Child Support Incentive Act
introduced in the Senate
There's more trouble brewing on the hill.
Using such information, the mother may ask a local court to modify the child's support order if the father's earnings have increased.
Will the mother ask a local court to decrease the child support when the father's earnings decrease?
This is pretty much the same bill as the one that was introduced in the House. Now it's being re-introduced in the Senate. This bill is sure to pass if nothing is done to stop it. Do we have any good letter writers out there who can format a sample for the general populace? I'd do it but as some of you know I'm already stretched way beyond my capacity to keep up with everything.
Two forwards follow. Pay particular attention to what is stated about $47 billion being owed in 1995. That's my forte for those who don't know me. Additionally, it wasn't "deadbeat parents" who owed the $47 billion, per Sorensen. It was "non custodial fathers," whom later became the "deadbeat dad" early on during the Clinton Administration. With the help of Republican 100 Day Contract rhetoric, said phrase became the mind set it is today and helped found Title III (Child Support Measures) of the PROWRA. You should also note that while Snowe uses Sorensen's data, Rockefeller defers to "$15 -25 billion" in arrears. Please also pay particular attention to how (the manner in which) Rockeller expands support to include medical coverage.
CHILD SUPPORT INCENTIVE BILL (Senate - October 09, 1997)Ms. SNOWE.
Mr. President, I am extremely pleased to join my colleague, Senator Rockefeller, in introducing the Child Support Performance Improvement Act of 1997. This bill establishes a new formula for State child support incentive payments, in order to reward those States which truly excel at collecting child support . Over the years, Senator Rockefeller has shown an extraordinary commitment to children and families across America, and his leadership on this bill represents more of the same.Mr. President, States need to crack down on deadbeat parents who renege on their financial responsibilities to their children. While noncustodial parents owed $47 billion in child support in 1995, States collected only $14 billion. Collections increased to approximately $16 billion in 1996, and are likely to further increase as the result of tough new child support reforms which I authored and which were contained in the Welfare Reform Act.
States performance in collecting child support varies tremendously. For example, Maine has worked very hard to successfully improve its child support collections. While Maine has collected over $580 million since 1975, half of that amount--$286 million--was collected within the past 5 years. Last year alone, Maine collected almost $72 million, representing a 10-percent increase over the previous year. This considerable improvement is due to comprehensive State reforms pioneered under Governor John McKernan in 1993, and Federal child support reforms contained in the Welfare Act. But not all States share this heightened commitment to collecting support . That is why my child support provisions in the Welfare Reform Act required the Secretary of HHS, in consultation with the States, to develop a new formula for State incentive payments that is based on performance, in order to further improve State collections, and to report back to Congress on the subject. The bill that Senator Rockefeller and I introduce today is based on that report.
Under current law, the Federal Government provides States with an extra incentive payment in order to increase child support collections. The current formula for incentive payments is based on the cost-effectiveness of a State's child support collection program--the collection-to-cost ratio--meaning that States are rewarded for bringing in more dollars for each dollar they invest in the program. Incentive payments start at 6 percent of collections, and rise as high as 10 percent for the most cost-effective States. In fiscal year 1995, Federal incentive payments to States were $400 million, nearly 33 percent of the gross Federal share of child support collections.
Mr. President, the current system does not make sense in that every State, no matter how dismal its record in collecting child support , receives a minimum incentive payment. This perpetuates mediocrity and does not serve children. Instead, States should be rewarded on the basis of performance outcomes that will help children, such as establishing paternity and support orders quickly, obtaining medical support , and collecting support on a regular basis so families can rely on it.
The Child Support Performance Improvement Act establishes a formula which takes into account performance-based measures and standards in five areas: establishing of paternity; establishing child support orders; collecting currently-owed support ; cost-effectiveness; and collection of past-due support. The first three measures receive the most weight in the formula because they translate most directly into support that helps keep families financially self-sufficient. Giving them more weight will help concentrate State efforts where they matter most.
Under our bill, States would only qualify for incentive payments if they meet threshold performance requirements in these five areas. States that perform below the threshold level can qualify for minimum incentive payments only if they significantly improve their performance compared to performance in a prior year. The bill also requires the Secretary of HHS to establish standards for collecting medical support to be implemented later, to ensure that children of divorced parents have health insurance. Finally, the bill requires States, for the first time, to reinvest their incentive payments back into the child support system, so they can further improve collections and better serve children.
Mr. President, this bill will significantly help families to obtain the child support owed to them so they can remain financially self-sufficient. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Mr. ROCKEFELLER.
Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague and friend, Senator Snowe, in introducing the Child Support Performance Improvement Act of 1997. I have long been impressed with Senator Snowe's commitment to the health, safety, and well-being of children, and I believe that this legislation will go far to improve the financial security of thousands of American children.As a country, our most fundamental measure of success is how well we treat our children. We have a responsibility as Members of Congress and as a community to do our utmost to make sure that American children live happy, healthy, and stable lives. At the same time, we must acknowledge that much of the responsibility in ensuring children's happiness and security falls squarely at the feet of their parents. Sadly, many parents neglect their emotional and financial responsibilities, maintaining that because they are no longer living in the same house as their children, they no longer have to support them.
It is estimated that each year, $15 to $25 billion in child support go uncollected. One study reported that four out of five parents have attempted to shirk their court-ordered child support responsibilities at one time or another. In many of these cases, families, already fragile from the absence of one parent, are forced to turn to welfare as the only reliable source of monetary support . In 1975, Congress created the Child Support Enforcement Program to help stop this disturbing pattern. The goal of that program was and still remains to reduce public welfare expenditures by forcing absent parents to provide child support as a regular and reliable source of income for their children. As part of this goal, the Federal Government provides incentive payments to encourage State child support agencies to enforce child support collections as efficiently and effectively as possible. Unfortunately, in the past several years, these incentives have become disincentives; handsomely rewarding even the most poorly performing States with the most dismal collection rates.
Last year, the welfare reform bill took a positive step by commissioning a task force composed of child support experts from the Department of Health and Human Services and State child support agencies to come up with a new set of incentives that would put State agencies back on the road to efficient collections. The Child Support Performance Improvement Act of 1997 incorporates the consensus findings of this working group. For the first time, the new incentive structure takes into account, not just a State's cost effectiveness in collecting child support, but that State's overall success is establishing paternity and child support orders as well as collecting current and back child support.
The bill also requires the Secretary of HHS to create and implement a sixth incentive: a medical support incentive. As we are all aware, health care is an essential part of any financial package provided for a child . For the first time, this bill requires the implementation of a medical incentive which will require States to seek medical and health coverage as part of the overall child support order. All children deserve comprehensive health coverage, and there is no reason it should be a public expenditure when a child's parent is perfectly able to pay for it.
The Child Support Performance Improvement Act of 1997 also takes an important step in requiring States to pay families back first. The bill ensures that States will not be allowed to count toward incentive payments the collection of arrearages that are not first returned to former welfare families who need such payments to remain financially independent. While the overall incentive structure rewards the States for good performance, the families first provision keeps the States from receiving a double bonus--allowing them to keep arrearages to reimburse themselves and then getting an incentive payment for it.
Finally, the bill adds tough but reasonable data requirements to make sure child support incentive payments are based on complete and reliable data from the States. States that do not have accurate data on their child support collections and on other aspects of child support enforcement should not be qualified to receive incentives. This provision will encourage States to make their collection systems even more efficient and, in turn, this will mean millions of additional dollars being directed to the children who need it.
The Child Support Performance Improvement Act of 1997 is the first vital step in assuring that the States have the most efficient and effective ways possible of collecting child support from parents who have the responsibility to care for their children. Increasing child support collections will not only save Federal and State Governments and taxpayers billions of dollars each year in public expenditures, it will accomplish the most important goal of all: improving the financial stability and general well-being of thousands of American children.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being, no objection the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1293 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Child Support Performance Improvement Act of 1997'.SEC. 2. INCENTIVE PAYMENTS TO STATES.
(a) In General: Part D of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 651-669) is amended by inserting after section 458 the following:'SEC. 458A. INCENTIVE PAYMENTS TO STATES.
'(a) In General: In addition to any other payment under this part, the Secretary shall, subject to subsection (f), make an incentive payment to each State for each fiscal year in an amount determined under subsection (b).
For the full text of the bill, click on Congressional Record Text (105th), and set up your search criteria to include the phrase "child support," while limiting your search dates from October 9, 1997 to October 9, 1997.
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