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…
This Web site contains a collection of fact sheets in PDF format from the NCSL's publication Connecting Low-Income Fathers and Families: A Guide to Practical Policies . The topics are:* Low-Income Fathers* Services for Fathers* Collaboration* Financing Fatherhood Programs* How Child Support Affects Low-Income Fathers* Prevention* Incarcerated Fathers
