{
  "id": "RL32980",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32980",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 305973,
      "date": "2005-07-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:39:15.666029",
      "title": "Legal Services and Noncustodial Parents Who Owe Child Support",
      "summary": "Enforcement of child support often results in custodial parents and noncustodial parents being\nin an\nadversarial relationship. Noncustodial parents often view it as an unbalanced relationship, because\ncustodial parents have access to a network of federal and state resources (e.g., the Child Support\nEnforcement (CSE) agency and the welfare agency) that are not available to the noncustodial parent.\n Pending welfare reauthorization legislation ( H.R. 240  and  S. 667 )\nincludes incentives for states to send more of the child support collected on behalf of custodial\nparents to the family itself, additional CSE enforcement tools, funding for marriage promotion\nprograms for low-income persons, and funding for programs designed to help noncustodial fathers\nmeet both their financial and emotional responsibilities to their children. Supporters of the welfare\nreauthorization legislation claim that its passage will result in more noncustodial parents paying child\nsupport. They contend that noncustodial parents who can afford to, but do not, pay child support will\nnot be able to escape their duty because of the strong enforcement apparatus, and that noncustodial\nparents who cannot afford to pay will be offered services that may improve their financial ability to\npay, as well as their willingness to pay.\n In situations in which noncustodial parents find themselves at loggerheads with custodial\nparents and the CSE system with respect to paternity and child support, some have encouraged legal\nservices providers to play a more \"balanced\" role. They maintain that providing legal services to\nnoncustodial parents could result in child support payments becoming a more reliable source of\nincome for custodial parents if noncustodial parents were provided better access to the legal system\nand were satisfied that \"they had their day in court\" and thereby more amenable to paying child\nsupport. This report describes some of the child support issues faced by noncustodial parents and\ndiscusses areas in which legal services providers funded by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC)\nare authorized to support poor noncustodial parents.\n The LSC is a private, non-profit, federally funded corporation established by Congress to\nprovide financial support for civil legal assistance for persons unable to afford legal help. In\nFY2004, the LSC distributed $316.6 million of its $335.3 million appropriation in the form of grants\nto 143 local legal services programs. Local programs provide legal assistance to individuals based\non locally determined priorities that meet local community conditions and needs. Thus, to a certain\nextent, it is necessary for noncustodial parents to advocate on their own behalf, that is, to make the\ncommunities in which they live aware of the problems that they face with regard to countering\nunjustified allegations of paternity, obtaining fair child support orders, meeting their child support\nobligations, getting child support orders modified when they have a change in financial\ncircumstances, seeking custody or visitation rights, and re-establishing family and community ties\nafter incarceration. With only an estimated 20% of eligible clients receiving legal services (when\nthey need such services), low-income noncustodial parents must now compete to be included as\nclients in a program that does not have the resources to serve all who are eligible for its services. \nThis report will not be updated.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Domestic Social Policy"
  ]
}