{
  "id": "RL34105",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL34105",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 346289,
      "date": "2007-07-24",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T17:59:25.489029",
      "title": "The Financial Impact of Child Support on TANF Families: Simulation for Selected States",
      "summary": "The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program was enacted in 1975 as a federal-state-local partnership to help strengthen families by securing financial support from noncustodial parents. Families receiving cash welfare from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant must assign (turn over rights to) child support received from noncustodial parents to the state to reimburse it and the federal government for their welfare costs. States decide whether to pay any of the child support collected for TANF families to the family.\nThe Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA, P.L. 109-171) provides incentives for states to allow more of the child support collected on behalf of TANF families to go to the family without a reduction in welfare benefits. Under DRA, beginning in October 2008, the federal government will share in the cost of passing through up to $100 per month for a family with one child, and up to $200 per month for a family of two or more children, of collected child support to TANF families. This report illustrates the potential impact of the DRA policy on families and governments in six states (CA, IL, ME, MD, OK, and WV) chosen because of their diversity in both TANF and pre-DRA child support pass-through policies. It shows the direct effects of \u201cwhat if\u201d the states fully adopted the DRA policy.\nThe DRA policies can increase the incomes of a TANF cash welfare family consisting of a mother and two children by up to $200 per month. This can be a substantial supplement to TANF cash benefits. Actual income increases depend on how much child support is paid by the noncustodial parent, pre-DRA state policies, the amount of other income (including earnings) of the family, and TANF benefit rules. The DRA has its greatest impact on families with no income other than child support. It mainly affects families who receive TANF; it does not directly affect families with incomes too high to receive TANF. In some states, a family of three with a minimum wage earner (the new fully phased-in federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour; P.L. 110-28) at 20 hours per week is ineligible for TANF; in most states, a family with a full-time minimum wage earner is ineligible for TANF.\nThe increased pass-through and disregard of child support for TANF families also has its costs. Disregarding additional child support when determining TANF financial eligibility can make additional families eligible for TANF. The cost of increasing family income through DRA\u2019s enhanced pass-through and disregard is often borne by reductions in child support collections kept by the state and federal governments. However, sometimes the cost could be borne through increased TANF spending. The DRA rules reduce the \u201ccost\u201d of the pass-through and disregard more for poorer states than for higher-income states.\nThis report provides a limited discussion of DRA\u2019s effect on former TANF families. The report addresses only the \u201cdirect\u201d effects of adopting the DRA child support pass-through and disregard. Adoption of DRA child support policies might have other, indirect, behavioral effects. This report will not be updated.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL34105",
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Domestic Social Policy"
  ]
}