Child Support Enforcement: Federal Efforts Have Not Kept Pace With
Expanding Program (Testimony, 07/20/94, GAO/T-HEHS-94-209).

Nonpayment of child support by noncustodial parents has contributed to
sharp increases in both childhood poverty rates and the number of
families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
benefits. To help children and families avoid poverty and welfare
dependence, Congress created in 1975 the child support enforcement
program as a federal-state partnership, with the federal government's
Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) providing leadership,
technical assistance, standards, and oversight to state programs, which
collect the child support. The program's mission has expanded in the
last 10 years, with 1984 amendments requiring that state and local
efforts equally service AFDC and non-AFDC families, and the 1988 Family
Support Act setting standards for paternity establishment and additional
requirements to ensure fairness and currency of support awards. For a
variety of reasons, the partnership has so far yielded poor results; in
1992, only 19 percent of about 15 million children and families
depending on the program received full or partial child support. Factors
that account for this performance include budget cuts, reorganization,
the lack of a strategic vision, inadequate communication, and flawed
program data that combine to hamper OCSE's capacity. Also, federal
audits, which consume more than half of OCSE's resources, provide
limited insight into the performance of state programs. Welfare reform,
as outlined in several legislative proposals, would add to OCSE's
responsibilities by further expanding program services. GAO outlines
ways to strengthen the program's weaknesses in management, oversight,
communication, and monitoring.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-HEHS-94-209
     TITLE:  Child Support Enforcement: Federal Efforts Have Not Kept 
             Pace With Expanding Program
      DATE:  07/20/94
   SUBJECT:  Child support payments
             Law enforcement
             Federal/state relations
             State-administered programs
             Program evaluation
             Management information systems
             Budget cuts
             Computerized information systems
             Aid to families with dependent children
             Interagency relations
IDENTIFIER:  Arizona
             Iowa
             Kentucky
             Massachusetts
             New York
             Oregon
             Texas
             Virginia
             HHS Child Support Enforcement Program
             AFDC
             
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