dcl9307.htm

Brochure on paternity establishment

February 9, 1992

DC-9307

TO ALL STATE IV-D DIRECTORS

Dear Colleague:

On behalf of the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), I am pleased to announce the publication of a new brochure on paternity establishment entitled "For Your Child's Sake .... Establish Paternity" (see enclosures).

This important brochure was designed for two specific purposes: 1) to complement the outreach efforts of State and local child support agencies; and 2) to encourage dissemination of information on paternity establishment and child support services via the medical profession (e.g., pediatricians, obstetricians, and hospitals) and other human service programs (e.g., Head Start, Child and Maternal Health, etc.).

In today's society, more than 27 percent (1.1 million) of all live births (4 million) each year are to unmarried women as compared to 11 percent in 1970. Unfortunately, children born to unwed mothers are at greater risk of growing up in poverty than are those children born to parents who are married.

Since the focus of the Office of Child Support Enforcement is on the economic well-being of our nation's children, we consider it a priority to, at a minimum, provide basic information to unwed mothers regarding the economic benefits that their children are entitled to -- under the law -- from their biological fathers once paternity has been established.

On the back of the brochure, please note that a space has been left blank for you to provide unwed mothers with the address and telephone number of a local child support agency. Please call OCSE's National Training Center at (202) 401-9382 for additional copies of this brochure.

I sincerely hope that OCSE's publication of "For Your Child's Sake...Establish Paternity" will prove to be an asset to you in your on-going efforts to reach unwed mothers and to convince them of the benefits their children are entitled to once paternity has been legally established.

Sincerely,

Robert Harris

Acting Deputy Director

Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosures