ACF Awards $11.2 Million to Grantees for Domestic Violence Survivors to Safely Access Necessary Child Support Resources

October marks Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month , and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) awarded $11.2 million to one tribal and 12 state child support agencies to implement comprehensive domestic violence services to survivors who need assistance accessing child support. Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES) is a new national demonstration model designed to develop, evaluate, and implement best practices to provide safe access to child support and parenting time services. Parenting time services determine the schedule and conditions for when each parent is with their child(ren). States and tribes receiving SAVES demonstration funding will implement comprehensive domestic violence safety policies, procedures, and outreach activities to increase access to child support and parenting time services for parents not currently receiving child support due to safety concerns. One primary reason given by domestic violence survivors for staying with or returning to an abusive partner is financial dependence. When received, child support is a primary source of income for custodial families. SAVES grants play a key role in enhancing safety, economic stability, and helping survivors leave and stay away from an abusive relationship.

“The SAVES demonstration grants will provide a lifeline for domestic violence survivors that have previously been unable to receive critical monetary support when their families are seeking safety,” said ACF Assistant Secretary January Contreras. “It is important that all parents, especially domestic violence survivors, have pathways to provide for their children’s safety, health, economic security, and overall well-being. These demonstration grants will allow them to do just that by providing a mechanism for them to safely receive greatly needed child support to which they are entitled.” 

“The SAVES demonstration grants will help ensure that survivors can safely access child support services and receive the financial support they need to establish safe, violence-free homes for themselves and their children,” said Tanguler Gray, Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Commissioner. “Ninety percent of domestic violence survivors want child support if they can get it safely. The SAVES demonstration grants are one more step that OCSE is taking to make the desire for safe access to child support a reality.”

The SAVES demonstration will consist of:

• Developing and implementing policy
• Training for child support, judicial system, and domestic violence program staff
• Executing cross-system coordination
• Enhancing child support and parenting time legal practice
• Providing public and survivor education and outreach strategies
• Implementing evidence-informed screening and response protocols
• Developing responsive good cause policies and procedures for survivors receiving public benefits
• Implementing comprehensive, domestic violence expert-informed case processing practices for survivors and perpetrators
• Engaging individuals with lived experience to inform and guide all aspects of demonstration implementation
• Establishing and assessing specialized domestic violence triage teams

“The training, technical assistance, and evaluation of these grant projects will be funded through an OCSE cooperative agreement under a companion grant award, the SAVES Center. It will create the resources and training needed by child support professionals nationwide to ensure that survivors of domestic violence receive child support and parenting time services that promote long-term safety and financial independence,” said Kimberly Waller, Associate Commissioner, Family and Youth Services Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families.

In addition to training and technical assistance for SAVES demonstration recipients, the SAVES center will:

• Develop and offer a comprehensive array of technical assistance and training resources for state, tribal, and local child support agency staff, judicial officers, and court staff involved in child support hearings, domestic violence service providers, legal services providers, and other related public and private agencies.
• Compile and maintain a national clearinghouse of promising practices for safe access to child support and parenting time services in states, tribes, and local child support agencies and court systems.
• Conduct and disseminate national research on domestic violence survivors’ barriers and needs related to child support and parenting time services.

The project period for the SAVES demonstration and center is five years.

This funding is a part of ACF’s overall commitment to providing vital resources and support for domestic violence survivors in need of child support. Alongside the SAVES demonstration grants, ACF funding provides trauma-informed training for child support professionals, technical assistance on social, legal, and economic issues that affect survivors’ safety and well-being, and training and resources to ensure effective referrals to emergency shelters and family violence services including advocacy and counseling. ACF recognizes that providing resources and consistent support for domestic violence survivors, including safe access to child support, is an ongoing need, and ACF is dedicated to continuing to provide proper funding and resources to state and tribal agencies.

Recipients of the SAVES demonstration grant are:

• Attorney General of Texas: Austin, TX
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Colorado Department of Human Services: Denver, CO
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Georgia Department of Human Services: Atlanta, GA
  FY 2023 Award: $313,873.00
• Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians: Hayward, WI
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Michigan Department of Health and Human Services: Lansing, MI
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Minnesota Department of Human Services: Saint Paul, MN
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Missouri Department of Social Services Family Support Division: Jefferson City, MO
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance: Albany, NY
  FY 2023 Award: $351,995.00
• Ohio Department of Job and Family Services: Columbus, OH
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Oklahoma Human Services: Oklahoma City, OK
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Virginia Department of Social Services: Richmond, VA
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Washington State Division of Child Support: Olympia, WA
  FY 2023 Award: $420,000.00
• Wisconsin Department of Children and Families: Madison, WI
  FY 2023 Award: $411,326.00

The recipient of the SAVES Center grant is:

• Colorado Department of Human Services: Denver, CO
  FY 2023 Award: $5,881,379.00

For additional information about the federal child support program, please visit the Office of Child Support Enforcement.

If you or anyone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please seek help by contacting the Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

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