The Common Ground project brought together advocates, practitioners, and researchers who work primarily with low-income mothers and fathers, to develop and advance public policy recommendations to promote effective co-parenting relationships and ensure emotional and financial support for children. This first report focuses on issues surrounding the establishment of paternity. It begins by discussing paternity establishment before and after the passage of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), the increase of children born to unmarried parents, and…
This paper examines the demographic and economic characteristics of single-father families, with particular attention to public transfer receipt. Cohabiting and non-cohabiting single fathers are examined and compared to fathers in married-couple families. Estimates from the 1997 March, Current Population Survey (CPS) are featured. Selected trend data for 1984, 1989, and 1996 are also presented. The analyses show that single fathers earn substantially less than married fathers, have lower household incomes, are less educated, and are substantially more likely to be receiving public transfers.…
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Journal Article The Family Support Act of 1988 and the 1996 welfare reform act recognized the need to help low-income fathers stay involved with their families, financially as well as emotionally. The laws required states to offer AFDC assistance to two parent families in which the primary wage earner was not employed. They also encouraged states to establish education, employment, and training assistance to noncustodial fathers of low income children so that they could obtain the level of employment needed to fulfill child support obligations. Reform policies have also tried to amend state practices…
Only 18 percent of child support cases in Maryland were fully paid during fiscal year 1999. This report describes the importance of child support to child well-being and proposes several policy changes that will improve compliance with support orders. One of the primary reasons for failure to pay is that some fathers, especially African American men, lack income because they are unemployed or underemployed. Existing programs intended to help low-income fathers have not been effective in engaging men. The report recommends a comprehensive strategy that provides employment services as well…
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 strengthened the enforcement of child support orders through requirements for paternity establishment, uniform state laws, centralized state collection and disbursement offices, penalties for delinquent child support, and model programs to promote visitation. State Child Support Enforcement Programs and local agencies are available to help parents initiate and comply with support orders. This guide explains how the enforcement program can assist with locating noncustodial parents, establishing paternity, setting-up…
