF
Oct 15, 2000 | Paula Roberts, with assistance from Nicole Williams Biology and Beyond: The Case for Passage of the New Uniform Parentage Act This is a description of the provisions of the new UPA that address the paternity of marital children, the paternity of non-marital children, and the need for paternity registries. Parentage in the context of assisted reproduction and surrogacy is also considered. In the conclusion is a section-by-section description of the new UPA. Download PDF
Oct 01, 2000 | Paula Roberts Child Support Distribution and Disbursement This is a description of the new \"family first\" distribution and disbursement rules that are designed to get more of the support collected for and to the families leaving welfare. Training materials provided by Vicki Turetsky are available for understanding the new distribution process. Download PDF
Aug 15, 2000 | Paula Roberts, with assistance from Steve Jackson Public Benefits Issues in Divorce Cases: A Manual for Lawyers and Paralegals This paper addresses the unique support and property distribution issues that must be resolved when low-income public benefits recipients or potential recipients divorce. This revised manual seeks to guide a lawyer or paralegal through the workings of the federally-funded public assistance programs as they impact low-income clients. Download PDF
Jul 01, 2000 | Paula Roberts Child Support Issues for Parents Who Receive Means-Tested Public Assistance This is an article that was first published in Clearinghouse Review that includes critical issues as to whether public assistance is countable as \"income,\" whether a court should impute income to a parent with no countable income, and whether minimum support awards should be established. See also 34 Clearinghouse Rev. 182 (July-August 2000). Download PDF
Jun 15, 2000 | Vicki Turetsky What If All the Money Came Home? Takes the position that all child support should be paid to families, even if they receive TANF assistance, and that the TANF assignment requirement should be eliminated. Download PDF
Jun 01, 2000 | The Medical Child Support Working Group 21 Million Children's Health: Our Shared Responsibility This report contains 76 recommendations for improving medical support enforcement and access to health care coverage for children eligible to receive child support enforcement services. Read Online | Download File
Mar 15, 2000 | Vicki Turetsky Kellogg Devolution Initiative Paper -- Realistic Child Support Policies for Low-Income Fathers Identifies strategies states can use to tailor their standard child support practices to fathers with limited ability to pay. These strategies emphasize the importance of encouraging regular child support payments whenever possible, even if those payments are small. The paper covers issues such as pass-through, managing uncollectible arrearages, recognizing two-parent families, and expanding case management. Download PDF
Oct 15, 1999 | Paula Roberts Kellogg Devolution Initiative Paper -- Beyond Welfare: The Case for Child Support Assurance This paper addresses the child support assurance approach that can provide a guaranteed child support payment to the family regularly and on time each month. Download PDF
Oct 15, 1999 | Vicki Turetsky and Susan Notar Models for Safe Child Support Enforcement Addresses approaches and issues faced by state child support programs in creating safer responses for child support enforcement when the mother is a victim of domestic violence. Download PDF
Jul 15, 1999 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support Trends This paper takes a look at the performance and caseload trends in the child support (IV-D) program for the period 1988 through 1998. These slides show the caseload performance ratios as well as the program expenditures in the child support system. Download File | Download Additional
Jul 15, 1999 | Paula Roberts Guidance from the Federal Government on Implementation of the Child Support Related Provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 as Amended by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 Describes the most recent changes in the Action Transmittals and proposed final regulations which have been issued through June 30, 1999, that are relevant to the child support sections of the PRWORA, BBA, and CSPIA. (*This is an update of three earlier versions of this publication, which were issued in January 1998, April 1998, and December 1998). [The latest OCSE Action Transmittals can be found at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/poldoc.htm} Download PDF
Apr 15, 1999 | Paula Roberts Final TANF Regulations Regarding Child Support Assignment and Cooperation and Distribution of Support Collection Addresses two sets of the many issues of the final TANF regulations: (1) implementation of the child support cooperation requirement and (2) the assignment/distribution of child support collected for families receiving TANF-funded assistance. (These final regulations are found at 64 Federal Register 17720-17931.) Download PDF
Mar 15, 1999 Child Support Assurance Bibliography Download PDF
Mar 15, 1999 | Paula Roberts Final Federal Regulations on IV-D Case Closure Discusses in detail revised regulations issued by OCSE on March 10, 1999, that will make it easier to close IV-D cases. Also discussed is the relationship between case closure and child support cooperation. Download PDF
Mar 15, 1999 | Paula Roberts Final Regulations on Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity Lists the variety of changes states must make in their voluntary paternity acknowledgment programs. Also listed are the serious concerns about the operation of the program. Download PDF
Feb 15, 1999 | Paula Roberts Child Support and Children Receiving SSI Provides a summary, a synopsis, and a critique of the newly released GAO report entitled Supplemental Security Income: Increase Receipt and Reporting of Child Support Could Reduce Payments, GAO/HEHS-99-11 Download PDF
Feb 15, 1999 | Paula Roberts Money Available for Feasiblity Studies and Demonstration Projects Describes an announcement that $250,000 per year for the next three years is now available from the federal government for CSA feasibility studies as well as implementation of CSA demonstration projects. Download PDF
Feb 15, 1999 | Paula Roberts Setting Support When the Noncustodial Parent is Low Income Describes policies that would make it feasible for low-income parents to establish paternity/reenter their children's lives, if implemented. Download PDF
Dec 15, 1998 | Vicki Turetsky You Get What You Pay For: How Federal and State Investment Decisions Affect Child Support Performance Concludes that most state child support programs are substantially underfunded and understaffed, and that performance may improve with increased investment. The data confirm the direct connection between performance and resource levels. The data also suggest that the current federal financing structure may encourage some states to underinvest in the program in order to maximize state revenues. State-by-state tables included. Download PDF
Oct 01, 1998 | Paula Roberts and Mark Greenberg New Policy Clarification Affecting Child Support Assignment and Distribution for Recipients of TANF-funded Assistance Explains the background for and policy articulated in a recent Action Transmittal, 98-24, from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). The Action Transmittal provides an important clarification about the rules affecting distribution of current child support for families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) assistance in a form other than direct monetary payments. Finally, this memo summarizes the consequences of receiving TANF cash and non-cash assistance in light of the new Action Transmittal. Download File
Sep 08, 1998 | Paula Roberts Federal Guidance on Alternative Penalties Related to Automation Failures A brief summary of the alternative penalties and the qualifications from the latest child support automated systems legislation entitled \"The Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998\"(CSPIA), which established a system of fiscal penalties for states that fail to meet their FSA and/or PRWORA automation requirements. Also describes how the new penalty system will function pursuant to the Action Transmittal 98-22 issued by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. Download PDF
Sep 02, 1998 | Paula Roberts New GAO Study About Child Support for Families Leaving Welfare A summary of the findings from the released GAO study that examines the possibility that families leaving welfare will actually obtain child support income to either supplement their wages or replace the public benefits lost when the family reaches its TANF time limit. The study suggests that unless there is major improvement in the child support program the majority of families leaving welfare due to time limits will not receive substantial amounts of child support. Download PDF
Aug 01, 1998 | Vicki Turetsky State Child Support Cooperation and Good Cause: A Preliminary Look at State Policies It takes a look at each states' general requirement to cooperate or to cooperate in good faith as a condition of TANF elibility. Download PDF
Jul 01, 1998 | Paula Roberts and Vicki Turetsky New Federal Child Support Legislation on Computer Penalties, Incentive Payments, Medical Support and Other Topics Describes the changes in the new law called the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (CSPIA). Some of these changes will fundamentally affect the operation and financing of state child support programs. Other topics include fiscal sanctions for failure to meet the IV-D program automation requirements; administrative enforcement, and Data Collection. Download PDF
Jan 01, 1998 | Vicki Turetsky and Andrea Wilson Child Support Caseload Data: Recent Trends CLASP conducted a state-by-state analysis of key program trends in the child support (IV-D) program for the period 1991 through 1995. The study looked at key performance indicators, caseload trends, program expenditures, and staffing ratios. This paper analyzes child support caseload trends during the five-year period. Preliminary 1996 data are also included if available. The analysis is based on data reported by state child support programs to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and published in annual reports to Congress. (The full report can be ordered for $7.00 by contacting CLASP.) Download PDF
Jan 01, 1998 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support Performance Data: A Five-Year Baseline Examines a variety of performance measures state by state between 1991-1995. Each state's performance is measured against its own performance over time. Among the national findings are that the child support program did not make significant headway during this period although there were small performance gains in paternity establishment and collections in 1995 and 1996. (The full report can be ordered for $7.00 by contacting CLASP.) Download PDF
Nov 01, 1997 | Paula Roberts Coordination Between the Child Support and Children's Health Insurance Programs in Order to Obtain Health Insurance Coverage for Children Under the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) recently enacted by Congress, states will be able to make health insurance coverage available to a large number of uninsured children. Once they have designed their approach and established their eligibility criteria, states will conduct CHIP outreach/enrollment efforts. Not only does the state's child support enforcement program have records about which children do not have coverage through private insurance or Medicaid, but it also has financial information about parents which would be useful in screening for CHIP eligibility. This document will explain how the child support and CHIP programs can work together. Read Online
Nov 01, 1997 | Vicki Turetsky Implementing the Family Violence Option: Lessons from Child Support "Good Cause" Policies In the past, less than one percent of custodial parents receiving AFDC nationwide have claimed good cause. Yet we know that roughly twenty percent of women on welfare are current domestic violence victims, and sixty percent have had violent relationships in their past adult lives. What gives? How can the state's integrate the Family Violence Option (FVO) procedures with the child support cooperation and good cause requirements? What lessons surfaced when the good cause exception was administered and how can the state's learn from this? This document can answer those questions and more. Read Online
Oct 01, 1997 | Vicki Turetsky Questions and Answers about State Child Support Computers Congress required states to implement statewide systems by October 1, 1997. How many states made the deadline? What is the sanction for missing the deadline? What is the review process for certification? How much have the state vs. the federal government spent on computer systems? This document will answer these questions and more. Read Online
Aug 01, 1997 | Paula Roberts California Child Support Assurance Legislation Outline describes recently enacted welfare reform legislation in California that authorized the creation of up to three (3) Child Support Assurance (CSA) demonstration projects. In these projects, eligible children in families participating in the state's welfare program (CalWORKS ) whose custodial parent has earnings and a child support order would have the option to receive a guaranteed monthly child support payment in lieu of welfare. One of the demonstration projects must be substantially like the New York Child Assistance Program (CAP). The other two can use the CAP model or take a different approach. Below is an outline of the legislation. (AB 1542, art. 5 sections 18241-18247) Read Online
Aug 01, 1997 | Jessica Sager and Paula Roberts Keeping Up: State Approaches to Automatic Adjustments in Child Support Orders Under recently passed federal legislation states are still required to have a process for review and modification of IVD orders at least once every three years--without the need for the parents to show a substantial change in circumstances--if one of the parents so requests. States can opt to conduct this review and adjustment on an individual case-by-case basis using their state child support guidelines as they did under prior law. This document is intended to help states decide how to proceed. It builds on work originally done in the 1980's by the National Center on Women and Family Law and updates the analysis through the Summer of 1997. Jessica Sager, a second year student at Yale University Law School, compiled the case law on a state-by-state basis so that officials and advocates can determine what the law in regard to automatic adjustments in their state is. She also provided copies of some statutory approaches, and a current bibliography of readings on the subject. Read Online
May 01, 1997 | Mark Greenberg, Paula Roberts, Steve Savner, and Vicki Turetsky Child Support Assurance: A New Opportunity in the Block Grant Structure In recent years, there has been increased interest in the idea of providing families which have a child support order with a guaranteed, minimum monthly child support payment. The basic idea is that when a family has cooperated in establishing the child a noncustodial parent, government should assure that at least a minimum payment is provided to the family each month if the noncustodial parent does not pay sufficient support to reach the assurance level. This document briefly outlines how such a system might look, and how such a system could be developed consistent with applicable requirements of the new federal structure. Read Online
May 01, 1997 | Tina Marie Perry and Leslie Anne Argenta Child Support Assurance: Overcoming Political Barriers Provides a general overview of the concept of CSA and discusses strategy for selling CSA to legislators. Read Online
May 01, 1997 | Paula Roberts Pursuing Child Support: More Violence? Victims of domestic violence often seek public assistance in order to escape from and/or remain free of this violence. However, in order to be eligible for public assistance, a mother must assign her child support rights to the state. Unless she can claim an exemption, she must also cooperate with the estate in establishing paternity (if that is an issue), obtaining a support order, and enforcing that order. Unfortunately, the pursuit of child support can and often does engender more violence. The result will largely depend on what policies states adopt in the next year. To help advocates develop positions on the issues, this paper begins by describing the child support assignment and cooperation requirements that domestic violence victims had to face under the Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Then it delineates the provisions contained in the recently enacted Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996--federal legislation which abolishes AFDC and creates a new program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Finally, it offers some suggestions for how to approach the issues raised by the new law. Download PDF
Apr 01, 1997 | Paula Roberts Improving Health Care Coverage in the Child Support System In America today, there are approximately ten (10) million children who lack health insurance. This publication looks at the steps the child support system could take, within the confines of existing law, to provide and enforce health insurance coverage for more children than it now does. It also looks at strategies to expand the availability of health insurance coverage for children. Read Online
Jan 01, 1997 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support Administrative Processes: A Summary of Requirements in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 Summarizes new administrative processes that state child support agencies must have to comply with the new federal law. Includes a set of charts with implementation dates for the new law. Download PDF
Nov 01, 1996 | Paula Roberts Family Law Issues and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 A series of short issue papers, with succinct recommendations for implementing the new law. Topics include cooperation, distribution, fees, paternity establishment, enforcement remedies, administrative process, modification, new-hire reporting, case registries, and collection and disbursement activities. Read Online
Nov 01, 1996 | Paula Roberts Implementing Child Support Cooperation Policies Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 Describes the cooperation provisions in the new law, analyses the interrelationship between TANF and child support programs, and makes detailed recommendations on how states can design more effective information-gathering and cooperation policies. Includes model procedures and a summary of recent state statutes. Read Online
Oct 01, 1996 | Vicki Turetsky Analysis of Child Support-Related Provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 Provides a detailed summary of the child support provisions included in new child support legislation. A two-page \"key features\" synopsis is also available. Read Online
Aug 01, 1996 | Paula Roberts A Guide to Establishing Paternity for Nonmarital Children: Implementing the Provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996 Helps parents, state officials, community groups, judges, legislators, and policy makers examine their options and design and implement a paternity establishment system which recognizes the realities, meets the requirements of federal law, and reflects wise policy choices. Read Online
Aug 01, 1996 | Vicki Turetsky Child Support Computer Systems: A Summary of Current and Proposed Federal Requirements Provides a non-technical analysis of new and ongoing computerization requirements for policymakers, administrators, and advocates trying to understand the basics of computer certification and funding. Includes a chart of computer requirements included in recent child support legislation. Read Online