Links on child support guidelines, research and policy papers

  • State-by-State profile of child support law and policies
  • Support Guidelines.com.  An excellent resource on child support guidelines by a family law attorney – articles, summary of recent cases, links to all state guidelines, and on-line calculators.
  • Economic Success Network – Child Support resources. Programs, best practices, resources, announcements  – this link is to part of a much broader site on welfare reform issues.
  • Studies and policy papers.
    • CLASP Reading Room. The Center for Law and Social Policy’s excellent publications on federal child support law, from 1996 to date – primarily by Paula Roberts and Vicky Turetsky. This site is a rich source of policy analysis and review.
      • “CLASP advocates reorienting the child support program into an income support program, emphasizing the need to improve family resources by providing tailored services to both parents and integrating child support services into the welfare to work agenda. This reframing includes a focus on improving program performance; eliminating welfare cost recovery as a program function; expanding family distribution; setting realistic child support orders; managing arrears; expanding health care coverage through the child support program; and creating case management and referral mechanisms for mothers and fathers.”
      • Recent publications, and see CLASP’s support news at the bottom of this page.
      • 2006 Publications
      • 2005 publications
        • Parentage Case Update: Can a Child Have Two Mothers?  (12/8/2005)
        • Child Support Cooperation Agreements and Public Benefits Programs: an Overview. (12/5/2005)
        • In Everybody’s Best Interests: Why Reforming Child Support Distribution Makes Sense for Government and Families. (9/16/05)
        • Recent State Efforts in Child Medical Support. (8/19/05) pdf
        • Medical  Support Update: The Federal Scene – Recent developments. (7/28/05) pdf
        • Paternity Disestablishment; 2004-05 (6/10/04) pdf
    • Economic Success Clearinghouse (formerly Welfare Information Network).
    • The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin publishes reports on studies on child support issues The Spring 2000 issue of their Focus magazine was devoted to child support enforcement policy and low-income families, including studies on fathers, mothers, and children, child support and custody policy, and international perspectives.
      • Understanding the Effects of a Full Pass-through and Disregard. A December 2006 report brings together 6 years of studies in Wisconsin generally demonstrating that when a custodial parent receiving TANF gets the full benefit child support payments, the rates of paternity establishment and payment of child support increase.
      • A summary of 14 current (9/04 – 12/07) policy research projects including a review of states’ policies on incarcerated payers and on support guidelines for complicated families.
    • Child Support statistics from the US Census Bureau.
  • Domestic Relations Association of Pennsylvania.