January 28, 2015
The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program
Introduction
parents, establishing and enforcing medical child support,
and distributing child support payments to custodial
The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program was
parents.
enacted into law (P.L. 93-647) in January 1975. When the
program was first established its goals were to reimburse
CSE Collections and Methods
the states and the federal government for the welfare
payments they provided families and to help other families
In FY2013, the CSE program collected and distributed
obtain consistent and ongoing child support payments from
$28.0 billion on behalf of families. Nearly two-thirds of
the noncustodial parent so that they could remain self-
CSE collections were for families that had never received
sufficient and stay off welfare.
cash payments from the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program.
The CSE program has evolved over time from a “welfare
cost-recovery” program into a “family-first” program that
Table 1.CSE Collections by Family Type, FY2013
seeks to enhance the well-being of families by making child
support a more reliable source of income.
Collections
Family Type
(billions)
Percentage
The program has the potential to impact more children and
for longer periods of time than most other federal programs.
TANF Families
$0.9
3%
In FY2013, it served 16.9 million children (nearly one in
Former TANF
$8.8
31%
four children in the United States).
Never TANF
$18.3
65%
Scope of CSE Program
Total $28.0
100%
The CSE program is a federal-state program that provides
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), based on data from
services to both welfare families (who are automatically
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
enrolled free of charge) and non-welfare families (who
must sign up and pay an application fee). Families who
The majority of the collected payments (95%) went to
have never received welfare must pay a $25 annual user fee
families and the remainder went to the states and federal
if the CSE agency collects at least $500 per year for them.
government as reimbursement for public assistance dollars
that went to families.
The program is available in all 50 states; the District of
Columbia; the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the
Most child support payments are collected from
Virgin Islands; and about 60 tribal nations. It is generally
noncustodial parents through income withholding. In
operated at the county level of government.
FY2013, 70% of collections were obtained through income
withholding. Other methods of enforcement include
The CSE program is administered at the federal level by the
• intercept of federal and state income tax refunds;
Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The
• intercept of unemployment compensation;
OCSE helps CSE agencies in the states, territories, and
• liens against property;
tribes develop, manage, and operate their programs
effectively and according to federal law. Specifically,
• intercept of lottery winnings, judgments, or settlements;
OCSE financially supports CSE program operations,
• authority to seize assets of debtor parents held by public
provides specified grants to states, provides policy guidance
or private retirement funds and financial institutions;
and technical assistance, conducts program audits, supports
research through demonstration grants, and operates the
• authority to withhold, suspend, or restrict driver’s
Federal Parent Locator Service and the National Directory
licenses, professional or occupational licenses;
of New Hires.
recreational or sporting licenses; and
Program Components
• authority to deny, revoke, or restrict passports.
Moreover, all jurisdictions have civil or criminal contempt-
The CSE program increases the reliability of child support
of-court procedures. Also, federal criminal penalties may be
paid by noncustodial parents by: locating noncustodial
imposed in certain cases, and federal law provides for
parents, establishing paternity, establishing child support
international enforcement of child support.
orders, reviewing and modifying child support orders,
collecting child support payments from noncustodial
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The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program
CSE Caseload and Composition
The program made collections for about 60% of its
caseload in FY2013 (compared to 23% in FY1998, when
In FY2013, the CSE system handled 15.6 million cases.
the 1996 welfare reforms were just being implemented).
Table 2.CSE Cases by Family Type, FY2013
The CSE program has the potential to impact more children
and for longer periods of time than most other federal
programs; it may interact with mothers, fathers, and
Number
children for 18 years and in some cases up to 30 years if the
Family Type
(millions)
Percentage
noncustodial parent owes past-due child support.
TANF Families
1.8
12%
CSE Access and Visitation Programs
Former TANF
6.7
43%
A noncustodial parent’s right to visit with his or her
Never TANF
7.1
45%
children is commonly referred to as visitation or child
Total 15.6
100%
access. Althoug
h a noncustodial parent’s right to visit with
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), based on data from
his or her children and receipt of child support payments by
the U.S. Department of Health Human Services (HHS).
custodial parents are legally separate issues, some research
indicates that fathers who visit their children (as compared
Among custodial parents who are eligible for child support,
to those who do not) are more likely to pay child support.
82% are women, 79% are 30 years old or older, 57% have
just one child, 68% are white, 25% are black, and 21% are
The CSE Access and Visitation Grant program
Hispanic of either race (2012 data).
acknowledges and reflects the sentiment that healthy
families need more than just financial support. The Access
According to 2012 data, 29% of custodial families have
and Visitation program has been a separate line item in the
income below the federal poverty level. In 2012, child
CSE budget account since its enactment as part of P.L. 104-
support represented 45% of family income for poor
193 (the 1996 welfare reform law). An annual entitlement
custodial families that received it.
of $10 million from the federal CSE budget account is
available for these grants to all 50 states, the District of
CSE Expenditures and Financing
Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
Structure
Eligible activities include, but are not limited to, mediation,
counseling, education, development of parenting plans,
In FY2013, total CSE expenditures amounted to $5.6
visitation enforcement, and development of guidelines for
billion. The CSE program is a federal-state matching grant
visitation and alternative custody arrangements.
program under which states must spend money in order to
receive federal funding. The federal government reimburses
Issues
each state 66% of all allowable expenditures on CSE
activities. The federal government’s funding is “open-
CSE issues that have been raised include the following:
ended” in that it pays its percentage of expenditures by
• Should child support orders be more aligned with the
matching the amounts spent by state and local governments
noncustodial parent’s ability to pay?
with no upper limit or ceiling.
• Should child support orders in cases where the
There are five funding streams for the CSE program. The
noncustodial parent is unemployed, underemployed, or
first two streams (mentioned above) are state dollars and
incarcerated be automatically reviewed and modified?
federal matching funds. Third, states collect child support
• Should child support arrearages (i.e., unpaid child
on behalf of families receiving TANF assistance to
support) be reduced or forgiven if the noncustodial
reimburse themselves (and the federal government) for the
parent does not have the resources to pay them (and the
cost of TANF cash payments to the family. Fourth, the
custodial parent is in agreement)?
federal government provides states with an incentive
payment (capped at $530 million in FY2013) to encourage
• Should the CSE program have the option of funding
them to operate effective programs. Federal law requires
work-oriented programs for noncustodial parents who
states to reinvest CSE incentive payments back into the
are unable to meet their child support obligations?
CSE program or related activities. Fifth, application fees
• Should visitation/child access be considered a part of the
and costs recovered from non-welfare families may help
general CSE program (i.e., 66% federal funding)?
finance the CSE program.
• Should the states bear more of the costs of their CSE
Program Effectiveness
programs (i.e., reducing the federal matching rate)?
In FY2013, the CSE program collected $5.31 for every $1 it
Carmen Solomon-Fears, csolomonfears@crs.loc.gov, 7-
spent.
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IF10113
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