Updated July 19, 2023
The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program
Introduction
Program Components
The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program was
The CSE program increases the reliability of child support
enacted into law on January 4, 1975 (P.L. 93-647). When
paid by noncustodial parents by
the program was first established, its goals were to
reimburse the states and the federal government for the cash
• locating noncustodial parents,
assistance payments they provided families, and to help
• establishing paternity,
other families remain off cash assistance by obtaining
consistent and ongoing child support payments from the
• establishing child support orders,
noncustodial parent. Over time, the CSE program has
•
evolved from a cash assistance cost-recovery program to a
reviewing and modifying child support orders,
family-first program that seeks to enhance the well-being of
• collecting child support payments from noncustodial
families by making child support a more reliable income
parents,
source.
• establishing and enforcing medical child support, and
This federal-state program has the potential to impact more
• distributing child support payments to custodial parents.
children and for longer periods of time than most other
federal programs. It may interact with mothers, fathers, and
CSE Collections and Methods
children for 18 years and in some cases longer, such as if
In FY2022, the CSE program collected $27.4 billion on
the noncustodial parent owes past-due child support. In
behalf of families. More than two-thirds of CSE collections
recent years, it served about 17% of children in the United
were for families that had never received cash payments
States. (CSE program data are published by the federal
from the TANF program.
Office of Child Support Services [OCSS] in the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]. All
Table 1. CSE Collections by Family Type, FY2022
FY2022 figures in this report are drawn from its FY2022
Preliminary Data Report released on June 15, 2023.)
Collections
Family Type
(billions)
Percentage
Scope of CSE Program
TANF Families
$0.6
2%
Families who are required to enroll in the CSE program are
those receiving cash assistance under the Temporary
Former TANF
$7.6
28%
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Medicaid
Never TANF
$19.2
70%
coverage, or, at state option, Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance. The program
Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), based on data from
is also available to non-assistance families if they choose to
the HHS FY2022 Preliminary Data Report. Amounts and percentages
enroll. Families who are not required to enroll must pay a
may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
one-time $25 fee when they apply for services, and an
annual $35 user fee if the CSE agency collects at least $550
The majority of the collected payments in FY2022 (96%)
per year for them.
went to families and the remainder went to the states and
federal government, primarily as reimbursement for public
The program is available in all 50 states; the District of
assistance dollars that went to families.
Columbia; the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands; and 60 tribal nations. Program services
Most child support payments are collected from
are generally provided locally within states, usually by
noncustodial parents through income withholding. In
county.
FY2022, 69% of collections were obtained through income
withholding. Other methods of enforcement include
The CSE program is administered at the federal level by
OCSS, which helps CSE agencies develop, manage, and
•
operate their programs effectively and according to federal
intercepting federal and state income tax refunds;
law. Specifically, OCSS administers federal matching funds
• intercepting unemployment compensation;
and awards grants to states, provides policy guidance and
•
technical assistance, conducts program audits, and supports
filing liens against property;
research through demonstration grants. OCSS is also
• sending insurance settlement information to CSE
responsible for the Federal Parent Locator Service, which
agencies;
includes the National Directory of New Hires.
• intercepting lottery winnings, judgments, or settlements;
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The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program
• seizing debtor parent assets held by public or private
reimburse themselves (and the federal government) for the
retirement funds and financial institutions;
cost of TANF cash payments to the family. Fourth, the
•
federal government provides states with an incentive
withholding, suspending, or restricting driver’s licenses,
payment (no FY2022 estimate available; $509 million total
professional or occupational licenses, and recreational or
for FY2021) to encourage them to operate effective
sporting licenses; and
programs. Federal law requires states to reinvest CSE
• denying, revoking, or restricting passports.
incentive payments back into the CSE program or related
activities. Fifth, fees and costs recovered from non-TANF
In addition, all jurisdictions have civil or criminal
families may help finance the CSE program.
contempt-of-court procedures and criminal nonsupport laws
that may be used when noncustodial parents fall behind in
Visitation Grants and Parenting Time
their payments and accumulate arrears. (These procedures
A noncustodial parent’s right to visit with their children is
and laws are in addition to the enforcement methods listed
commonly referred to as visitation or child access (and
above.) Federal criminal penalties may be imposed in
more recently as voluntary parenting time agreements).
certain cases.
OCSS administers an Access and Visitation grant program,
which is funded at a total of $10 million each fiscal year.
Federal law also provides for international enforcement of
These funds are awarded to the 50 states, the District of
child support.
Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
CSE Caseload and Composition
The general focus of this program is to increase
noncustodial parents’ access to and time with their children.
In FY2022, the CSE system handled 12.3 million cases.
Eligible activities include mediation, counseling, education,
development of parenting plans, visitation enforcement, and
Table 2. CSE Cases by Family Type, FY2022
development of guidelines for visitation and alternative
Number
custody arrangements. In addition, certain CSE programs
Family Type
(millions)
Percentage
are to some degree involved with establishing voluntary
parenting time agreements between custodial and
TANF Families
0.9
8%
noncustodial parents.
Former TANF
4.8
39%
Program Effectiveness
Never TANF
6.5
53%
In FY2022, the CSE program collected $4.73 for every $1 it
spent, and made collections for 62% of its caseload. Those
Source: CRS, based on data from the HHS FY2022 Preliminary Data
cases with collections were 67% of the never-TANF
Report. Percentages and amounts may not sum to 100% due to
caseload, 61% of the former-TANF caseload, and 36% of
rounding.
the current-TANF caseload.
According to the most recent available demographic data
Issues
(from 2017), among all custodial parents who are eligible
CSE issues that have been raised include the following:
for child support (not just those enrolled in the CSE
program), 80% are women. Of women custodial parents,
• Should child support orders be more aligned with the
53% have just one eligible child, 44% are non-Hispanic
noncustodial parent’s ability to pay?
White, 28% are non-Hispanic Black, 24% are Hispanic (of
• Should child support orders be automatically reviewed
any race), and 4% are other races (including multiple races
and modified in cases where the noncustodial parent is
not categorized elsewhere).
unemployed or underemployed?
Among all custodial families eligible for child support, 24%
• Should CSE programs have the option to reduce or
have income below the federal poverty level. Forty percent
forgive state- and federal-owed child support arrearages
of poor families who were supposed to receive child
(i.e., unpaid child support) in cases where doing so
support reported receiving the full amount that was due.
successfully incentivizes noncustodial parents to
regularly pay the current support that is owed?
CSE Expenditures and Financing
Structure
• Should the CSE program have the option of funding
work-oriented programs for noncustodial parents who
In FY2022, combined federal and state administrative
are unable to meet their child support obligations?
expenditures for CSE amounted to $6.1 billion. Federal
funding for CSE requires that states must spend money in
• Should the states bear more of the costs of their CSE
order to receive federal funding. The federal government
programs (i.e., reducing the federal reimbursement)?
reimburses each state 66% of all allowable expenditures on
• Should cooperation with the CSE program continue to
CSE activities. This requirement is open-ended in that there
be mandated for TANF and Medicaid families? Should
is no upper limit or ceiling on the federal government’s
federal cooperation requirements be expanded to other
match for those expenditures.
public assistance programs?
There are five funding streams associated with the CSE
• Should the federal and state governments continue to
program. The first two streams (mentioned above) are state
retain collections to reimburse TANF costs?
and federal matching funds. Third, states collect child
support on behalf of families receiving TANF assistance to
Jessica Tollestrup, Specialist in Social Policy
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The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program

IF10113


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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10113 · VERSION 11 · UPDATED

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