Promising Innovations and Pilots in the Child Support Field

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 system works less well for noncustodial parents who cannot pay and face barriers to employment. This brief examines how policies impact families required to participate in child support and noncustodial parents who cannot afford to pay, and it highlights five innovations aiming to improve the way the child support system interacts with low-income noncustodial parents and their children.