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Project Description

This study will examine the interaction between child support status (i.e., paternity established, order established, receipt of child support) and TANF exit and reentry, as well as the coordination between the TANF and child support agencies. The project will analyze national survey data, state administrative data, and program data to determine the extent of child support program participation and receipt among current and former welfare clients and the contribution of payments to self-sufficiency.

Research questions addressed include:
1. What is the child support enforcement status of TANF recipients and women who have left TANF? For example, what share of custodial mothers have child support orders, what percent are receiving child support, how much do they receive, on average, and how significant is child support income as a fraction of total family income?

2. What are the patterns of child support receipt around welfare exit? For example, how many families receive child support in the months immediately after exiting welfare? Do families begin to receive child support paid on their behalf as soon as they exit welfare or is there a delay?

3. What are the effects of child support receipt on self sufficiency, including the likelihood of leaving welfare and returning to welfare?

4. What are the effects of welfare reform on the relationship between welfare and child support? Have time limits, financial incentives, and work mandates affected child support receipt negatively or positively?

5. Do state pass-through and distribution policies affect the child support status of low-income women and the relationship between child support receipt and welfare exit and reentry? For example, are more current and former welfare recipients receiving child support in states that have more generous child support policies? Are women in these states more likely to leave welfare?

6. Do families know how much child support they will receive when they leave TANF? Do they know how much child support is being paid on their behalf while they are receiving TANF?

Project duration: Sep 2002 - Jan 2005

Sites studied include Various sites across the United States

Sample Characteristics and Sites Studied

Samples from the following studies/surveys:

• The Survey of Income and Program Participation
• Project on Devolution and Urban Change
• Parents' Fair Share
• Wisconsin Child Support Demonstration Evaluation
• Connecticut’s Jobs First program
• Florida’s Family Transition Program (FTP)
• Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)
• Vermont’s Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP)

Recent Findings in Brief

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