In fall 2011, OCSE awarded three Section 1115 demonstration grants to Iowa, Michigan, and Washington to work with university partners to:
- Improve analysis and interpretation of various types of data, and
- Improve capacity across organizations by identifying areas that needed changing and then assessing how those changes affected families.
Universities and scholars brought expertise in research design and data analysis. State child support agencies shared expertise in managing and operating complex child support activities. Together, the universities and states developed pilots to test new ways of understanding paternity establishment rates, collecting on arrears-only cases, and incentivizing regular child support payments through debt reduction.
The grants ended in September 2016, but the work will continue because the activities foster a culture of critical inquiry focused on improved program effectiveness. Iowa, Michigan, and Washington will continue to build their internal capacity for research and evaluation and strengthen their relationships with Iowa State University, the University of Michigan, MEF Associates, and the University of Washington.