1. Turning Data into Information: The Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment Program

2. VAPP OVERVIEW

3. A Month in the Life of VAPP Enter approximately 1,500 affidavits per month Respond to an average of 611 affidavit requests per month An affidavit is located & faxed in 4 out of 5 requests

4. SSW Fax Back Service The number of callers steadily increased until 2003 & has been fairly consistent over the past few years. In the first 9 months of 2008, SSW staff handled about 6,000 affidavit requests. Source: Author calculations from SSW faxback database. *Through September

5. SSW Fax Back Service In most cases, an inquiry results in the location of an affidavit. Source: Author calculations from SSW Fax Back database. *Through September

6. SSW Fax Back Service Jurisdictions vary in their shares of affidavits & faxback inquiries. Source: Author calculations from SSW affidavit & faxback database. Data for births and faxback requests occurring between January 1, 2008 & June 30, 2008. Baltimore City: 37.8% of inquiries 17.4% of affidavits

7. Trends in Non-Marital Births & Paternity Affidavits

8. Who Signs Paternity Affidavits? Source: Authors’ calculations from DHMH extract data for births in CY 2007. Younger mothers are less likely to have a signed affidavit. Mother’s age 4050 87 2034 10,950 7155 3594 2323

9. Do Affidavit Children Become IV-D Children? 3 out of 5 affidavit children become IV-D children by their 5 th birthday Source: Ovwigho, Born, & Bouchet (2006). Do In-Hospital Paternity Programs Reach Future IV-D Clients? Child Support Quarterly.

10. Do Affidavit Children Become IV-D Children? Local jurisdictions vary. In Baltimore City, 4 out of 5 affidavit children become IV-D children by their 5 th birthday. Source: Author calculations for children born in CY 2000.

11. How Many IV-D Children have a Paternity Affidavit? Of all children born out of wedlock in 2001 who became known to the child support system by their 1 st birthday, about half had a paternity affidavit. Source: Ovwigho, Head, & Born (2007). Child support outcomes of Maryland’s In-Hospital Paternity Acknowledgment Program.

12. Children with a paternity affidavit are more likely to be coded as having paternity established in CSES by their 4 th birthday.

13. Children with an affidavit are more likely to have an order for current support established by their 4 th birthday. Source: Ovwigho, Head, & Born (2007). Child support outcomes of Maryland’s In-Hospital Paternity Acknowledgment Program.

14. Payment Rates are Similar Regardless of Affidavit Status among those owing any court- ordered support Source: Ovwigho, Head, & Born (2007). Child support outcomes of Maryland’s In-Hospital Paternity Acknowledgment Program.

15. On Average, Those with Orders Receive the Same Amount of Support Regardless of Affidavit Status Source: Ovwigho, Head, & Born (2007). Child support outcomes of Maryland’s In-Hospital Paternity Acknowledgment Program.

16. Implications of our Study of Paternity Affidavits & Child Support Outcomes Benefits of voluntary paternity acknowledgment are many & long-lasting. Program is very good & could be even better. –Improvements in data matching –Reaching under-represented groups

17. Making Best Use of the Faxback Service Fax # 410-706-5202 Voice # 410-706-3040 Hours – 8:00am – 4:30pm Closed: Martin Luther King Day; Memorial Day; the 4th of July; Labor Day; the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week; week b/w Christmas & New Year’s Day Please include the child’s name, date of birth, parents’ names, and mother’s SSN, if available. If the affidavit is in our system, we will fax it to you as soon as possible!