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Comparison of CSPED Participants to National and State Child Support Caseloads

This paper examines the broader child support contexts in which Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED) programs were implemented. State and national case-level data from the Office of Child Support Enforcement’s annual reports to Congress and participant-level administrative data from the CSPED impact evaluation are used.  We compare state-level child support measures for the eight CSPED grantees to each other and to national measures. We find that the grantees included states with a range of characteristics, but that state-level measures are generally comparable to national measures. Child support collections and cost-effectiveness improved for the eight grantees and for the nation as a whole over the CSPED enrollment period. We compare child support measures for CSPED participants to state-level measures, and we find that they are less comparable. We observe higher rates of arrears balances and lower amounts of child support collected at the CSPED level than at the state level. Possible explanations for these differences are discussed.

Categories

Arrears & Related Policy, Child Support, Complicated Families & Multiple-Partner Fertility, CSPED, Enforcement, Orders & Payments, WI Administrative Data Core

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