Child support is an important resource for children who live apart from a parent, but there are many reasons why noncustodial parents may be unable or unwilling to pay. The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at…

States, counties, and tribes are modernizing their child support programs through holistic, family-centered policies and practices that build partnerships with parents instead of adversarial relationships. They go beyond collecting money to…

Most people working in human services accept that gathering and using family input improves direct service programs. However, this approach is still emerging and has a limited evidence base. Some human services programs already engage families in…

This interactive map explores the 32 states that operate child support-led employment programs for noncustodial parents. This resource highlights available programs in each of these states, including which states use TANF funding or offer TANF…

This fact sheet provides information about the assignment, pass-through, and distribution of child support for parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). It outlines pass-through payments for families currently receiving…

Since the establishment of the Child Support Enforcement Program in 1975, child support policy has played a central role in improving the economic circumstances of children living apart from one of their parents. Prior research has documented the…

The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration project, which began in 2016, integrates principles of procedural justice into enforcement practices in six child support agencies across the United States. This guide…

The Child Support Enforcement program strengthens families by securing support from noncustodial parents for their children. For noncustodial parents with steady employment and financial resources, the program can work well, but the child support…

The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison hosted a webinar on November 4, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. CT, which explored ways that fathers’ roles and responsibilities shifted during the pandemic. Topics…

Part of a larger project sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services called Key Programmatic Elements of Engaging Fathers to Promote Self-Sufficiency (KEEP…