Successful reentry is one of the greatest challenges facing America today and, especially the future of our children. The greatest predictor of whether a child will wind up in prison is whether his parent(s)— namely, the father—was in prison. Despite the many daunting challenges that fathers face upon their release, connecting them with their children and family is perhaps the most strategic one to address because it breaks the generational nature of crime and incarceration.
Fatherhood Summit Session
The child support program plays an important role to help fathers gain access to resources they need to move their families toward self-sufficiency. In this session, state child support staff discussed how they can partner with fatherhood programs to better equip fathers to meet their child support obligations.
Presenters helped dispel myths and negative stereotypes about the child support program. They also described promotional strategies that can counter misleading information about the intent and goal of the child support program.
Presenters showed how child support staff can… Fatherhood Summit Session
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 Support programs and courts across the country are connecting noncustodial parents to job services as an alternative to jail, which has achieved promising results. Job services are effectively helping parents find work, stay employed, pay child support, and avoid crime - at relatively little cost. This comparative infographic, "Jobs Not Jail", contrasts the impactful cost and benefit differences between the two. It displays how work-oriented services are successfully leveraging and achieving compliance from noncustodial parents who were once unemployed or underemployed. (Author abstract)
This fact sheet highlights outcomes of the Building Assets for Fathers and Families (BAFF) demonstration grant and describes ways that child support agencies and Assets for Independence project staff can collaborate to make asset building strategies available for parents, their children, and other family members. (Author abstract)
This final rule strengthens and updates the child support program by amending existing rules, some of which are 35 years old, to:• Set accurate child support obligations based on the noncustodial parents’ ability to pay;• Increase consistent, on-time payments to families;• Move nonpaying cases to paying status;• Increase the number of noncustodial parents supporting their children;• Improve child support collection rates;• Reduce the accumulation of unpaid and uncollectible child support arrearages; and• Incorporate technological advances and evidence-based standards that support good…
The Final Rule: Flexibility, Efficiency, and Modernization in Child Support Enforcement Programs updates guidelines for setting child support orders at 45 CFR 302.56 and the establishment of child support orders at 45 CFR 303.4. This fact sheet discusses specific revisions made to §§ 302.56(a), 302.56(c)(1), and 303.4(b). The goal of these revisions is to increase reliable child support for children by setting child support orders based on the noncustodial parent’s earnings, income, or other evidence of ability to pay. Orders set beyond a parent’s ability to pay can lead to unintended…
As the federal agency responsible for funding and oversight of state child support programs, OCSE has an interest in ensuring that: constitutional principles articulated in the U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Turner v. Rogers, 564 U.S.___, 131 S Ct. 2507 (2011) are carried out in the child support program; child support case outcomes are just and comply with due process; and enforcement proceedings are cost-effective and in the best interest of the child. The Turner case provides OCSE and state child support agencies with an opportunity to evaluate the appropriate use of civil contempt and to…
The goal of the final rule revisions is to increase consistent child support payments for children by setting child support orders based on the noncustodial parent’s earnings, income, or other evidence of ability to pay, including for incarcerated parents. Children do not benefit when their parents engage in a cycle of nonpayment, underground income generation, and re-incarceration. Support orders modified for incarcerated parents, based on their current ability to pay, result in less debt accrual, more formal employment, more child support payments, and less need for enforcement after they…
The Flexibility, Efficiency, and Modernization in Child Support Enforcement Programs Final Rule makes a number of changes to federal case closure criteria, codified at 45 CFR 303.11. These changes provide greater state flexibility while protecting families by recognizing more circumstances in which a state is permitted to close a case. These changes help states direct resources for cases where collections are possible and carry out good customer service and management practices. They reflect advances in technology and recommendations by states for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of…
