As commissioner, I get to travel across the country to visit state, tribal, county, and local child support offices. I meet with child support professionals who are the backbone of our program and find innovative and effective ways to help children and families each day. We're able to celebrate the hardworking staff and promote this critical program during Child Support Awareness Month each August.
In FY23, state programs (PDF) nationwide collected $29.6 billion and served 12.7 million children—that’s 1 in 5 children in the United States. Tribal programs (PDF) collected $50 million in FY23, $10 million of which was collected for other tribes, states, or countries. This support helps kids thrive.
Our program doesn’t only help children— we’re committed to serving the whole family. In fact, last year we changed our name to Office of Child Support Services because it reflects our program’s family-centered approach. Many local programs help parents through services like employment programs, fatherhood initiatives, reentry partnerships, and more.
We’ve been doing a lot of regulatory work at the federal level to support tribes and states in their mission to help children and families. This year, we got two final rules across the finish line:
Regulatory work takes dedication and patience. I’m so grateful for the child support professionals and partners who submitted comments and feedback over the years to help us implement these important changes. OCSS will continue to engage partners as we look for opportunities for improvement and ways to build on our program’s strong performance.
We’ve created a Child Support Awareness Month social media toolkit to help state and tribal child support agencies and the public spread the word about this family-centered program. The toolkit has sample text and graphics that you can copy and paste or modify as needed. We hope you’ll use these materials to help people understand how child support serves the whole family and encourage them to learn more from their local office.
on Aug. 14 at 1pm ET. The webinar will highlight effective methods and tools to support your work promoting the well-being of children and youth in your communities.
Callen Kurpinsky, OCSS
In May 2024, OCSS launched a new webpage for tribes interested in starting their own employment and training program. This webpage is the result of a human-centered design project led by OCSS staff who collaborated with 12 tribes on the employment needs of noncustodial parents. OCSS staff learned more about each individual tribe, the services available to parents, and the additional resources tribes needed to create and maintain a child support-led employment and training program.
Based on feedback from tribal directors, OCSS gathered existing resources and developed new tools for each section on the Tribal Employment Pathways webpage to support tribes as they create their own employment and training program:
For more information on building or expanding a tribal employment and training program, email OCSS.Tribal@acf.hhs.gov.
Louisiana Child Support Enforcement
In 2021, Louisiana received approval of an exemption to reinvest IV-D incentive funds to create its Child Support Enforcement Employment and Training program. It is designed to connect low-income noncustodial and custodial parents with employment and training opportunities. The program partners with community-based organizations and nonprofits to help parents throughout Louisiana with active child support cases provide for their children on a consistent basis.
The program provides these services:
In December 2022, Mr. Cherry enrolled in Louisiana’s Child Support Enforcement Employment and Training program and started receiving services from Goodwill of North Louisiana in Caddo Parish. He was underemployed, working full time at Cracker Barrel and part time at Burger King. Mr. Cherry had several barriers to securing a job that used his full skill set. He had a suspended driver’s license and a hold on his Commercial Driver’s License since 2010. The suspension and hold were due to noncompliance with his child support order.
Goodwill case managers worked diligently with the Louisiana Child Support Enforcement Program and Mr. Cherry to get his licenses reinstated. In April 2023, he was able to get a job with Sun Valley Trucking, and this year he secured a job with Pepsi. Mr. Cherry completed the employment and training program on January 9, 2024, with full-time employment and benefits.
Mr. Cherry now makes consistent payments toward his current support and arrears balance. He says he’s grateful for this program and proud of his accomplishments. He believes the program works and recommends it for others who are facing the same barriers.
Jeff Stocks, OCSS
“What else can I do to help you?”
Clay County Family Court Commissioner Sherrill Roberts asks this question to every participant in the Clay County Parenting Court Program each month. This approach, having open and honest dialogue about the challenges these men and women face and how the Court might help, has become the guiding principle for the Parenting Court Program.
The courtroom setting in Liberty, Missouri, is typical. Missouri’s state flag is prominently displayed. There is a bailiff in the room along with rows of pew-like benches and attorneys huddled around their clients. Though the backdrop might seem like any other courtroom across the state, the life-changing work accomplished in this Court each month is anything but ordinary.
Commissioner Roberts began her work in child support in 2005. She quickly realized that many people appearing in her courtroom for failure to pay child support were facing obstacles that made it difficult to pay. Where some might see failure, Roberts saw potential. She recognized how valuable it would be to have more tools and like-minded partners to address these circumstances so parents could support their children financially and emotionally.
The concept of a diversion court specifically dedicated to child support issues began to take shape around 2015, and by 2017, the program was operational. Partnerships grew to include court staff, dedicated case managers, parenting education facilitators, prosecuting attorneys, and members of the Missouri Family Support Division outreach team.
The process begins when the parent is charged with civil or criminal contempt for nonpayment of child support. The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office initially reviews each case to see if there are any convictions that would prevent the parent from entering the program, such as violent crimes or sexual offenses. If someone is eligible and interested, they’re given contact information for the Parenting Court Case Manager, Michala Zimmerman. Ms. Zimmerman conducts a second, more personal, screening to determine if those candidates would be a good fit for the program. She meets with the prospective participants, explains the program’s requirements and benefits, and has them sign a contract.
The program is completely voluntary and lasts one year. It begins after the candidate acknowledges civil contempt or pleads guilty to the felony or misdemeanor charge of criminal nonsupport. Participants must submit to a urinalysis to determine if they have any substance use issues. The court negotiated a low $10 fee for testing — the only cost associated with the program. Participants must also attend the Parenting Court’s monthly court dates, complete an 18-hour parenting program called H.O.P.E. (Helping Our Parents Excel) and a financial literacy course, and attend an ongoing peer-to-peer parenting support group. If a participant fails to complete any aspect of the program, the Court may extend their time for completion or remove the participant and place them back on a regular docket for payment reviews or traditional Court-supervised probation.
The program team meets each month prior to the Parenting Court docket to discuss each participant's progress, successes, areas of concerns, and possible plans to address any issues. Discussions could include order modifications, mediation for parenting time arrangements, employment services, or even outstanding warrants.
Many participants haven't paid toward their support obligations in some time. To establish a pattern of payments and show they’re making a good faith effort, each participant must pay $5.00 at every Parenting Court hearing while in the program. These payments go to the participant's support case, and modest as they may be, are designed to make paying support part of their routine.
Every month, the Court evaluates each case and directs participants to take specific steps. The modest payments are typically not the only child support requirement that the Court has each month. Most participants are directed to make additional payments before their next Parenting Court appearance, attend any necessary classes, reach out to additional resource providers, and contact Ms. Zimmerman.
Each participant can speak with Commissioner Roberts during the hearing about their previous month and answer any questions the Court may have about their program compliance. Commissioner Roberts can connect the participants with the appropriate team members who also attend the hearings.
Participants who complete the Program have a graduation on their last appearance. The civil Judgment of Contempt is set aside, or the participant is allowed to withdraw their criminal plea with the state dismissing the criminal nonsupport charge. Members of the program team share words of encouragement and give the graduates a certificate of completion.
Partnerships are a critical component of the program’s success. The child support professionals and court staff collaborate to make sure participants receive caring and attentive support and learn valuable skills. However, the ultimate responsibility for making positive changes belongs to the participant. “We will do everything we can to help the participants, but we will never work harder than them,” shares Commissioner Roberts.
One key partner is the H.O.P.E Parenting Program co-facilitated by Jill Kirkpatrick and Stephen Barbee. Both facilitators have long histories of working with parents, and their experience is reflected in the program design. Keeping the groups small, generally 3-4 participants, allows increased peer-to-peer interaction and offers time for participants to explore self-awareness, self-care, and the importance of positivity and resilience. Participants often praise H.O.P.E as the most effective aspect of the entire program because they develop many lasting friendships.
The story of success through data and numbers often fails to capture an initiative's true influence on the lives of its participants. However, this program has achieved impressive results over the past seven years. Sixty-nine participants have entered the program and 48 have graduated — that’s a 70% completion rate. The program averages 11 participants per year. The participants have paid a total of $427,291 in child support, an impressive figure considering they entered the program for not paying their obligation. Even more impressive, almost 70% continue to pay monthly obligations after they graduate, and 15% have eliminated their child support arrears.
Funding is always a challenge for growing innovative programs. The Clay County Parenting Court Program initially ran with no additional funding because all partners volunteered their time. In subsequent years, the court was able to fund the Case Manager and H.O.P.E. Parenting Program staff through grant money. This ensures we can continue offering these transformative services that help parents provide for their children.
If you are interested in hearing more about how to implement a program like this in your court, email Commissioner Roberts at Sherrill.Roberts@courts.mo.gov or call Grant Kelley at (816) 736-8350.
Melody Morales, OCSS
In September 2016, OCSS awarded funding to state child support agencies in Arizona, California, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia to implement the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration project. This five-year demonstration project allowed grantees to incorporate procedural justice principles into child support business practices with goals to increase reliable payments, reduce arrears, minimize the need for continued enforcement actions, and provide an alternative to contempt actions.
OCSS also awarded a grant to Georgia to manage the evaluation. Georgia contracted with MDRC and its subcontractors—MEF Associates and the Center for Justice Innovation—to conduct the evaluation. MDRC produced several reports with findings on the effectiveness of PJAC. One finding in the latest report, “Who Benefits Most from Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt in the Child Support Program?” is that certain parent and case characteristics may determine a parent’s engagement level in PJAC services and whether PJAC positively impacted parents’ ability to pay child support.
Parents were more likely to engage with case managers and make more payments toward current support and arrears if they had higher earnings, some recent payments, higher order amounts, and simpler cases. This suggests that the procedural justice approach may work best with parents who have these characteristics. However, parents who do not share these characteristics may also benefit from PJAC but may need additional support in meeting their payment obligations.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
August is right around the corner, and that means back-to-school season for many kids and teens nationwide. It’s also a great time to make sure they have the health coverage they need! With coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), families can ensure their children receive the necessary routine and preventive health care to support their development. Children without health insurance or experiencing a gap in coverage are more likely to miss school days
, which can interrupt their learning.
Health coverage should be an essential item for back-to-school checklists and the Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign
wants to help kids access care. We encourage you to remind families to enroll or renew coverage to fully take advantage of all the benefits Medicaid and CHIP have to offer, including doctor’s office visits, mental and behavioral health services, vision care, dental care, immunizations, and more. The Campaign has specific Back-to-School resources
that you can share with your community, including printable palmcards and posters, digital videos, infographics, and newsletter templates.
The Campaign suggests these social media posts focused on back-to-school outreach:
You can also use the back-to-school season to connect with families about other timely topics like routine immunizations, mental and behavioral health care, vision care, and year-round enrollment and renewals. The Campaign has a host of materials on these topics that can be tailored for free and are available in up to 24 languages. These materials and many others can be found on the Campaign’s Outreach Tool Library
to help your organization connect to families in your community and educate them about the importance and benefits of having health care.
Let’s make sure that kids and teens return to the classroom healthy and ready to learn!
ACF published a resource flyer (English (PDF) and Spanish (PDF)) for emergency managers and service providers helping individuals, families, and communities with post-disaster housing.
OCSS issued recent guidance to help states and tribes develop and operate their child support programs according to federal laws and regulations:
Child Support Report is published monthly by the Office of Child Support Services. We welcome articles and high-quality digital photos to consider for publication. We reserve the right to edit for style, content and length, or not accept an article. OCSS does not endorse the practices or individuals in this newsletter. You may reprint an article in its entirety (or contact the author or editor for permission to excerpt); please identify Child Support Report as the source.
| Jeff Hild Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, performing the delegable duties of the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families | Tanguler Gray Commissioner, OCSS |
| Crystal Peeler Director, Division of Customer Communications | Andrew Phifer Editor, CSR.Editor@acf.hhs.gov |
