Bipartisan Child Support Protection Act (S. 1859

Please call Senator Mikulski’s office today to urge her to cosponsor the bipartisan Child Support Protection Act (S. 1859). If you are a government employee, please take action through the appropriate channels in your agency as soon as possible.

As you may know, child support program funding will be cut on October 1, 2010 if Congress does not act. Without action, the law will revert back to the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act which removed the long standing authority of states to use earned performance incentives as a match for federal funds. The combination of incentives and federal funds provides a majority of funding for the child support program throughout the United States.

The NCSEA leadership and staff have been working very hard in conjunction with the entire child support community and a number of other strategic partners to urge Congress to continue current funding for the program. Given the current economic environment – it is critical that all voices, including yours, are heard on this issue. These cuts will probably mean severe staff reductions, reductions in programs, elimination of innovative programs that assist families, and of course, most critically, a cut in child support collections.

We need at least 40 Senators to co-sponsor S 1859 introduced by Senators Rockefeller (D-WV), Cornyn (R-TX), Snowe (R-ME) and Kohl (D-WI) last year. The bill restores the cuts to the program. Getting 40 co-sponsors will help signal to Congressional leaders that funding for child support must be a high legislative priority this fall.

Senator Mikulski was a co-sponsor of an identical bill in the previous Congress but has not yet signed on as a co-sponsor of S. 1859. Phone calls to the Senator’s Washington DC office and local office from constituents in her state is the most effective way of getting her support on this critical effort.

In addition to your call, we would greatly appreciate it if you could pass this call to action on to advocates and other organizations with whom you work who have a stake in the child support program. The Senator’s Washington DC office phone number is (202) 224-4654 and the staff member who works on human services issues is Mario Cardona. The Senator’s local (Maryland) office phone number is (410) 962-4510 and the staff member there is Lucy Snodgrass. Every phone call will make a difference and we are running out of time to get the funding cuts restored.

We have listed some Talking Points below to assist you in educating the Senator and others about this important issue. If you need any additional information, please feel free to contact us.

Regards,

Kim Newsom Bridges, Esq. Colleen Delaney Eubanks, CAEPresident Executive Director

National Child Support Enforcement Association
1760 Old Meadow Road, Suite 500
McLean, VA 22102
703-506-2880
www.ncsea.org

“NCSEA is the voice for the child support community”

Child Support Talking Points

If Congress does not act this fall, funding will be cut for the child support enforcement program.

· Since the enactment of the program in 1974, child support has enjoyed bipartisan support, due to its innovative and results-oriented funding structure.

· A key feature of the child support program’s funding structure is earned performance incentives. This incentive structure is innovative and rewards efficient, results-oriented programs and includes a penalty for not meeting standards.

· States earn incentives based on 5 measures. One of every four dollars for state expenditures to fund the child support program comes from those incentives which, by law, must be used for the program and are eligible for federal matching.

The program serves all families.

· This proven and very effective program serves 17.4 million children by establishing paternity, support obligations, enforcing and collecting support.

· The program has matured in recent years and works more closely with families, especially fathers, to assist parents in obtaining work; modifying existing support orders if employment status has changed; opens opportunities to engage with their children; and supports healthy parenting.

The program collected about $20 billion in FY 2009 with 80% of those payments being made for families not receiving TANF.

Child support collections account for 13% of the income for single parent households and 38% of the income for families below the poverty level.

· Child support program saves government funds otherwise spent on programs providing housing, cash assistance, and medical services as it provides a regular source of income to families.

Given the economy, continuing a strong child support program is needed more than ever.

· Caseloads increased in FFY 2009 to 15.8 million, the first increase in two years. During FFY 2009, the numbers of new orders established increased by 6.3 percent, the largest one year increase in over a decade.

· In FFY 2009, the program collected $26.4 billion in payments, including those in arrears, returning $4.78 for every dollar invested in the program.

What should Congress do?

· Adopt provisions similar to the bipartisan bill S. 1859, sponsored by Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Cornyn (R-TX) and 35 of their colleagues.

· The measure would continue the long-standing policy a Republican House and Senate and Democratic Administration created in 1998 to provide performance incentives rewarding efficient, results-oriented programs.

· Without action, that policy will be rescinded and families will lose up to $1 billion every year in support payments, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

· States will reduce innovative customer service operations, eliminate or reduce work with fathers including programs to assist in job placement and opportunities to engage with their children.