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child support cooperation

FGA Applauds White House’s Call to Enforce Child Support Cooperation

Washington, D.C. – Recently, the White House recommended that Congress overhaul federal child support enforcement to ensure that parents are complying with child support in order to remain eligible for welfare programs. FGA commends the Trump administration for its commitment to reform welfare programs to reprioritize the truly needy, including impoverished children, by enforcing child support cooperation and other commonsense measures.

The recommendation to enforce child support cooperation as a condition for welfare eligibility aligns with the the Administration’s support of reforming welfare. The White House has has been supportive of measures that promote work and economic mobility, including expanding commonsense work requirements for food stamps through the 2018 House Farm Bill and allowing states to implement Medicaid work requirements. The House Farm Bill also includes measures that would require child support cooperation as a condition of food stamp eligibility.

Research has shown that child support is one of the best tools to end the cycle of dependency for single-parent families. While these payments boost incomes for single-parent families by an average of 54 percent, fewer than one in four single-parent families on food stamps receive any amount of child support. Even among those families who receive support, most only receive a portion of what is owed.

“Because of the lack of child support enforcement, these families are missing out on thousands of dollars of income, trapping them in the cycle of dependency. The House Farm Bill adopts commonsense child support requirements that would end that, and the Trump administration’s recommendation to Congress that they adopt these measures is indicative of the need and momentum towards overhauling the current welfare system,” said Kristina Rasmussen, vice president of federal affairs at FGA.

The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) is a non–profit, multi–state think tank that specializes in health care, welfare, and work reform. To learn more, visit TheFGA.org.


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