Publications - Child Support

The proposed OCSE rule change that requires the use of “actual income” has the potential to increase the use of income information from automated sources when determining support awards. This should reduce the incidence of income imputation, as well as increase the percentage of child support actually paid. The impact of the proposed change, however, Read More

Building Assets for Fathers and Families Initiative in Tennessee (BAFF) aimed to improve the economic stability of low‐income families in the child support system by engaging noncustodial parents (NCPs) in financial education, savings activity, and asset‐building activities. Conducted in Shelby County, Tennessee (Memphis), during November 2011 to December 2013, the key project partners were the Tennessee Department of Human Read More

This toolkit provides a step-by-step guide to establishing a workforce program for unemployed or underemployed, low-income noncustodial parents (NCPs) in the child support system. It is intended for use by child support agencies interested in developing workforce programs for NCPs who have employment problems and are consequently unable to pay their child support obligations.

The State of Tennessee Department of Human Services, Child Support Division (CSD) was awarded a strategic planning grant (#90FD0177) from the U.S. Department of Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in September 2011. The project, titled “Integrating Workforce Strategies with Child Support Services,” was a strategic planning effort designed to engage multiple agencies in a collaborative process Read More

In October 2009, the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) was awarded a grant from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to develop, implement, and evaluate a program providing employment, parenting time, and case management services to low‐income, unwed parents in the child support program in three Tennessee judicial districts: the 11th (Chattanooga), 20th (Nashville), and 26th Read More

Since 1989, federal regulations require each state to provide presumptive guidelines (formulas) for determining the amount of child support awards and to review their guidelines at least once  every four years. Most states developed and adopted their initial guidelines in the late 1980s. States developed their guidelines based on similar premises and guidelines models and relied on a limited number Read More

First and foremost, this article does not —and cannot— provide a clear direction for medical child support under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (only Congress and rule makers can). What this article does is describe how states currently address medical support in their child support guidelines and how these provisions compare to ACA provisions. In Read More

Colorado has an opportunity to increase the monthly incomes of Colorado Works families as well as improve their paths to self-sufficiency by changing the State’s child support pass-through and disregard policies. Families eligible for Colorado Works, which is Colorado’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, have below-poverty incomes. When a family applies for Colorado Works, any payment toward the monthly Read More

Child Support Program and Parenting Time Orders: Research, Practice, and Partnership Project OCSE has funded some demonstration and evaluation projects and grants in the area of parenting, and some states use funding available through the State Access and Visitation (AV) Program to support parenting time services for unmarried parents in the child support program. However, Read More

The Tennessee Department of Human Services, Child Support Division (CSD) was one of seven states to receive a grant from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in 2009 to conduct a project in support of the Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI), a collaborative effort by federal agencies to reduce recidivism by helping returning offenders find work and access other  critical Read More