Number: RL34203
Title: Child Support Enforcement Program Incentive Payments: Background and Policy Issues
Authors: Carmen Solomon-Fears, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: This report describes the current CSE incentive payment system, explains how state incentive payments are derived, presents some of the state trends, and discusses the following list of issues: (1) does the CSE incentive payment system reward good performance? (2) should incentive payments be based on additional performance indicators? (3) should TANF funds be reduced because of poor CSE performance? (4) why aren't the incentives and penalties consistent for the paternity establishment performance measure? (5) should incentive payments be based on individual state performance rather than aggregate state performance? and (6) will the elimination of the federal match of incentive payments adversely affect CSE programs? The data analysis in this report covers the five-year period FY2002-FY2006.
Pages: 55
Date: October 5, 2007