Summary: The federal Child Support Enforcement Program supports state efforts to obtain child support for recipients of Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) and nonwelfare families. Congress created the program in 1975 with the belief that many families might avoid applying for welfare if they could obtain the support due from the noncustodial parent. Preliminary data for fiscal year 1994 show that the program collected more than $7.3 billion for about 8.2 million nonwelfare clients. This testimony focuses on four key points about the non-AFDC child support program: (1) growth in non-AFDC caseloads and related administrative costs to provide collection and other services; (2) income characteristics of non-AFDC clients--specifically, GAO's finding that many are not the low-income persons that Congress envisioned targeting; (3) alternatives for boosting non-AFDC cost recovery; and (4) an alternative fee structure based on child support collections and the flexibility that states should have in implementing such a cost recovery system.
