the nature of child support and the role of government in its recovery human & economic...
TRANSCRIPT
THE NATURE OF CHILD SUPPORT AND THE
ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ITS
RECOVERY
Human & Economic Rights/Social Policy Perspectives
10 November 2015
Historical Perspective in the United States
English origin No established legal duty for parent to
support his child Moral duty recognized by Sir William
Blackstone Early America
Court imposed duty Justified by public policy: prevent child
poverty and government dependency State criminal laws
Historical Perspective in the United States
Federal law Aid to Families with Dependent Children
Designed to protect economic security of children
Partnership between federal government and the states
Title IV-D Child Support Enforcement ProgramResponse to increasing welfare rolls as a result of absent parents failing to pay child support
Federal dissatisfaction with state initiatives to enforce child support obligations
Historical Perspective in the United States
Initial Goal for the Child Support Enforcement Program: Obtain support from the absent
parent Use collections to reimburse the
state for AFDC payments Pay any excess amounts to AFDC
families
Child Support Enforcement Today
Evolved from government assistance recovery to a family support program providing services for millions of parents and children
Last reported fiscal year, the program distributed over $28 billion in child support
Almost $11.5 billion in support was distributed to families who never received cash assistance from the government
Child Support Enforcement Today
Goal today seeks to increase reliability of child support paid by parents who live apart from their children by: Locating the parents Establishing paternity Establishing and enforcing fair support orders Removing barriers to payment such as:
Referring parents to employment servicesSupporting healthy co-parenting relationships and responsible fatherhood
Helping to prevent and reduce family violence
The Nature of Child Support
Legal v. moral obligation Civil v. criminal laws Threshold support amount
Tied to needs of child Tied to government assistance
provided to family Tied to the ability of parents to pay
support
The Role of Government
Facilitate: Laws, programs, tools, and procedures designed to provide a mechanism for parents to support their children Core of the child support program Establishment and modification of support
orders Income withholding Establishing payment venues and
monitoring payments Interjurisdictional laws
The Role of Government
Enforce: Laws, tools and procedures designed to force parents to support their children Jail Driver’s license suspension Public exposure and credit reporting
Enable: Programs designed to help parents support their children Job programs Problem solving courts
Child Support Program Resources
52%
33%
15%
Allocation of Resources
FacilitateEnableEnforce
Child Support Program Resources
50%
10%
40%
Allocation of Resources
FacilitateEnableEnforce
