Overview and Facts
Child Support Enforcement: Increasing State Investments
Save Child Support Enforcement
Federal support to child support programs were cut significantly on October 1.
- On October 1st, the Federal support to state child support programs fell precipitously. These cuts affect millions of single parent households and will push countless families into poverty and onto the rolls of Medicaid, Food Stamps and other public assistance programs.
- Congress is considering bipartisan legislation to restore these cuts and enable child support agencies to continue helping single parent families at current levels.
- The Child Support Program provides financial and medical support to a fourth of the nation's children
- The child support enforcement program ensures that children in single-parent households receive a reliable source of financial and medical support. The program increases family self-sufficiency, reduces child poverty, and encourages both mother and father to be involved and committed to their children.
- More than 17 million children participate in the child support program. Nearly half of all poor, single mothers receive child support. In 2006, $24 billion was collected from non-custodial parents.
- OMB has characterized the child support program as “one of the highest rated block/formula grants of all reviewed programs government-wide….” For every dollar the government spends on enforcement, more than four dollars is collected in child support. Collection rates have doubled over the past decade.
- The cuts in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) would result in billions in uncollected child support and would push children into poverty and onto welfare
- The DRA ended the federal match on incentive payments to state child support agencies. In many states, these cuts will force counties to lay off as many as a third of local child support workers who work directly with families to collect support and provide services.
- CBO estimates that child support collections will decrease by $11 billion over the next ten years as a result of these cuts. This will force millions of low income children into poverty, and onto the rolls of Medicaid, Food Stamps and other means-tested programs.
- Child Support Enforcement Act of 2007 would enable Child Support agencies to continue helping single parent families.
- The Child Support Enforcement Act (S. 803 introduced by Senator Rockefeller; HR 1386 introduced by Congressman McDermott) would restore the cuts enacted in the DRA. This would enable state child support agencies to continue helping single parent families at current levels.
- Both House and Senate bills enjoy bipartisan support.
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