DHHS, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)

Child support is an important income source for many low-income families, and the receipt of support may be most critical for women as they transition off welfare. In the post-welfare reform era emphasizing work and self-sufficiency, many policymakers now consider child support as a key income support. In the effort to support self-sufficiency, for example, it is important that custodial parents, primarily mothers, know the rules of child support, establish orders, begin to receive child support while on welfare and receive child support payments on a regular basis after leaving welfare. To examine the interaction of child support and welfare receipt, researchers from MDRC, The Lewin Group, and The University of Wisconsin-Madison analyzed several data sources to address questions concerning child support receipt of current and former welfare recipients. This report is the second and final in a series for this project. The first report, produced by The Lewin Group, provided an extensive literature review.

"Throughout the engagement, Lewin consultants listened to us and delivered superb analyses and thoughtful guidance–not canned solutions."  NONPROFIT HEALTH SYSTEM