Bringing Asset-Building Services to Families Involved in the Child Support System CFED 2010 Assets Learning Conference Washington, D.C. September 22, 2010 Angelica Gutierrez, Office of Community Services, DHHS Elaine Sorensen, The Urban Institute Michael Hayes, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Child Support Division Woody Widrow, RAISE Texas

Building Assets for Fathers and Families 2 Why AFI is Emphasizing Partnerships with Child Support Noncustodial parents have not been served within AFI projects to the same extent as other groups Increasing recognition of the importance of addressing poverty issues surrounding low-income men AFI grantees in general may not understand child support issues in working with clients who owe or are owed child support

Building Assets for Fathers and Families 3 Partnership between the Office of Community Services (OCS) and the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Aim is to address the special challenges faced by families involved in the child support system in building assets and achieving economic stability Building Assets for Fathers and Families

4 Focus on developing knowledge, providing training and technical assistance, and up to 10 demonstration projects Goals of the demonstrations include: –Understanding service delivery issues –Identifying best practices –Informing policy decisions –Learn how best to provide asset-building services to families involved in the child support system—notably noncustodial parents Building Assets for Fathers and Families

5 Goals of This Presentation Give you a basic background on the Child Support system Talk about some of the ways both Child Support and Asset-Building Agencies can benefit from working together Open discussion of your ideas of potential approaches and potential barriers to partnership Building Assets for Fathers and Families

6 Child Support Enforcement What Do You Know About Child Support Enforcement (CSE)? Building Assets for Fathers and Families

7 Child Support Enforcement How many children were served by the CSE program in FY 09? Building Assets for Fathers and Families

8 How many children were served by the CSE program in FY 09? A. 501,230 B. 1,288,135 C. 5,060,784 D.17,413,972 Building Assets for Fathers and Families

9 Child Support Enforcement How much child support was collected by the CSE program in FY 09? Building Assets for Fathers and Families

10 How much child support was collected by the CSE program? A.$27 million B.$300 million C.$16 billion D.$26 billion Building Assets for Fathers and Families

11 Child Support Enforcement Of the amounts collected in FY 09, how much went to families? Building Assets for Fathers and Families

12 How much child support collected went to families? A.79% B.85% C.92% D.100% Building Assets for Fathers and Families

13 Child Support Enforcement What percentage of the CSE caseload in FY09 consisted of families receiving welfare? Building Assets for Fathers and Families

14 What is the percentage of welfare cases? A.3% B.14% C.22% D.41% Building Assets for Fathers and Families

15 Child Support Enforcement If a family is receiving welfare, how much of the child support collected goes to the family? Building Assets for Fathers and Families

16 A.None of it B.All of it C.Some of it D.It depends How much child support goes to a family receiving welfare? Building Assets for Fathers and Families

17 How CSE and AFI Overlap Both programs serve low-income families –About 65% of custodial families in the child support system have incomes that fall below 200% of federal poverty level (FPL). Building Assets for Fathers and Families

18 How CSE and AFI Overlap Both programs serve a large number of custodial parents –75% of IDA account holders are women –76% of account holders are not married –77% live with children Building Assets for Fathers and Families

19 How CSE and AFI Overlap While AFI grantees may serve fewer noncustodial parents, many of these low-income parents could be eligible for AFI or other asset building services CSE agencies can be a rich source of referrals for this population Building Assets for Fathers and Families

20 Child Support Enforcement 1975: Child Support Enforcement program established CSE originally designed to recover welfare costs Later offered to families not receiving welfare Today, the primary purpose of CSE is to ensure that custodial families receive child support Building Assets for Fathers and Families

21 What does CSE do for Families? Establishes legal paternity Establishes and modifies child support obligations Collects and enforces child support Building Assets for Fathers and Families

22 What does CSE do for Families? Child support makes up 25% of a low- income family’s monthly income if they receive it, the second largest source of income after earnings. In general, child support is a more important source of income for low- income families with children than TANF. Building Assets for Fathers and Families

23 Child Support Intake Receives automatic referrals from TANF Receives referrals from Foster Care and Medicaid Parents can apply for services Building Assets for Fathers and Families

24 Paternity Establishment Needed when parents of child are not married Benefits to the child: –Access to the child’s full family medical history –Government benefits, such as social security and veteran’s dependent benefits –Life insurance policies and other inheritance benefits Established by: –Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgement (typically in hospital) –Administrative Process or Court Order Building Assets for Fathers and Families

25 Order Establishment Amounts are based on state child support guidelines, which take into account the noncustodial parent’s ability to pay and the number of children involved. Most states also take into account the custodial parent’s income. Usually set in family court (some states can set orders administratively) Building Assets for Fathers and Families

26 Order Modification Every 3 years orders may be reviewed Modification typically requires a substantial change of circumstance –Permanent reduction or increase in income –Additional children Building Assets for Fathers and Families

27 Child Support Collection Wage withholding Withholding from: –Unemployment compensation –Social Security benefits Building Assets for Fathers and Families

28 Child Support Enforcement Administrative Processes: Suspend Licenses Intercept Tax Refunds, Lottery Winnings, Inheritances Deny Renewal of Passports Seize Bank Accounts File Liens on personal property Building Assets for Fathers and Families

29 Child Support Enforcement Judicial Enforcement: Order participation in job search Refer to workforce agency or other employment-oriented organization Incarcerate if necessary

Building Assets for Fathers and Families 30 New Emerging Programs Debt settlement programs –Lump sum payment in exchange for reduced arrears balance Debt incentive programs –Build habit of paying support, rewarded after period of time with forgiveness of state debt Building Assets for Fathers and Families

31 Customers of Mutual Interest The “Unbanked” The “Non-Filers” Parents that Need Financial Education Building Assets for Fathers and Families

32 How CSE can Help Clients of Asset- Building Agencies reach fathers before child support debt accumulates engage fathers in wide range of asset- building support the custodial parent’s financial needs cross-train child support and asset-building staff Building Assets for Fathers and Families

33 How CSE can Help Clients of Asset- Building Agencies Development of referral systems from child support to asset-building programs and vice versa Child support customer financial/asset building education Training for asset building program staff – “Paternity and Child Support 101” Coordinated EITC outreach and education Building Assets for Fathers and Families

34 How Asset-Building Agencies can Help CSE Clients RAISE Texas --Who We Are Statewide network working to support and expand asset-building activities in Texas. Committed to building financial success of Texans through financial education, IDAs, children's savings accounts, community tax centers, and other programs that lead to increased economic security and prevent asset stripping. Building Assets for Fathers and Families

35 How Asset-Building Agencies can Help CSE Clients Have expanded our work to focus on different populations with state agencies Trying to bring in an array of asset building products to serve specific target populations Need to understand the uniqueness and challenges for each population Building Assets for Fathers and Families

36 How Asset-Building Agencies can Help CSE Clients Working across both households Role of non-custodial father and ways to move asset building forward Relationship to custodial parent and child Potential benefits Building Assets for Fathers and Families

For more information visit the RAISE Texas website at

Building Assets for Fathers and Families 38 Where to Find More Information Building Assets for Fathers and Families, and technical assistance in partnering with Child Support: –AFI Resource Center: or Building Assets for Fathers and Families

39 Where to Find More Information Information about participating as a demonstration pilot: –Kelly Smith at or Building Assets for Fathers and Families