Commissioner Tanguler Gray

At OCSE, we believe equity is an essential part of administering child support to ensure we have quality services and fair outcomes. Our office works to advance racial equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and held back by persistent poverty and inequality. You can read about our efforts and commitment to equity in our Equity Action Statement. 

Upcoming equity grant

We also know it’s important to support equity work among state and tribal child support offices. We’ve highlighted equity work in the states in previous Child Support Report articles from Colorado, Michigan, and Illinois. Next month, state and tribal programs can apply for the Advancing Equity in Child Support demonstration . The grant recipient of this two-year project will examine child support guidelines, policies, and procedures to address the disproportional access to services. 

The recipient will:

• Conduct an equity assessment to gather data on inequities in existing child support policies, programs, and practices. For this assessment, it will be important to engage with other state, tribal, and territorial agencies; equity experts; people with lived experience; and related entities like courts, employment programs, domestic violence organizations, and fatherhood organizations. The recipient will also conduct equity assessments for five to eight other states and tribes.
   
• Determine the best methods for addressing and mitigating inequities (equity analysis tool or other methods).
   
• Provide recommendations and model resources for ensuring equity in current and future child support programs, policies, and practices. 

I encourage all child support programs to consider applying for this grant to advance equity for all in your state or tribe. When we build equitable child support policies and practices that treat everyone with fairness, it gives the children and families we serve the opportunity to reach their full potential.

You can register on Grants.gov to receive an alert when the Notice of Funding Opportunity is published. For past grant success stories or news on upcoming grants, visit the OCSE Grants page. 

Division of Customer Communications, OCSE

Good news! Our Child Support Handbook for parents has undergone a major change. It’s now a mobile-friendly webpage called “Understanding Child Support.” 

The handbook was formerly published as a PDF and distributed in hard copy at conferences and outreach events. Now that customers increasingly access information through smartphones and tablets, we migrated this information to a more customer-friendly platform. 

The new webpage has several benefits:

• Readability: The OCSE website is mobile friendly and will allow users to easily read information without having to zoom in on a PDF. 
   
• Clarity: Clear headings and subheadings make it easy to scan by topics. The handbook was Q&A-based with long, specific scenarios that made it difficult to find basic information. 
   
• Brevity: We condensed the information, shortening the overall length by half. This helps readers find answers quickly.
   
• Searchability: Hosting the information directly on a webpage makes it easier for users to find through search engines. 
   
• Accessibility: The text can be translated into 80 different languages—part of OCSE’s access and equity efforts—using the “Select Language” drop-down menu at the top right corner of each webpage. 

This improvement to our website will help parents learn about the child support process easily on all devices. Local child support programs can supplement their outreach material by sharing the link to Understanding Child Support. 

If you have any questions, email OCSECommunications@acf.hhs.gov. 

Demetricus Johnson, OCSE 

Each year, more than 600,000 people are released from state and federal prisons. These formerly incarcerated parents often face numerous challenges reentering society, including finding employment, housing, and support services. For noncustodial parents, the transition back into society can be particularly challenging because they may have fallen behind on child support payments. 

Partnering with post-release service providers can benefit child support agencies in several ways:

• Consistent child support payments: These services can help increase compliance with child support orders because individuals with these supports are more likely to find employment and have stable housing. This makes it easier for them to meet their financial obligations to their children. 
   
• Identify parents for modification: Building relationships with service providers can help programs identify parents who may be eligible for modification of their child support orders due to changes in their circumstances. 
   
• Referral services: Partnerships can also provide child support agencies with access to a wider range of resources and services, including job training programs, mental health and substance use treatment, and other services that can help parents successfully reintegrate into society. 

Child support agencies can establish or strengthen partnerships with post-release service providers in several ways: Identify local organizations that serve returning citizens for potential collaboration; participate in local reentry councils; and educate service providers about the child support program and resources for parents with past-due payments.

As more individuals are released from prisons each year, the need for support services to help them successfully reintegrate into society becomes increasingly important. Building relationships with post-release service providers is essential to support noncustodial parents and help them meet their financial obligations to their children. 

Read our training guide that helps states, employers, courts, and others understand the information required on the Income Withholding form.