Early Intervention in Child Support

This report presents the results of a study of the impact of workers using early intervention techniques in child support agencies in five jurisdictions: Lane County, Oregon; Mesa County, Colorado; Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; Suffolk County, Massachusetts; and Tarrant County, Texas. Four of the five sites used proactive, frontend strategies in cases with new or modified child support orders; Oregon uses early intervention at all state child support agencies as part of an “upfront discovery process” for new cases that are current or past recipients of public assistance and/or public health benefits. At all sites, workers were asked to record the contacts they made with parents and employers and other actions related to establishment and enforcement of orders. At four of the five sites, a comparison group was generated from comparable cases processed using conventional techniques. At least 16 months following the assignment of cases to early intervention, information was collected on payment behaviors and enforcement actions for cases in both groups.