Number: RL32980
Title: Legal Services and Noncustodial Parents Who Owe Child Support
Authors: Carmen Solomon-Fears, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: Pending welfare reauthorization legislation (H.R. 240 and S. 667) includes incentives for states to send more of the child support collected on behalf of custodial parents to the family itself, additional CSE enforcement tools, funding for marriage promotion programs for low-income persons, and funding for programs designed to help noncustodial fathers meet both their financial and emotional responsibilities to their children. Supporters of the welfare reauthorization legislation claim that its passage will result in more noncustodial parents paying child support. They contend that noncustodial parents who can afford to, but do not, pay child support will not be able to escape their duty because of the strong enforcement apparatus, and that noncustodial parents who cannot afford to pay will be offered services that may improve their financial ability to pay, as well as their willingness to pay. In situations in which noncustodial parents find themselves at loggerheads with custodial parents and the CSE system with respect to paternity and child support, some have encouraged legal services providers to play a more "balanced" role. They maintain that providing legal services to noncustodial parents could result in child support payments becoming a more reliable source of income for custodial parents if noncustodial parents were provided better access to the legal system and were satisfied that "they had their day in court" and thereby more amenable to paying child support. This report describes some of the child support issues faced by noncustodial parents and discusses areas in which legal services providers funded by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) are authorized to support poor noncustodial parents.
Pages: 14
Date: July 7, 2005