Roundtable:
Child Support: The New Work Strategy
(Family and Child Policy)
Friday, November 13, 2015: 1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Brickell North (Hyatt Regency Miami)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Roundtable Organizers: Lawrence Mead, New York University
Moderators: Lawrence Mead, New York University
Speakers: Vicki Turetsky, U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement, Gary Gamble, South Carolina Department of Social Services, Daniel R. Meyer, University of Wisconsin – Madison and Ron Mincy, Columbia University
This roundtable will showcase important new initiatives in national child support policy. The U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) oversees and largely funds the national child support system, which collects support from absent parents for the benefit of single-parent families. But many absent parents fail to pay support due to irregular employment. Many localities have instituted work programs to which nonpaying parents can be assigned, to raise their work levels. Evaluations of these programs are moderately encouraging.
OCSE recently proposed to allow federal funding for these programs, along with other improvements in federal child support regulations. It has also funded demonstration work programs in eight states. The programs comprise the National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration, or CSPED, which is being evaluated by the Institute for Research on Poverty.
On this roundtable, Vicki Turetsky, the commissioner of OCSE, will explain the new work initiatives. Gary Gamble from the South Carolina Department of Social Services will describe one of the CSPED programs. Dan Meyer of IRP will describe the CSPED evaluation, and Ron Mincy of Columbia will be discussant.
