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Last Updated: Jul 11, 2008 - 11:26:39 AM

                                                                                                                              

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Contact: ACF Press Office
(202) 401-9215

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced grants totaling $696,000 to six state child support enforcement agencies for demonstration and research purposes. 

“These grants are aimed at testing new approaches to strengthen the child support system,” said Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., HHS assistant secretary for children and families. “The goal of this funding is to make child support payments a more dependable source of income for families.” 

Included in the $696,000 are the following:

Two two-year projects are designed to reduce the number of cases in which large child support arrearages accumulate, by quickly reviewing and adjusting child support orders when the circumstances of a parent changes:

• $135,000 for the state of Maryland to establish a program for promptly reviewing and, if appropriate, modifying child support orders of incarcerated non-custodial parents. Upon release from incarceration, these parents will be assisted in obtaining employment so they are able to meet their child support obligations.

• $135,000 for the District of Columbia to increase services to incarcerated parents by identifying those with current support orders and offering them assistance, if warranted.

Two three-year projects are designed to test significant new procedures to streamline, where appropriate, the interaction of state child support agencies and the courts:

• $150,000 to the state of California to test alternatives in dispute resolution to increase child support payments, the speed of establishing child support orders and parental satisfaction, as compared with traditional courtroom processes.

• $150,000 to the state of Colorado to plan, implement and evaluate a process for electronic filing of child support cases with the court.

Two three-year projects are designed to improve the collaboration between state child support and child welfare agencies:

• $75,000 to the state of North Dakota to develop and implement automation and other processes to better serve children and families, including expedited referral of child welfare cases to child support agencies for improved case coordination.

• $51,000 to the state of Nebraska to improve coordination of child support and child welfare services. Automation will also be developed and implemented to facilitate information exchange with the goal of increasing and stabilizing financial support to these families.

The grants are awarded under the authority of Section 1115 of the Social Security Act and are designed to improve the financial well-being of children or improve the operation of the child support enforcement program. Section 1115 authorizes states to conduct demonstration projects aimed at promoting the objectives of the Social Security Act.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news