Nationally, the Child Support Enforcement program had 17.4 million cases in FY 2000. This is an increase of 0.3 percent cases from fiscal year 1999, which had 17.3 million cases. The total IV-D Child Support caseload is an annual case count of non-custodial parents who are now or may eventually be obligated under law for the support of one or more dependent children. There was a 7.5 percent increase in former assistance cases, a 12.4 percent decrease in current assistance cases and a 0.7 percent decline in never assistance cases from FY 1999 to FY 2000. There was a 10.8 percent decrease in caseload from FY 1998 to FY 1999 due to a revision in the reporting requirements which eliminated the "arrears only category" which often reflected a duplicate case count.

The IV-D caseload contains 46 percent former assistance cases, 35 percent never assistance cases, and 19 percent current assistance cases. The percentages equate to 8.0 million former assistance cases, 6.2 million never assistance cases, and 3.3 million current assistance cases in fiscal year 2000. The following table to the left shows the pre-CSPIA TANF/Non-TANF breakdown. The table to the right shows the Current Assistance, Former Assistance, and Never Assistance breakdown developed by CSPIA. (Figure 1)

Figure 3.1. Caseload before and after CSPIA (in Millions)

Caseload Before CSPIA^[3]

Caseload After CSPIA

The combined total of state in-hospital and other paternities acknowledged (688,510) and IV-D paternities established or acknowledged (867,071) was 1,555,581 for FY 2000. The combined total number of paternities is a decrease from FY 1999 of 3 percent. In FY 1996, 733,693 IV-D paternities were established or acknowledged by the State Child Support Enforcement agencies. By 2000, this had increased by 18 percent to 867,071 IV-D paternities. The total number of state in-hospital and other acknowledged for FY 2000 was 688,510. This is a 9 percent decrease from FY 1999. (Figure 2)^[4]

Figure 3.2. IV-D and State In-Hospital and Other Paternities Acknowledged (in Thousands)

The legal establishment of an order to pay child support is a prerequisite to collecting child support. In FY 2000, the Child Support Enforcement program established 1,174,882 support orders, a decrease of 4 percent from the previous year. The number of child support orders established has increased by more than 7 percent over the last five years.

Figure 3.3. Support Orders Established

States report the number of cases open at the end of the fiscal year with support orders established. Of the 17.4 million cases in the child support caseload in FY 2000, 61 percent or 10.7 million had support orders established. The number of cases without support orders established equals 6.7 million or 39 percent of the child support caseload. Of the current assistance cases, 1.4 million or 44 percent had support orders established. The former and never assistance cases had 5.3 million or 67 percent, and 3.9 million or 64 percent support orders established, respectively. (Figure 4)

Figure 3.4. IV-D Cases With and Without Orders (in Millions)

States report the total number of cases with collections during the fiscal year. In FY 2000, there were 7.2 million cases with a collection in the child support enforcement program. This is an increase of almost 10 percent from FY 1999. The cases with collections increased by 16 percent and 9 percent for former and never assistance cases, respectively between FY 1999 and FY 2000. The current assistance cases with collections decreased by 10 percent. The total number of cases with collections increased by 83 percent from FY 1996 to FY 2000. (Figure 5)

Figure 3.5. 5 Caseload Before And After CSPIA^[5]

Caseload Before CSPIA

Total child support collections are the amounts distributed during the year on behalf of families receiving benefits from the TANF, Foster Care, and Medicaid programs, and for non-TANF families who have applied for child support services. In FY 2000, collections reached a record high of $17.9 billion, a 12 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. The collections distributed for former assistance cases increased by 42 percent from FY 1999 to FY 2000. The collections distributed for current assistance cases decreased by 8.5 percent and the collections distributed for never assistance cases increased by less than 1 percent. (Figure 6)

Figure 3.6. Total Collections (in Billions $)

TANF/Foster Care collections amounted to $2.6 billion in FY 2000. This is an increase of 4.5 percent from the previous year. TANF/FC collections accounted for 15 percent of the total amount collected. There has been a 10 percent decrease in TANF/FC collections from FY 1996 to FY 2000, which can be attributed to a decline in the TANF caseload. (Figure 7)

Figure 3.7. TANF Collections (in Billions $)

The Federal and State governments retain portions of TANF child support collections as reimbursement for TANF payments to families. In FY 2000, States kept 42 percent as their share of TANF payment reimbursements and received an additional 14 percent in collection incentives from the Federal share of TANF collections. The net Federal share of the $2.6 billion collected in TANF cases amounted to 37 percent. In FY 2000, TANF families received 6 percent in support collections, and 1 percent in medical support payments through the Child Support Enforcement program. (Figure 8)

Figure 3.8. Distribution of Current Assistance TANF/FC Collections (in Millions $)

Non-TANF collections distributed are child support payments made on behalf of and distributed to families who have applied for Child Support Enforcement services. In FY 2000, non-TANF collections rose to $15.3 billion, an increase of 12 percent since the previous year and a 67 percent increase since FY 1996. (Figure 9)

Figure 3.9. Non-TANF Collections (in Billions $)

Collections made on behalf of families in other States totaled a record $1.2 billion in FY 2000, an increase of 8 percent for fiscal year 1999. Over five years, interstate collections increased by 31 percent. A State's distributed collection amount does not include collections made on behalf of other States. Hence, total distributed collections do not reflect the efforts put forth by one State to collect for another. In some cases, a substantial amount of child support is collected by one State on behalf of other States.(Figure 10)

Figure 3.10. Interstate Collections (in Millions $)

There are various ways in which child support payments are made. Income withholding, withholding of unemployment compensation, and State and Federal income tax refund offsets are all powerful enforcement techniques. However, wage withholding is by far the most effective, totaling 62 percent of all collections in FY 2000. Included in the wage withholding^[6] are amounts received from non-IV-D child support cases for processing through the State disbursement unit. Federal and State income tax refund offsets contributed 6.3 percent and 1 percent, respectively; the withholding of unemployment compensation accounted for 1.2 percent of total collections. The remaining 29.5 percent of collections was obtained from parents who sent their child support payments directly to the State Child Support Enforcement agency, payments received through other enforcement techniques, or collections received from other States. (Figure 11)

Figure 3.11. Total Collections by Method of Collections

The collections due and distributed data present the total dollar amount of child support payments due and received by IV-D agencies. Information reported for FY 2000 indicates that $23 billion in current support and $84 billion in prior years support was due. Over $12.9 billion or 56 percent of the current support due was collected. Of prior years support due, only $5.6 billion or 7 percent was collected. Comparisons of States' collections due data are complicated because States count arrearages differently based on State laws and practices. For example, some States include unreimbursed public assistance as a debt and others do not. Some States have statutes of limitations governing collections of debt, some assess interest on arrearages which becomes part of the amount due, and some have policies for writing off bad debts. (Figure 12)

Figure 3.12. Total Collections Due and Distributed (in Billions $)

Total expenditures are the net amounts of combined Federal and State funds expended on the operation of the CSE program. The amounts are reduced by the amount of program income (fees and costs recovered in excess of fees, interest earned, and other program income received) received by the States. Total expenditures were $4.5 billion in FY 2000, an increase of over 12 percent from FY 1999. The federal share of expenditures was $3.0 billion and the State share was $1.5 billion. Total expenditures increased by 48 percent from FY 1996 to FY 2000.

The total Automated Data Processing (ADP) cost for developing and implementing automated statewide child support enforcement systems for fiscal year 2000 was $562, this is a 19 percent increase from the $470 reported in fiscal year 1996. Much of the increase in total expenditures is due to the increase in ADP expenses as states prepared the legislated statewide systems. (Figure 13)

Figure 3.13. Total Expenditures (in Billions $)

Nationally under the traditional cost-effectiveness ratio, $3.95 in child support payments are collected for every $1.00 spent to administer the CSE program. The total collections distributed were $17.9 billion and the total administrative expenditures were $4.5 billion. Under the new cost effectiveness ratio, per the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (CSPIA), the national ratio is $4.21. The total of the collections distributed ($17.9 billion), collections forwarded to other States ($1.2 billion), and fees retained by other States ($3.7 million) equals $19 billion. The total administrative expenditures ($4.5 billion) less the non-IV-D costs ($7.4 million) equals about $4.5 billion. (Figure 14)

Figure 3.14. Cost Effectiveness Ratio

The number of children^[7] in cases open at the end of the fiscal year was about 19.4 million. This represents a decrease of 7 percent from 20.8 million in FY 1999. Since the number of cases open was 17.4 million, the average number of children per case is 1.12. (Figure 15)