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In 2016, more than one in four children under 21 in the United States lived in a household apart from one of their parents. In 80 percent of these households, the custodial parent was the mother and the non-residential parent was the father. The amount and frequency of financial support that both parents provide shapes household economic stability, which can also affect children’s overall health and well-being. Non-residential parents often have a legal obligation to help pay the costs associated with raising their children. However, some non-residential parents pay these costs…

This research brief from the Office of Child Support Enforcement identifies findings from a five-site Parenting Time Opportunities for Children (PTOC) grant. This grant, awarded to child support agencies in California, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Oregon, was intended to demonstrate how child support agencies can include parenting time orders in child support enforcement actions and how the increases in noncustodial parenting time, with safeguards in place for child welfare, led to improved relationships and increased compliance with child support payment.

In fiscal year 2018, noncustodial parents were obligated to pay nearly $33.6 billion in current child support on behalf of the 15 million children served by the Title IV-D child support program. One-third of that, or $11 billion, was not collected. Unemployment is the leading reason for non-payment of child support by noncustodial parents. This brief will explore the opportunities at the state and federal levels to provide employment services to noncustodial parents and increase child support payments in the process.

Non-resident fathers’ compliance with child support agreements is low. An estimated 50% of fathers never pay any formal support to their co-parents (Stykes, Manning, & Brown, 2013). This study adds to the sparse literature on the evaluation of responsible fatherhood programs by quantitatively examining the role of hope, parenting role salience, and parenting skills in predicting changes in child support compliance attitudes. The sample was drawn from participants in community-based responsible fatherhood programs. Results indicated that as fathers reported greater improvements in…

The Behavioral Interventions for Child Support Services (BICS) project aims to improve federally funded child support services by increasing program efficiency, developing interventions informed by behavioral science, and building a culture of rapid-cycle evaluation. In the state of Washington, the Division of Child Support (DCS) is responsible for establishing and enforcing child support orders. For the BICS intervention, DCS aimed to foster a more cooperative relationship with parents during the order establishment process, in order to increase collections in the short term and…

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nationally, about 80 percent of noncustodial parents (NCPs) are fathers. Programs often need guidance on how to meet the needs of NCPs. In 2018, the Administration for Children and Families released impact findings from Parents and Children Together (PACT), a rigorous study of four Responsible Fatherhood (RF) grantees funded from 2011-2015. This landmark research highlights fatherhood program approaches to engage fathers, encourage responsible parenting, and ultimately, improve outcomes for children. Drawing upon the PACT study, the panel described…

Child advocacy organizations have proven the value of using data to make the case for policies and programs to improve the lives of children and families. Many state governments have also embraced the open data movement by using data portals to promote government transparency and increase data access. Child advocacy organizations and state governments can leverage open data to improve the lives of children and families. This brief describes the changes to current practice required on both sides to accomplish this goal. (Author abstract)