Wisconsin Projects

The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) has both a national and a state presence with Wisconsin-focused efforts across research and outreach.

Research

IRP has cooperative research agreements with several Wisconsin state agencies and IRP Affiliates are involved in a broad array of state and local evaluations and technical assistance efforts. Among our Wisconsin-focused efforts are:

  • a long history of child support policy research for the Bureau of Child Support in the Department of Children and Families;
  • WADC, an integrated data system harmonizing administrative data from five state agencies;
  •  health policy research focused on health care access, cost, and quality in Wisconsin.

Outreach

IRP collaborates with many state and local organizations to support Wisconsinites through resources and outreach activities. Partnerships and initiatives include:

  • collaborative outreach and learning efforts with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension
  • Wisconsin Poverty Research Network.

In addition to linking to key Wisconsin projects, this page contains links to all of IRP’s Wisconsin-focused products and to other resources on poverty in Wisconsin.

IRP’s Wisconsin-Focused Products

The Use of Child Support Guidelines in Wisconsin: 2017–2020

Shared Placement in Wisconsin: An Overview of Trends, Child Support Guidelines, Payments and Cost-Sharing, and Economic Implications

Child Support and Child Welfare System Interactions: Evaluating the Effect of Cost-Recovery Arrears on the Stability of Reunification

Driver’s License Action Prevalence and Characteristics Report

Survey-Based Outcomes from the ELEVATE Evaluation

Wisconsinites’ Opinions About & Experiences With Child Care: Evidence From The WisconSays Survey

Wisconsin’s ELEVATE Program: Initial Implementation Report

Wisconsin’s ELEVATE Program: Final Evaluation Report

What Will Happen If Child Care Counts Stabilization Funding Ends? Implications for Wisconsin

License Suspension and Civil Contempt as Enforcement Tools

An Overview of Findings from the WiscParents Survey

Noncustodial Parents’ Child Support and Custodial Parents’ Income Packages: Comparing the Great Recession and COVID-19 Recession Eras

Peer Parenting Groups for Noncustodial Fathers

Default Orders, Income Imputation, and Implications for Child Support Outcomes

Child Care Supply and Demand Challenges in Wisconsin Final Report

Greg Wilson on Racialization in the Nonprofit Sector

Child Support and Child Welfare System Interactions

Incarceration, Child Support, and Family Relationships

Experiences, Characteristics, and Service Needs of Noncustodial Parents with Challenges Meeting Child Support Obligations: Evidence from ELEVATE Parents

Reducing the Interest Rate Charged on Arrears

Tiffany Green on How Charging Dads for the Medicaid Costs of Their Baby’s Birth Affects Child Support

Crystasany Turner on the Strengths, Challenges, and Cultural Assets of Family Child Care Professionals

New Approaches to Child Support Services: Custodial Parent Perspectives

Effects of Medicaid Birth Cost Recovery Policy Changes on Child Support Outcomes

Study of the Child Care Counts Stabilization Payment Program: Final Report

Child Support, Child Placement, Repartnering, and Divorced Mothers’ Objective and Subjective Economic Well-Being: Insights from Combining Survey and Administrative Data

Child Support Guidelines in Practice

Perceptions of Fairness in Child Support

Shared Placement, Child Support Payments, and Sharing of Child-Related Expenses: Overview and Mothers’ Perception of Fairness

Associations Between Problematic Substance Use and Child Support Order Compliance

COVID-19, Child Support, and the Income Packages of Custodial Parents

New Research on the Child Support Landscape in Wisconsin

Focus Groups with Noncustodial and Custodial Parents of Children Receiving TANF Benefits in Wisconsin

Arrearages, Lying-in Orders, and Child Support Compliance among Fathers of W-2 Children in Wisconsin

Mothers’ Family Networks and Livelihood in the Context of Child Support Enforcement Policy

Multiple-Partner Fertility: Incidence and Implications for Child Support Policy

Participant Knowledge of the Child Support Pass-Through and Disregard: Interviews With Local Child Support and W-2 Staff

Child Support Agencies as Connectors

The Experiences of American Indians in Wisconsin in the Child Support Demonstration Evaluation

Comparisons of Outcomes

Exploring the Long-Term Effects of Child Support

Casey Stockstill on Economic and Racial Segregation in Preschools

The Wisconsin Approach to Developing Administrative Data Resources for Research & Evaluation

Medicaid Enrollment Before Re-Entry: Regaining Access to Healthcare after Incarceration

Shared Placement in Paternity Cases: An Initial Look

Who Is Not Paying Child Support?

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Child Support Enforcement

Child Support and Subsequent Nonmarital Fertility

Child Support Debt: Tracing the Evolution of the Problem and Implications for Policy Solutions

Enhancing the Child Support Knowledge of TANF-Eligible Families and TANF Caseworkers: A Collaborative Strategy for Improving Outcomes for Low-Income Children and Their Families – Outcomes Evaluation

Child Support and Income Equality

Full-Time Father or “Deadbeat Dad”? Does the Growth in Father Placement Explain the Declining Share of Divorced Custodial Parents with a Child Support Order?

Exploring Reasons for the Decline in Child Support Orders among Paternity Cases

The Wisconsin Mothers with Young Children Study (WiscMoms): Report on a Pilot Survey of Formal and Informal Support of Children in Complex Families

Use of Enforcement Actions and Their Relationship to Payments

COVID-19 and Transitioning to a Virtual Workforce

How to Better Serve Families Involved in the Criminal Justice System

Stability of Placement Arrangements Among Divorced Wisconsin Families with Sole Mother and Shared Placement Orders

Wisconsin Parents Survey: Final Field Report

Satisfaction with Placement Arrangements Among Divorced Wisconsin Families with Sole Mother and Shared Placement Orders

Analysis of the Unemployment Insurance Waiting Period in Wisconsin

Child Support in Military-Connected Wisconsin Families

Are Complex Families Becoming More Common?

Child Support Receipt and the Quality and Stability of Housing

Child Placement Arrangements and Post-Divorce Economic Outcomes

The Child Support Referral Process for Out-of-Home Placements: Potential Modifications to Current Policy

The Contributions of Nonresident Parents to Child Care Arrangements and Costs

Child Support Orders and Childcare Costs

Shared Placement and Post-Divorce Economic Well-Being

County Performance and the Role of Incarceration

Incarcerated Payers: A Review of Child Support Agency Practice

Holding Child Support Orders of Incarcerated Payers in Abeyance: Four Year Outcomes

Child Support Receipt, Moves, and School Changes

Expanding the Provision of Child Support Services to Additional Cases

Does Joint Legal Custody Increase the Child Support Payments of the Fathers of Nonmarital Children?

Reducing the Interest Rate Charged on Child Support Arrears

The Use of Child Support Guidelines in Wisconsin: 2007 to 2009

Exploring Paths to Child Support Compliance

Wisconsin Poverty Report 2018: Still in the Doldrums

Evictions and Housing Challenges in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Reducing Child Support Debt and Its Consequences: Can Forgiveness Benefit All?

Satisfaction with Child Support Agency Services and Its Relationship to Child Support Payments

Barriers to Child Support Payment

Alternative Approaches to Income Imputation in Setting Child Support Orders

Child Support Payments, Income Imputation, and Default Orders

Recent Changes to State Child Support Guidelines for Low-Income Noncustodial Parents

Cost of Raising Children and Expenditures on Children

The Use of Child Support Guidelines in Wisconsin: 2010 and 2013

Child Support Enforcement Tools and Their Relationship to Payments: A Review of County Policy and Practice

Potential Effects of a Self-Support Reserve in Wisconsin

How are Child Support Burdens Related to Child Support Payments, Compliance, and Regularity?

Changes in the Incidence of Complex Families and the Implications for Child Support Orders

States’ Treatment of High-Income Payers

Closures of Unenforceable Cases: A Review of Child Support Agency Practice

Comparing Income-Shares and Percentage-of-Income Child Support Guidelines

Post-Divorce Placement Arrangements and Children’s Test Scores

The Role of Formal Child Support in Children’s Academic Achievement

Declining Returns to Low-Wage Work in Wisconsin

Challenges and Opportunities for Engaging Noncustodial Parents in Employment and Other Services

Wisconsin Poverty Report Update: Why isn’t the Economy Doing More to Reduce Poverty in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Treading Water in 2017

Rental Housing Affordability in Dane County

Reducing high infant mortality rates in the United States

Wisconsin’s Opioid Crisis

Strategies for Involving and Engaging Fathers in Programming

The Unique Contributions of Fathers to their Children’s Development

Reducing pregnancy-Related maternal deaths in the United States

Pay-to-Stay Jail Fees in Wisconsin

Beth Vaade, Kerry Lawton, and Eric Grodsky on Research-Practice Partnerships in Education

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Progress Against Poverty Stalls in 2016

Alternative Approaches to Child Support Policy in the Context of Multiple-Partner Fertility

Economic Well-Being of Divorced Mothers with Varying Child Placement Arrangements in Wisconsin: Contributions of Child Support and Other Income Sources

Access to Justice for Low-Income Litigants in Civil Cases

Promise Neighborhoods as Education Reform: A Social Frontier

Child Support in a Recession: A Report on Interviews with Child Support Staff and Court Commissioners in Five Counties

Reducing Income Inequality in Educational Attainment: Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Financial Aid on College Completion

Eligibility for Child Care Subsidies of Parents with Child Support Income

Child Support in an Economic Downturn: Changes in Earnings, Child Support Orders, and Payments

Child Support Income and Copayments in the Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program

The rise and fall of poverty as a policy issue

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Technical Appendix-2008

Estimating the Cost of Children: Theoretical Considerations Related to Transitions to Adulthood and the Valuation of Parental Time for Developing Child Support Guidelines

Refugees and the Wisconsin Child Support Enforcement System

The Families Forward Program Final Evaluation Report

Work-exempt TANF participants

The Stability of Child Support Orders

The Compliance of New Wisconsin Child Support Orders with the Wisconsin Guideline: Pre- and Post-2004with the Wisconsin Guideline: Pre- and Post-2004

Interactions of the Child Support and Child Welfare Systems: Child Support Enforcement after Family Reunification

An Intelligent Consumer’s Guide to Poverty Measurement

Interactions of the Child Support and Child Welfare Systems: Child Support Referral for Families Served by the Child Welfare System, Final Report

Improving Medical Support Order Enforcement in Wisconsin

Child Support Referrals for Out-of-Home Placements: A Review of Policy and Practice

Children’s Placement Arrangements in Divorce and Paternity Cases in Wisconsin

How Did the 2004 Change in Wisconsin’s Guidelines Affect Child Support Payments?

The Role of Child Support in the Current Economic Safety Net for Low-Income Families with Children

Rural Development after the Great Recession

The Use of Child Support Guidelines in Wisconsin: 1996 to 2007

Wisconsin’s 2004 Shared-Physical-Placement Guidelines: Their Use and Implications in Divorce Cases

A Decade of Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment in Wisconsin: 1997–2007

The Use of Civil Contempt and Criminal Nonsupport as Child Support Enforcement Tools: A Report on Local Perspectives and the Availability of Data

Wisconsin Poverty Report: How a State-Level Alternative Poverty Measure Can Be Used to Advance Poverty Measurement and Policy

Child Support Enforcement Use of Contempt and Criminal Nonsupport Charges in Wisconsin

Holding Child Support Orders of Incarcerated Payers in Abeyance: Final Evaluation Report

The Regularity of Child Support and Its Contribution to the Regularity of Income

“I’m Not Supporting His Kids”: Noncustodial Fathers’ Contributions When Mothers Have Children with New Partners

Factors Associated with Nonpayment of Child Support

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Technical Appendix-2009

Wisconsin Poverty Report: The Recovery from the Great Recession Lowers Poverty Rates in 2015

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Methodology and Results for 2009

Wisconsin Poverty Report: How the Safety Net Protected Families from Poverty in 2010

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Policy Context, Methodology, and Results for 2010

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Is the Safety Net Still Protecting Families from Poverty in 2011?

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Jobs Recover to Help Reduce Poverty in 2012

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Poverty Rises in 2013 Despite Growth in Jobs

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Poverty Levels Flat on Average but More Diverse within State in 2014

The First Wisconsin Poverty Report

Wisconsin Poverty Report: New Measure, Broader View

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Methodology and Results for 2008

Wisconsin Poverty Report: Were Antipoverty Policies Effective in 2009?

Need-Based Financial Aid and College Persistence: Experimental Evidence from Wisconsin (Revised title and paper from July 2011 version)

Housing Voucher Receipt and the Quality of Schools Available to Recipient Children

Food Insecurity and Food Assistance Programs

Wisconsin Poverty 101 Updated

Wisconsin Poverty 101

The Academic Achievement of Children in Foster Care

The Wisconsin Poverty Report and How We Think about Measuring Poverty

Spatial measurement of child poverty in the United States

The effects of the 2009 ARRA on poverty in Wisconsin

Does Foster Care Lower School Achievement?

Incarceration and CPS involvement

Disconnected Americans

From multiple program participation to disconnection in Wisconsin

Both Hands Tied

Reconfiguring the social contract: A summary of Both Hands Tied

Reactions to Both Hands Tied

Response from the authors

Patterns of Long-Term Utilization of Medicaid and Food Stamps by Wisconsin Welfare Leavers

Children’s Living Arrangements in Divorced Wisconsin Families with Shared Placement

Forgiveness of State-Owed Child Support Arrears

The Employment, Earnings, and Income of Single Mothers in Wisconsin Who Left Cash Assistance: Comparisons among Three Cohorts

Food Insecurity in Wisconsin, 1996-2000

Wisconsin’s Family Care Long-Term Care Pilot Program: Care Managers’ Perspectives on Progress and Challenges

The Take-Up of Medicaid and Food Stamps by Welfare Leavers: The Case of Wisconsin

Early Evidence from Wisconsin’s Family Care Long-Term Care Pilot Program: Continuity and Change in the Provision of Formal Services

Self-Sufficiency of Former Foster Youth in Wisconsin: Analysis of Unemployment Insurance Wage Data and Public Assistance Data