Brief
In fiscal year 2018, noncustodial parents were obligated to pay nearly $33.6 billion in current child support on behalf of the 15 million children served by the Title IV-D child support program. One-third of that, or $11 billion, was not collected. Unemployment is the leading reason for non-payment of child support by noncustodial parents. This brief will explore the opportunities at the state and federal levels to provide employment services to noncustodial parents and increase child support payments in the process.
Brief
This brief takes a close look at how the following legal issues affect expectant and parenting youth: custody, visitation/parenting time, and child support. It is intended for professionals serving youth who need legal support. It includes resource spotlights that provide youth-serving professionals with additional resources on these topics. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article For the past decade our nation has turned its focus to personal responsibility and has subsequently formulated policies that have reformed welfare and strengthened child support enforcement. Parents are held more accountable for the support of their children, regardless of their income levels or age. Teen fathers continue to present dilemmas for policymakers because of their status as minors, lack of understanding of the policy implications for parenthood, lack of skills, and high unemployment rates. Young men face several barriers to involvement with their children, including physical…
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Journal Article Race/ethnic differences in the prevalence of and characteristics associated with low support provided by fathers of babies born to pregnant adolescents were examined among 719 adolescent mothers who were interviewed postpartum. Low support was reported by 41.9% of African-American, 26.2% of Mexican-American, and 19.4% of Caucasian adolescent mothers. Across race/ethnic subgroups, fathers who provided limited support were characterized by chronic substance use, gang or police involvement, or partner-directed violence. Policies advocating universal father involvement without concomitant…
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Journal Article Stricter child support enforcement may reduce unwed childbearing by raising the costs of fatherhood. The authors investigate this hypothesis using a sample of young women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, to which they add information on state child support enforcement. Models of the probability of a teenage premarital birth and of teenage premarital pregnancy and pregnancy resolution provide tentative evidence that during the early 1980s, teens living in states with higher rates of paternity establishment were less likely to become unwed mothers. This relationship is stronger…
This final report on a demonstration project in Maine designed to serve young fathers of children born to teenage mothers describes the project and its outcomes. The project background and its goals and objectives are reviewed. Project design development and site selection are described, with an emphasis on convening a statewide planning group, defining a target population and essential project components and service priorities, and developing a system for site review and process evaluation. Implementation of the demonstration model is outlined, focusing on conducting staff training, defining…
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Journal Article Paternity and child support can be essential to the family stability of children of unmarried teen mothers. While the number of births to teen mothers decreased between 1970 and 1985 from 656,000 to 477,700, the number of unmarried teen mothers increased from 199,900 to 280,300. This paper presents guidelines for counselors to assist young mothers. Establishing paternity is essential for the emotional health of the child, providing a sense of belonging and family ties with the father's family. Child support is important, even at a minimum if the father is unemployed, to establish a pattern…
This program evaluation assessed the effectiveness of the Young Men as Fathers (YMAF) program administered by the California Youth Authority. The program offers parenting education to 15 to 20 wards of the state living in four institutions to help them become more involved in their families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and provide greater emotional and financial support to their children. Data for the evaluation was collected for 822 program participants from July 1993 through December 1995 and for a comparison group of 847 wards in two non-participating institutions. While the…
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Journal Article This State Legislative Report examines the special problems associated with establishing paternity and collecting child support from teenage parents. The report reviews public policy options for legislators and is divided into three major sections: establishing paternity, child support enforcement, and state legislative policy and program responses. Paternity establishment and child support enforcement are particularly difficult with the teenage population. Establishing paternity can be a problem because teenage mothers often refuse to cooperate with state child support enforcement personnel…
