The Child Support program was enacted in 1975 as a federal-state program (Title IV-D of the Social Security Act). It was originally referred to as the Child Support Enforcement program and was recently renamed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the Child Support Services (CSS) program. The primary purpose of this program was to reduce public expenditures for recipients of cash assistance by obtaining ongoing support from noncustodial parents that could be used to reimburse the state and federal governments for part of that assistance. (This purpose often is referred to as public assistance cost-recovery.) Relatedly, the program also sought to strengthen families by securing financial support for children from their noncustodial parents on a consistent and continuing basis to enable some of those families to remain off public assistance. Over the years, CSS has evolved into a multifaceted program. While public assistance cost-recovery still remains an important function of the program, its other aspects include service delivery and promotion of self-sufficiency and parental responsibility. The CSS program has different rules for assistance families (e.g., those receiving cash benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program; TANF) and non-assistance families.
The CSS program provides seven major services on behalf of children: (1) parent location, (2) paternity establishment, (3) establishment of child support orders, (4) review and modification of child support orders, (5) collection of child support payments, (6) distribution of child support payments, and (7) establishment and enforcement of medical support.
The CSS program has a vast array of enforcement methods at its disposal. Most child support payments are collected from noncustodial parents through income withholding. Other methods of enforcement include intercepting federal and state income tax refunds; intercepting unemployment compensation; filing liens against property; sending insurance settlement information to CSS agencies; intercepting lottery winnings, judgments, or settlements; seizing debtor parent assets held by public or private retirement funds and financial institutions; withholding, suspending, or restricting driver's licenses, professional or occupational licenses, and recreational or sporting licenses; and denying, revoking, or restricting passports.
The CSS program is funded via a number of sources. The program is a federal-state matching grant program under which states must spend money in order to receive federal funding. For every dollar a state spends on CSS expenditures, it generally is reimbursed 66 cents from the federal government. This reimbursement requirement is "open ended," in that there is no upper limit or ceiling on the federal government's match of those expenditures. In addition to matching funds, states receive CSS incentive payments from the federal government. States also collect child support on behalf of families receiving TANF assistance to reimburse themselves (and the federal government) for the cost of that assistance to the families. Fees and costs recovered also help finance the CSS program.
In FY2023, the CSS program paid to families $25.7 billion in child support and served nearly 12.1 million child support cases. The program collected 65.0% of current child support obligations for which it has responsibility (18.9% if payments on past-due child support are taken into account), and collected payments for 60.6% of its caseload. In FY2023, total CSS expenditures amounted to $6.4 billion. On average, in FY2023 the CSS program collected $4.37 in child support payments for each $1 spent on the program.
In recent years, CSS programs have been increasingly concerned with the issues of noncustodial parents' access to and engagement with their children. The $10 million per year CSS Access and Visitation Grants Program, issues related to parenting time agreements, and the $75 million per year Responsible Fatherhood Program (administered elsewhere within HHS) are described in the final section of the report.
In general, child support is the cash payment that noncustodial parents are obligated to pay for the financial support of their children. These payments enable parents who do not live with their children to fulfill their financial responsibility to them by contributing to childrearing costs. Child support orders generally are established when parents divorce or separate, or when the custodial parent applies for certain public benefits.
The Child Support program was enacted in 1975 as a federal-state program (Title IV-D of the Social Security Act).1 It was originally referred to as the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program and was recently renamed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to be the Child Support Services (CSS) program.2 The primary purpose of this program was to reduce public expenditures for recipients of cash assistance by obtaining ongoing support from noncustodial parents that could be used to reimburse the state and federal governments for part of that assistance. (This purpose often is referred to as public assistance cost-recovery.) Relatedly, the program also sought to strengthen families by securing financial support for children from their noncustodial parents on a consistent and continuing basis to enable some of those families to remain off public assistance.3 Over the years, CSS has evolved into a multifaceted program.4 While public assistance cost-recovery still remains an important function of the program, its other aspects include service delivery and promotion of self-sufficiency and parental responsibility. The CSS program has different rules for assistance families (e.g., those receiving cash benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program [TANF]) and non-assistance families.
The CSS program is administered by the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (Prior to June 5, 2023, this office was named the Office of Child Support Enforcement [OCSE]. In cases where this report refers to actions taken or documents published under OCSS's former name, it refers to OCSE.5) The program receives mandatory funding each fiscal year in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, operate CSS programs and are entitled to federal matching funds. In addition, 60 tribes operate their own CSS programs pursuant to Section 456(f) of the Social Security Act.6 The CSS program is estimated to handle the majority of all child support cases;7 the remaining cases are handled by private attorneys, collection agencies, or through mutual agreements between the parents.
Under federal law, families receiving cash benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (Title IV-A of the Social Security Act) or Medicaid coverage (Title XIX of the Social Security Act)—and, at state option, families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) assistance—are required to cooperate with the CSS program as a condition of receiving benefits.8 These assistance families are not charged for CSS services. Collections on behalf of families receiving cash TANF benefits are used, in part, to reimburse state and federal governments for the TANF payments made to the family. Other families must apply for CSS services, and states must charge all non-assistance families an annual user fee that cannot exceed $35.9 Child support collected by CSS agencies on behalf of non-TANF families goes to the family, usually through the state disbursement unit.
Child support payments distributed by CSS agencies increased from $1 billion in FY1978 to $26.7 billion in FY2023.10 (The CSS program also distributed an additional $2.9 billion in child support for non-Title IV-D cases.) Over the same period, the number of children whose paternity was established or acknowledged each year increased from 111,000 to 1.275 million. The program collected 18.9% of child support obligations for which it has responsibility if payments on past-due child support (i.e., "arrearages") are taken into account (otherwise, 65.0%)11 and collected payments for 60.6% of its caseload. In FY2023, total CSS expenditures (federal and state) amounted to $6.4 billion. On average, in FY2023 the CSS program collected $4.37 in child support payments for each $1 spent on the program.
Table 1, below, provides FY2023 data on the CSS program, including total collections and expenditures, caseload numbers, and the number of paternities and child support orders established. The balance of this report describes each of the major program elements of the CSS program. It also includes a discussion of CSS Access and Visitation Grants, issues related to parenting time agreements, and the Responsible Fatherhood Program (administered elsewhere within HHS).
|
Total CSS caseload |
Total, 12.1 million; TANF families, 0.9 million; former TANF families, 4.6 million; never TANF families, 6.5 million |
|
Total CSS distributed collections |
Total, $26.677 billion; TANF families, $0.610 billion; former TANF, $7.063 billion; never TANF, $9.670 billion (plus $9.334 billion on behalf of Medicaid-only families) |
|
Payments to families |
Total, $25.711 billion; TANF, $0.102 billion; former TANF, $6.417 billion; never TANF, $9.508 billion (plus $8.935 billion on behalf of Medicaid-only families); in addition, $635 million in medical support, $111 million passed through to current TANF families, and $3 million passed through to former TANF families |
|
Federal share of TANF reimbursement |
$543 million |
|
State share of TANF reimbursement |
$353 million |
|
Total CSS expenditures |
$6.443 billion; federal share, $3.899 billion, state share, $2.543 billion |
|
Incentive payments to states (estimated) |
Data not available for FY2023. FY2022 amount was $527 million. |
|
Paternities established and acknowledged |
1,275,368 |
|
Cases for which support orders were established |
595,498 (includes only new orders; excludes modifications) |
|
Cases for which collections were made |
Total, 7,297,497: TANF, 307,022; former TANF, 2,729,383; never TANF, 4,261,092 |
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service, based on data from the Office of Child Support Services (HHS), FY2023 Preliminary Data Report, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/fy-2023-preliminary-data-report-and-tables.
Notes: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. "TANF" amounts include both TANF families (Title IV-A of the Social Security Act) and collections on behalf of children receiving foster care support pursuant to Title IV-E of the Social Security Act.
The CSS program provides seven major services on behalf of children: (1) parent location, (2) paternity establishment, (3) establishment of child support orders, (4) review and modification of child support orders, (5) collection of child support payments, (6) distribution of child support payments, and (7) establishment and enforcement of medical support.
If a state's CSS program cannot locate the noncustodial parent with the information provided by the custodial parent, it must try to locate the noncustodial parent through the State Parent Locator Service (SPLS). The SPLS in each state is an assembly of systems that includes the State Child Support Case Registry and the State Directory of New Hires. The automated State Child Support Case Registry, as required by federal law, contains records of each case in which CSS services are being provided and all new or modified child support orders. The registry includes information on the case, the child or children in the case, and both parents, as listed in Table 2.
|
Case Information |
Information on the Child(ren) |
Information on Both Parents |
|
|
|
Source: HHS, OCSE, Policy Responses Regarding the State Case Registry and the Federal Case Registry, AT-98-08, March 5, 1998, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/policy-responses-regarding-state-case-registry-and-federal-case-registry.
Each state also has an automated State Directory of New Hires that includes information from employers, including federal, state, and local governments and labor organizations. For each newly hired employee, this directory is to include the name, address, and Social Security number of the employee, and the employer's name, address, and tax identification number. This information generally is supplied to the directory within 20 days after the employee is hired.
The SPLS also may use other information sources, such as telephone directories, motor vehicle registries, tax files, and employment and unemployment records.
In addition to the resources discussed above, a state can request the assistance of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS).12 The FPLS is an assembly of systems, including the state systems discussed above, operated by the OCSS. It can be used for any of the following purposes:
The FPLS assists federal and state agencies in identifying overpayments and fraud, and assessing benefits. Its component systems can access data from the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and State Employment Security Agencies. The FPLS also can search its federal case registry of child support orders and the national directory of new hires (NDNH), which is a federal directory consisting of information from federal agencies and all of the state directories.14
Automation is critical to the operation and success of the CSS program so that records in the various parent location systems can be cross-checked to aid in the location of noncustodial parents.15 Federal law requires that a designated state agency (directly or by contract) conduct automated comparisons of the Social Security numbers reported by employers to the state directory of new hires and those associated with CSS cases that appear in the State Child Support Case Registry. It also requires the HHS Secretary to conduct similar comparisons of the federal directories.16
Legally identifying the father is a prerequisite for obtaining a child support order. For any children born into a marriage, the husband is generally deemed to be the father; therefore, in divorce cases, paternity generally does not need to be affirmatively established. In nonmarital birth cases, however, paternity must be established prior to when a child support order is obtained. (With regard to same-sex parents, states are permitted by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act to adopt gender-neutral processes for establishing parentage. However, the procedures that are specified in Title IV-D related to genetic testing would generally not be applicable in such cases.18)
Federal law requires states to have procedures that permit the establishment of paternity for all children under the age of 18.19 TANF applicants and recipients are legally required to cooperate in establishing paternity or obtaining support payments, and may be penalized for noncooperation. If it is determined that an individual is not cooperating and that individual does not qualify for any good cause or other exception, the state must reduce the family's TANF benefit by at least 25%, and may eliminate it entirely. Additional federal requirements associated with paternity establishment include the following:
For contested paternity cases, federal law further requires that all parties submit to genetic testing.22
A child support order is a legal document that obligates a noncustodial parent to provide financial support for their children, and stipulates the amount of the obligation and how it is to be paid. It is usually established at the time of divorce or when an unmarried couple dissolves their relationship. It also may be established when cooperation is required as a condition of receiving public assistance.23
The child support order is established administratively by a state/county CSS agency or through the state courts. Federal law requires states to use their state-established guidelines in establishing child support orders.24 These guidelines are a set of rules and tables that are used to determine the amount of the child support order. Child support guidelines are designed to protect the best interests of the child or children in question by trying to ensure that they continue to benefit from the financial resources of both parents in situations in which the parents go their separate ways. They are also intended to make the calculation of child support fair, objective, consistent, and predictable (which in many instances can have the added benefit of reducing conflict and tension between the parents).
States decide child support amounts based on the noncustodial parent's income or based on both parents' incomes. Other factors that may be considered include the age of child, whether a stepparent is in the home, whether the child is disabled, and the number of siblings. States currently use one of three basic types of guidelines to determine child support award amounts (i.e., the child support order):25
The circumstances of both the noncustodial parent and custodial family can change with time. As these changes occur, child support obligations can become inadequate or inequitable. Effective review and modification of child support orders are important steps in ensuring that noncustodial parents continue to comply with realistic orders based on an actual ability to pay them.26
Federal law requires that states review and, if appropriate, adjust child support orders for TANF family cases at least once every three years.27 For non-TANF family cases, such a review is not required to be automatic but either one of the parents can request it every three years. If a request for review and modification is made prior to when that three-year cycle has been completed, the requesting party must demonstrate that there was a substantial change in circumstances. Child support adjustments and modifications must be in accordance with a state's child support guidelines.
CSS programs usually rely on one of the parents to request a modification of the child support order. It is usually important for parents facing job loss, incarceration, or other substantial changes in circumstances to seek a modification to their order quickly so that they do not fall behind in their payments and thereby have to contend with past-due child support payments. Pursuant to federal law, the court cannot retroactively reduce the arrearages that a noncustodial parent owes.28
The CSS program has a vast array of enforcement methods at its disposal to help ensure that child support payments are made on time and in the full amount that is owed. Most payments are collected from noncustodial parents through income withholding.29 In FY2023, 70.3% of collections were obtained through income withholding.30 Other methods of enforcement include31
Past-due child support may accumulate if the noncustodial parent is unable or unwilling to pay the child support that is owed. In addition to collecting child support arrearages through the enforcement methods above, all jurisdictions have civil or criminal contempt-of-court procedures and criminal nonsupport laws. Federal criminal penalties also may be imposed in certain cases.
Federal law requires states to enact and implement the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), and expand full faith and credit procedures for child support orders issued by other states.32
Federal law also provides for international enforcement of child support.33 The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183) contained provisions designed to improve child support collections in cases where the custodial parent lives in one country and the noncustodial parent lives in another country.34 Specifically, this act included implementing legislation for The Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (the Convention).35 (Fifty-two other countries have also ratified the Convention.36) The enactment of the law also ensured that the United States continued to be compliant with any multilateral child support enforcement treaties and, as part of this, required states to update their UIFSA law to incorporate verbatim any amendments adopted as of September 30, 2008, by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Additionally, the act facilitated greater access to the FPLS by foreign countries and tribal governments as part of improving child support collections. The act also amended federal law so that the federal income tax refund offset program would be available for use by a state to handle CSS requests from foreign reciprocating countries and foreign treaty countries.37
|
CSS Funding Elements
|
The CSS program is funded with both state and federal dollars. There are five funding streams associated with the CSS program.
First, states spend their own money to operate a CSS program; the level of funding allocated by the state and/or localities determines the amount of resources available to CSS agencies.
Second, the federal government reimburses each state 66% of all allowable expenditures on CSS activities, referred to as federal financial participation or federal matching funds.38 The federal government's reimbursement is open-ended in that it pays its percentage of allowable state and local government expenditures with no upper limit or ceiling. For the purposes of the federal budget process, this funding is considered to be mandatory spending, and is appropriated each fiscal year in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
Third, states collect child support on behalf of families receiving TANF assistance to reimburse themselves (and the federal government) for the cost of TANF cash payments to the family. (See the "Distribution of Support" section, below.)
Fourth, the federal government provides states with an incentive payment to encourage them to operate effective programs.39 Federal law requires states to reinvest CSS incentive payments back into the CSS program or related activities.40
Fifth, fees and costs recovered may help finance the CSS program. Families receiving TANF benefits or Medicaid coverage, as well as families required by their state SNAP program to cooperate with the CSS agency, automatically qualify for CSS services free of charge.41 The CSS agency must charge all other families a fee when they apply for CSS services, not to exceed $25. CS cases that have never received TANF benefits also are charged an annual user fee, not to exceed $35, when child support enforcement efforts on their behalf are successful (i.e., at least $550 annually is collected on their behalf).42 The CSS agency may charge these fees to the custodial or noncustodial parent, pay the fee out of state funds (or, in the case of the annual user fee, deduct it from child support paid to the family).43 In addition, fees may be charged in other circumstances, including for performing genetic tests (for purposes of paternity establishment) on any individual who is not a recipient of TANF assistance or Medicaid. Finally, a state may at its option recover administrative costs in excess of the fees, either from the custodial parent or the noncustodial parent. Fees and administrative costs recovered must be subtracted from the state's total administrative costs before calculating the federal reimbursement amount (i.e., 66% federal financial participation).
To make the processing of child support payments more efficient and economical, all states are required to have a centralized automated State Collection and Disbursement Unit (SDU) to which child support payments are paid and from which they are distributed.44 SDUs assist the income withholding process by providing employers with a single location in each state to send the withheld child support payments. In addition to collecting and promptly distributing money to custodial parents or other states, SDUs
The SDU must use automated procedures, electronic processes, and computer-driven technology to the maximum extent that is feasible, efficient, and economical.
The SDU must be operated directly by the state CSS agency, by two or more state CSS agencies under a regional cooperative agreement, or by a contractor responsible directly to the state CSS agency. Alternatively, instead of a single state system, a SDU may be established by linking local disbursement units through an automated information network. In such cases, the Secretary of HHS must first agree that the system will not cost more, take more time to establish, or take more time to operate, than a single state system. Like single state systems, linked systems must give employers only one location for submitting withheld income.
Federal law generally requires employers to remit to the SDU income withheld within seven business days after the employee's payday. Then, the SDU is required to send child support payments to custodial parents within two business days of when they are received.45
When child support is owed to a current or former TANF family, distribution rules determine whether the family or the state retains any support that is collected. These distribution rules are important when a payment is not enough to cover the current support, or if any arrearages are due for those claims.
To reimburse the states and federal government for the cost of TANF cash benefits, TANF families are required by federal law to assign their child support rights to the state. While the family receives TANF, the states and federal government generally retain any current support and any assigned arrearages collected up to the cumulative amount of TANF benefits paid to the family.46 While states may opt to pass through (i.e., pay) to the family some or all of the state share of the child support (thereby forgoing its share of those collections), they generally still must pay the federal government its share of child support collected on behalf of TANF families.
To help states pay for the cost of their CSS pass-through policies, federal law waives the federal government's share of child support collections that are passed through by states, up to $100 per month for one child or up to $200 per month for two or more children. (The state also must disregard the passed-through payments as income for the purposes of determining TANF eligibility in order for the federal government to waive its share.47) Based on May 2023 data, 26 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have a CSS pass-through and disregard policy; 24 states, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not.48
States must distribute to former TANF families the following child support collections before the state and the federal government are reimbursed:
Medical child support is defined as the legal provision of payment of medical, dental, prescription, and other health care expenses for children living apart from one of their parents.50 It can include provisions for health care coverage (including payment of costs of premiums, co-payments, and deductibles) as well as cash payments for a child's medical expenses. By connecting children to coverage—through either of their parents' employers, Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Health Insurance Exchanges, or other options—the CSS program can try to ensure that children will have continuous, stable access to health care as they grow up, and that the resources of both parents are being used most effectively for the child. The establishment and enforcement of medical support is also intended to promote fairness in allocating childrearing costs between the parents and, when employer-sponsored health care is obtained, it saves federal and state dollars.51
Federal law requires every Title IV-D child support order to include a provision for health care coverage.52 It requires that medical support for a child be provided by either or both parents and that it must be enforced. It authorizes the state CSS agency to enforce medical support against a custodial or noncustodial parent whenever health care coverage is available to that parent at "reasonable cost."53 It also stipulates that medical support may include health care coverage (including payment of costs of premiums, co-payments, and deductibles) and payment of medical expenses for a child. States generally seek medical child support as sequenced below:
When the noncustodial parent is ordered to pay cash medical support, generally it is included in the cash child support order and a single notice of income withholding is sent to the employer to withhold from the parent's paycheck. If the parent is ordered to provide insurance through the employer, the employer is required to enroll the child in health insurance coverage and withhold the necessary premium payments from the parent's income.54 The employer is required to send any amount withheld directly to the health care plan. In addition, employers must promptly notify the CSS agency whenever the employment of the noncustodial parent (and, at state option, the custodial parent) is terminated.55
A noncustodial parent's right to visit with one's children is commonly referred to as visitation or child access (and more recently as voluntary parenting time agreements). State domestic relations or family laws almost universally treat child support and visitation as completely separate issues. Historically, the federal government has agreed that visitation and child support should be legally separate issues, and that only child support should be under the purview of the CSS program. Both federal and state policymakers have maintained that denial of visitation rights should not be considered a reason for stopping child support payments.56 However, in recognition of the negative long-term consequences for children associated with the absence of their noncustodial parent, as well as evidence that contact between the child and noncustodial parent can make it more likely that child support responsibilities will be met,57 federal and state policymakers have increasingly promoted efforts that address child support and access and visitation in the same forum.
To promote visitation and better relations between custodial and noncustodial parents, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193) provided mandatory spending in the amount of $10 million each fiscal year from the federal CSS budget account for grants to states for access and visitation programs.58 Eligible activities include but are not limited to mediation, counseling, education, development of parenting plans, visitation enforcement, and development of guidelines for visitation and alternative custody arrangements.
In 2019, OCSE (now, OCSS) reported the results of their multiyear pilot program, Parenting Time Opportunities for Children (PTOC). The purpose of PTOC was to evaluate the extent to which CSS agencies could implement integrated processes for the establishment of child support orders and parenting time agreements. The study also examined the feasibility of sufficient family violence safeguards, and whether the establishment of parenting time would result in greater parental involvement or child support payments. According to the agency, "evaluators of the project sites confirmed that parents appreciate the opportunity to address parenting time and feel that it increases the fairness of child support. Furthermore, PTOC appears to help some parents with improved relationships, more time with their children, and some small increases in child support compliance."59
CSS administrative costs related to parenting time arrangements are not considered to be eligible expenditures for federal reimbursement. However, there has been recent congressional interest in these arrangements and the feasibility of implementing them on a more widespread basis using existing funding sources. The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183) included a Sense of the Congress statement specifying that
The federal government has also sought to engage noncustodial parents in the lives of their children through what are known as responsible fatherhood programs.60 Based on the premise that committed, involved, and responsible fathers are important in the lives of their children, these programs seek to promote the financial and personal responsibility of noncustodial parents for their children, and increase the participation of fathers in their children's lives. Some responsible fatherhood programs help noncustodial parents strengthen their parenting skills. Other programs try to discourage young men from becoming fathers until they are married and ready for the responsibility.
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171) included a provision that provided mandatory funding for a Healthy Marriage Promotion and Responsible Fatherhood grants program (in Title IV-A of the Social Security Act). For FY2006-FY2010, that program was provided up to $50 million per year for competitive responsible fatherhood grants. For FY2011, funding for those fatherhood grants was increased to $75 million.61 Between FY2011 and FY2018, $75 million in mandatory funding for this program each year was provided through provisions in appropriations acts. Since FY2019, funding for this program was provided through a series of temporary extensions, the most recent of which was Division A (§1912) of H.R. 1968 (the Full Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, enacted March 15, 2025), which extended TANF funding through September 30, 2025.
Most responsible fatherhood programs include parenting education; training in responsible decisionmaking, conflict resolution, and coping with stress; mediation services for both parents; problem-solving skills; peer support; and job-training opportunities.62 Grantees include states, territories, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, and public and nonprofit community groups (including religious organizations).
Carmen Solomon-Fears, retired CRS Specialist in Social Policy, authored earlier versions of this report. Sylvia Bryan, CRS Research Assistant, assisted with the most recent report update.
| 1. |
The CSS program statutory authorities are found in Sections 451 through 469B of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §651 through §669b). The CSS federal regulations are found in 45 C.F.R. §301 through §310. |
| 2. |
On June 5, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a notice in the Federal Register changing the name of the program and administering entity within HHS to the Office of Child Support Services in Part K of the Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority of the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) (Federal Register, vol. 88, no. 107, Monday July 5, 2023, p. 36587). On December 31, 2024, OCSS published a direct final rule in the Federal Register further effectuating the name change of the office and making related changes to the program name. This direct final rule was effective 60 days after its publication (Federal Register, Vol. 89, No. 250, Tuesday, December 31, 2024, p. 107015). |
| 3. |
See S. Rept. 93-1356, pp. 42-55. |
| 4. |
See, for example, HHS, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, August 31, 1996, https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/personal-responsibility-work-opportunity-reconciliation-act-1996. |
| 5. |
See footnote 2. Similarly, for citations, this report uses the name of the entity and program listed on the cited publication. |
| 6. |
States were historically required to provide CSS services to Indian tribes and tribal organizations as part of their CSS caseloads. Tribes were not specifically included in the CSS statute until the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA, P.L. 104-193), although several tribes had previously negotiated agreements (e.g., informal, cooperative, intergovernmental, and joint powers) with some states in a mutual effort to serve Native American children. Section 456(f) of the Social Security Act allows direct federal funding of approved tribal CSS programs. In general, Native American children living on Indian reservations that have a tribal CSS program are covered by that specific tribal CSS program; Native American children who do not live on Indian reservations are covered by the state's CSS program. For further information, see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/child-support-professionals/tribal-agencies. |
| 7. |
Elaine Sorensen, Arthur Pashi, and Melody Morales, Characteristics of Families Served by the Child Support (IV-D) Program: 2016 Census Survey Results, Office of Child Support Enforcement, November 2018, p. 3, https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/iv_d_characteristics_2016_census_results.pdf. |
| 8. |
In addition, families who are required by the state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to cooperate with the CSS agency automatically qualify for CSS services free of charge. One or both parents of a child who is placed in foster care may be ordered to pay child support, but the determination of whether this requirement should be made is left up to the state child welfare agency. Section 471(a)(17) of the Social Security Act requires the child welfare agency "where appropriate" to secure assignment of child support rights on behalf of any child receiving foster care support pursuant to Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. However, the establishment of a child support order is not a condition of Title IV-E foster care support. |
| 9. |
Roughly half of states have opted to require that the custodial parent cooperate with the CSS program as a condition of receiving child care subsidies (see HHS, ASPE, Child Support Cooperation Requirements in Child Care Subsidy Programs and SNAP: Key Policy Considerations," November 1, 2018, https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/child-support-cooperation-requirements-child-care-subsidy-programs-and-snap-key-policy-considerations). If a state opts to exempt these families from the annual user fee, the state must reimburse the federal government its portion of the fees that otherwise would have been collected. |
| 10. |
Unless otherwise noted, all FY2023 data in this report are from HHS, Office of Child Support Services (OCSS), FY2023 Preliminary Data Report and Tables, Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/policy-guidance/fy-2023-preliminary-data-report-and-tables. |
| 11. |
In FY2023, $146.1 billion in child support obligations ($31.0 billion in current support and $115.1 billion in past-due support) was owed to families receiving CSS services, but $27.7 billion was paid ($20.1 billion current, $7.5 billion past-due; numbers do not sum to total due to rounding). |
| 12. |
Developed in cooperation with the states, employers, federal agencies, and the judiciary, the FPLS includes the following: • The National Directory of New Hires (NDNH): a central repository of employment, unemployment insurance, and wage data from State Directories of New Hires, State Workforce Agencies, and federal agencies. • The Federal Case Registry (FCR): a national database that contains information on individuals in child support cases and child support orders. • The Federal Offset Program (FOP): a program that collects past-due child support payments from the tax refunds of parents who have been ordered to pay child support. • The Federal Administrative Offset Program (FAOP): a program that intercepts certain federal payments in order to collect past-due child support. • The Passport Denial Program (PDP): a program that works with the Secretary of State in denying passports of any person that has been certified as owing a child support debt greater than $2,500. • The Multistate Financial Institution Data Match (MSFIDM): a program that allows child support agencies a means of locating financial assets of individuals owing child support. For additional information on the FPLS, see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/training-technical-assistance/overview-federal-parent-locator-service. |
| 13. |
PRWORA (P.L. 104-193) permits both custodial and certain noncustodial parents to obtain information from the FPLS. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33), however, prohibits FPLS information from being disclosed to noncustodial parents in cases where there is evidence of domestic violence or child abuse, and the local court determines that disclosure may result in harm to the custodial parent or child. |
| 14. |
Within three business days after receipt of new hire information from the employer, the state directory of new hires is required to furnish the information to the national directory of new hires. (For additional information, see CRS Report RS22889, The National Directory of New Hires: An Overview.) |
| 15. |
The Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-200) imposes financial penalties on states that failed to meet the law's automated data systems requirements. The HHS Secretary is required to reduce the amount the state would otherwise have received in federal CSS funding by the penalty amount for the fiscal year in question. Section 455(a)(4)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §655(a)(4)(B)) stipulates that the penalty amount percentage is 4% in the case of the first year of noncompliance; 8% in the second year; 16% in the third year; 25% in the fourth year; and 30% in the fifth or any subsequent year. |
| 16. |
When a match occurs, the state directory of new hires is required to report to the state CSS agency the name, address, and Social Security number of the employee, and the employer's name, address, and identification number. Within two business days, the CSS agency then instructs appropriate employers to withhold child support obligations from the employee's paycheck, unless the employee's income is not subject to income withholding. |
| 17. |
On September 26, 2023, OCSS issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would have replaced the term "paternity" with "parentage," and replaced the terms "mother" and "father" with the term "parentage," throughout 45 C.F.R. Chapter III. It also proposed additional changes to clarify that "full faith and credit requirements apply to paternity determinations, however, States and Tribes would have been permitted, at their option, to recognize same-sex parentage establishment determined in accordance with the laws and procedures of another State or Tribe." (Federal Register Vol. 88, No. 185, pp. 65928-65937, September 26, 2023). The requirements in Title IV-D of the Social Security Act with regard to "paternity establishment" would have been unchanged. This NPRM was withdrawn on January 15, 2025 (Federal Register Vol. 90, No. 9, pp. 3752-3753). |
| 18. |
For further information, see Federal Register Vol. 88, No. 185, p. 65931, September 26, 2023, which quotes from HHS, OCSE, "Same-Sex Parents and Child Support Program Requirements," PIQ-22-02, March 29, 2022. |
| 19. |
Section 466(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §666(a)(5)). The DRA (P.L. 109-171) reduced the 90% federal financial participation rate for laboratory costs associated with paternity establishment to 66% as of October 1, 2006. |
| 20. |
Section 466(a)(5)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §666(a)(5)(D)) stipulates that when parents are unmarried, the "father" shall be included in the birth record only if both parents have signed a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity, or a court or administrative agency has issued an adjudication of paternity. |
| 21. |
Sections 452(g) and 466 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §652(g) and §666)). |
| 22. |
Federal law requires states to have procedures that create a rebuttable or, at the option of the state, conclusive presumption of paternity upon genetic testing results indicating a threshold probability that the alleged father is the actual father of the child (Section 466(a)(5)(G) of the Social Security Act) (42 U.S.C. §666(a)(5)(G)). |
| 23. |
Families required to cooperate with the CSS agency under federal law include those receiving TANF cash assistance or Medicaid coverage, and those in states that have adopted cooperation requirements for their SNAP programs. Roughly half of states have additionally opted under their own laws to require cooperation of recipients of child care subsidies. |
| 24. |
See the Family Support Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-485). |
| 25. |
The District of Columbia uses a hybrid model that starts as a percentage of income model and is then reduced by a formula based on the custodial parent's income. Information was not available for Puerto Rico. See National Conference of State Legislatures, Child Support Guideline Models by State, July 10, 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20230510031350/https://www.ncsl.org/human-services/child-support-guideline-models. |
| 26. |
See Office of Child Support Enforcement, Providing Expedited Review and Modification Assistance, Child Support Fact Sheet Series, no. 2, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/providing_expedited_review_and_modification.pdf. |
| 27. |
Section 466(a)(10) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §666(a)(10)). |
| 28. |
Section 466(a)(9) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §666(a)(9)). |
| 29. |
There are three exceptions to the immediate income withholding rule: (1) if one of the parties demonstrates, and the court (or administrative process) finds that there is good cause not to require immediate withholding, (2) if both parties agree in writing to an alternative arrangement, or (3) at the HHS Secretary's discretion, if a state can demonstrate that the rule will not increase the effectiveness or efficiency of the state's CSS program. |
| 30. |
This includes collections received from IV-D and non-IV-D child support cases processed through the State Disbursement Unit. |
| 31. |
An overview of state methods to enforce past-due child support is at OCSS, "How It's Enforced," June 2, 2023, https://acf.gov/css/parents/understanding-child-support/how-its-enforced. Federal enforcement methods are summarized in OCSS, "Overview of the Federal Collections and Enforcement Program," November 21, 2024, https://acf.gov/css/training-technical-assistance/overview-federal-collections-and-enforcement-program. |
| 32. |
Section 466(f) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §666(f)). |
| 33. |
The United States has reciprocal agreements with certain countries to process cases and enforce child support orders. These countries include those that have joined the Hague Child Support Convention, and countries and Canadian provinces/territories that have bilateral agreements with the U.S. government and are not parties to the Hague Convention. OCSS maintains a list of these countries at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/partners/international. |
| 34. |
For more information on P.L. 113-183, see CRS Report R43757, Child Welfare and Child Support: The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183). |
| 35. |
The Convention was adopted at the Hague Conference on Private International Law on November 23, 2007. On August 30, 2016, President Obama signed the instrument of ratification for the Convention. |
| 36. |
See Status Table, Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=131. |
| 37. |
For additional information on international enforcement of child support, see CRS Report R43779, Child Support Enforcement and the Hague Convention on Recovery of International Child Support. |
| 38. |
In contrast to the federal financial participation of 66% for CSS programs run by the states or territories, pursuant to PRWORA (P.L. 104-193), the CSS program provides tribes and tribal organizations direct federal funding equal to 100% of approved and allowable CSS expenditures. (For background on the elimination of the requirement for nonfederal funding, see CRS Insight IN12164, Overview of Tribal Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program Financing.) According to OCSS, as of July 18, 2024, 60 Indian tribes or tribal organizations operated comprehensive tribal CSS programs. For a listing of the tribal programs, see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/training-technical-assistance/tribal-child-support-agency-contacts. For additional information, see CRS Report R41204, Child Support Enforcement: Tribal Programs. |
| 39. |
The CSS incentive payment—which is based in part on five performance measures related to establishment of paternity and child support orders, collection of current and past-due child support payments, and cost-effectiveness—was statutorily set by the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-200). In the aggregate, incentive payments to states may not exceed $458 million for FY2006, $471 million for FY2007, and $483 million for FY2008 (to be increased for inflation in years thereafter). According to OCSS estimates, FY2022 incentive payments total $527 million. (FY2023 estimates were not provided in the FY2023 Preliminary Data Report and Tables.) For additional information on CSS incentive payments, see CRS Report RL34203, Child Support Enforcement Program Incentive Payments: Background and Policy Issues. |
| 40. |
The DRA (P.L. 109-171), effective October 1, 2007, prohibited federal financial participation from including a 66% reimbursement of state expenditure of federal child support incentive payments. However, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) required HHS to temporarily provide federal matching funds at the 66% rate (in FY2009 and FY2010) on incentive payments that states reinvest back into the IV-D program. Currently, CSS incentive payments that are received by states and reinvested in the CSS program are no longer eligible for federal reimbursement. |
| 41. |
The DRA (P.L. 109-171). |
| 42. |
In addition, the state cannot charge a fee to a custodial parent or noncustodial parent who is cooperating with the CSS program as a condition of SNAP eligibility (45 C.F.R., Ch. III, 302.33(a)(3), (e)(3)(i-iii)). |
| 43. |
For more information on the CSS annual user fee, CRS Report RS22753, Child Support Services Annual User Fee: In Brief. |
| 44. |
Sections 454(27) and 454B of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §654(27) and §654B). |
| 45. |
Sections 454B(c)(1) and 466(4)(6)(A(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §654B(c)(1) and §666(4)(6)(A(i)). |
| 46. |
The DRA (P.L. 109-171), effective October 1, 2009, or at state option, October 1, 2008, provides that the assignment only covers child support that accrues while the family receives TANF. |
| 47. |
See Section 457 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §657) for the applicable child support distribution procedures for pass-through and disregard. |
| 48. |
National Conference of State Legislatures, Child Support Pass-Through and Disregard Policies for Public Assistance Recipients, May 30, 2023, https://www.ncsl.org/human-services/child-support-pass-through-and-disregard-policies-for-public-assistance-recipients. |
| 49. |
The DRA (P.L. 109-171) gave states the option of distributing to former TANF families the full amount of child support collected on their behalf (i.e., both current support and all child support arrearages—including arrearages collected through the federal income tax refund offset program). This provision took effect on October 1, 2009, or October 1, 2008, at state option. |
| 50. |
For additional information on medical child support, see CRS Report R43020, Medical Child Support: Background and Current Policy. |
| 51. |
Health care coverage of children and medical child support are not synonymous. A child could be covered by a custodial parent's health insurance plan and the child support order may not contain any provision for medical support. Conversely, a child may be receiving cash medical support but not be insured. |
| 52. |
The regulations implementing this provision recognize that state CSS agencies generally do not establish child support orders. Rather, many orders are established under a judicial, quasi-judicial, or administrative process outside of the CSS agency. When orders are established through the courts, state CSS agencies can petition but cannot require inclusion of medical support provisions. State child support guidelines are also required to provide for the inclusion of medical support, but judges and administrative officials can deviate from those guidelines if appropriate. For a discussion of establishment provisions, see the Lewin Group, Administrative and Judicial Processes for Establishing Child Support Orders, for OCSE, ACF, HHS, June 2002, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/dcl_03_15a.pdf. For information on the requirements to petition for inclusion of medical support, see 45 C.F.R. §303.31(b). |
| 53. |
45 C.F.R. §303.31(a)(3) provides that "cash medical support or the cost of health insurance is considered reasonable in cost if the cost to the parent responsible for providing medical support does not exceed five percent of their gross income or, at State option, a reasonable alternative income-based numeric standard." For state-specific definitions of reasonable cost, see https://ocsp.acf.hhs.gov/irg/irgpdf.pdf?geoType=OGP&groupCode=EMP&addrType=NMS&addrClassType=EMP. |
| 54. |
This requirement is effectuated through the National Medical Support Notice. (See OMB 0970-0222 and 1210-0113, National Medical Support Notice Forms & Instructions, January 19, 2023, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/form/national-medical-support-notice-forms-instructions.) |
| 55. |
State CSS agencies are also required to promptly notify the employer when there is no longer a current medical support order in effect (45 C.F.R. §303.32(c)). |
| 56. |
See HHS, OCSE, Child Support and Parenting Time: Improving Coordination to Benefit Children, July 2013, https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/13_child_support_and_parenting_time_final.pdf. |
| 57. |
See HHS, OCSE, Noncustodial Parents: Summaries of Research, Grants and Practices, July 2009, https://acf.gov/archive/css/policy-guidance/noncustodial-parents-summaries-research-grants-and-practices. . |
| 58. |
Even before PRWORA (P.L. 104-193), the Family Support Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-485) authorized a limited number of grants to states for demonstration projects to develop, improve, or expand activities designed to increase compliance with child access provisions of court orders. |
| 59. |
HHS, OCSE, Parenting Time Opportunities for Children Research Brief, August 2019, p. 1, https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ocse/ptoc_research_brief.pdf. |
| 60. |
Although programs that seek to help fathers initiate or maintain contact with their children and become emotionally involved in their children's lives are usually referred to as "fatherhood" programs, the programs are generally gender neutral. Their underlying goal is participation of the noncustodial parent in the lives of their children. |
| 61. |
See the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-291). |
| 62. |
For more information on responsible fatherhood programs, see CRS Report RL31025, Fatherhood Initiatives: Connecting Fathers to Their Children. |