State Child Support Offices to Lead $6.2 Million Employment Project
In an effort to engage and involve low-income noncustodial parents who are behind with their child support payments, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) has awarded nearly $6.2 million to child support agencies in eight states to link these parents with employment services.
Studies show that most noncustodial parents want to be part of their children’s lives and provide financial and emotional support. For a variety of reasons many find it difficult to find and keep a job.
Officially called the National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Demonstration Projects, the grants are intended to reduce barriers to payment and increase employment among noncustodial parents over a five-year period. To that end, child support offices in the project states will provide:
- child support case management
- employment-oriented services that include job placement and retention;
- fatherhood/parenting activities using peer support; and
- enhanced child support procedures including the review and appropriate adjustment of child support orders.
“When noncustodial parents do not provide reliable financial support, their children are more likely to grow up in poverty and need public assistance,” said OCSE Commissioner Vicki Turetsky. “Billions of dollars in support go unpaid to children and families each year because parents are out of work and unable to provide it.”
If a parent is unemployed and not paying support, child support agencies have limited tools at their disposal to enforce a parent’s financial obligation to provide kids the support they deserve. Unemployed parents who owe child support often cycle in and out of family court, costing courts and the child support system money without producing results.
By linking child support efforts with employment programs, the demonstration projects are expected to increase the number of parents paying child support, increase the financial support kids receive, facilitate better child-parent relationships, and reduce family dependence on public assistance.
Throughout the grant period the effectiveness of the projects will be rigorously evaluated.
“These demonstrations will help us learn more about making child support a stable, reliable source of income that kids can count on throughout childhood and as they grow up,” says Turetsky. “Fatherhood and parenting programming, strengthened by peer support, is an essential part of these grant projects.”
The following is a list of grantees for the noncustodial employment programs:
California Department of Social Services, Stanislaus County
Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Project
FY 2012 Award: $200,000
Colorado Department of Human Services
Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration Project
FY 2012 Award: $198,935
Iowa Department of Human Services
Connecting Noncustodial Parents to Employment
FY 2012 Award: $200,000
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Stark County (Canton)
Right Path for Fathers Partnership
FY 2012 Award: $200,000
South Carolina Department of Social Services
Family Economic Stability Services
FY 2012 Award: $196,024
State of Tennessee
Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration Project
FY 2012 Award: $198,935
Texas Office of the Attorney General
Noncustodial Parents Choices – Peer
FY 2012 Award: $199,995
Wisconsin Department of Children and Families
Supporting Parents Supporting Kids
FY 2012 Award: $194,416
