NCJ Number
185945
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This chapter first describes the child support assignment and cooperation requirements that domestic violence victims had to face under the Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program and then delineates the child-support provisions contained in the recently enacted Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRA) of 1996; it concludes by offering some suggestions for how to approach the issues raised by the new law.
Abstract
The PRA abolished the AFDC program and replaced it in Title I with a new program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The new law intends to give States more flexibility in designing public assistance programs. It contains Federal standards but lets the States make choices in some major areas. In the child-support area, the new law retains a Federal requirement that those receiving assistance assign their support rights to the State. It also retains some Federal guidance on "cooperation" and "good-cause" exceptions to the cooperation requirements. This chapter discusses the law's implementation procedures, as well as provisions regarding child support and food stamps, child support and Medicaid, and child support and Supplementary Security Income. In discussing possible approaches to the changes under the new law, the chapter considers the following issues: informing women about the child support system and its cooperation requirements and good-cause exceptions; creating protections for those who wish to pursue child support; developing cooperation and good-cause standards and procedures; and implementing and administering the good-cause provisions in a humane and coherent way. 3 notes and 16 references