Child Support Enforcement, FY 2005
Preliminary Report

May 2006

Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement

Table of Contents

Program Highlights

Summary Tables

CSE Nationwide, Regional, and State Box Scores, FY 2005

CSE Program Charts and Graphs, FY 2005

Appendix

Program Highlights

The following Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Preliminary Data Report highlights financial and statistical program achievements for the fiscal year 2005. The information is taken from state-submitted reports on program status sent to OCSE quarterly for financial data and annually for statistical data. The data show more than $23 billion dollars in child support payments were collected, of which about $21 billion went to families. In addition, almost 1.6 million paternities were established and acknowledged; and close to 1.2 million child support orders were established.

Preliminary Data. The Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998 (CSPIA)¹ requires that states have complete and reliable data for purposes of computing incentives. Federal auditors begin their review of state data after the mandatory December 31^st deadline for data submissions. However, readers should note that no assumption has been made in this report regarding data reliability for each state for fiscal year 2005 as a result of these audits. The numbers are presented as submitted to OCSE.

Caseload. OCSE defines a child support case as a parent (mother, father, or putative father) who is now or eventually may be obligated under law for the support of a child or children receiving services under the title IV-D program.

A current assistance case is one in which the children are: (1) recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) under title IV-A of the Social Security Act or (2) entitled to Foster Care maintenance payments under title IV-E of the Social Security Act. In addition, the children's support rights have been assigned by a caretaker to the state and a referral to the state IV-D agency has been made. A former assistance case is a case in which the children were formerly receiving title IV-A (AFDC or TANF) or title IV-E Foster Care services. A never assistance case is a case in which the children are receiving services under the title IV-D program, but are not currently eligible for and have not previously received assistance under titles IV-A or IV-E of the Social Security Act. This includes cases in which the family is receiving IV-D services as a result of a written application for IV-D services (including cases in which children are receiving state, not title IV-E, foster care services) or a case in which they are Medicaid recipients not receiving additional assistance.

In the Child Support Enforcement program there were 15.9 million cases reported during fiscal year 2005. This represents a slight increase in the caseload since fiscal year 2004. In FY 2005, there were 2.5 million current assistance cases, 7.3 million former assistance cases, and 6.1 million never assistance cases reported (table 2). The increase in the overall caseload was due to a small increase in never assistance families since last year.

Paternities Established. Paternity establishment involves the legal establishment of fatherhood for a child. Paternity can be established by a voluntary acknowledgement signed by both parents as part of an in-hospital or other acknowledgement program. States must have procedures that allow paternity to be established or acknowledged at least up to the child's eighteenth birthday.

In the fiscal year 2005 there were over 680,000 IV-D legal paternity establishments and more than 900,000 in-hospital and other paternities acknowledged (table 2). Paternity was established or acknowledged for over 1.6 million children, a 1.5 percent increase from fiscal year 2004.

Orders Established. There were 1.2 million orders for child support established in fiscal year 2005. Never assistance orders made up 46 percent of the support orders established for fiscal year 2005, current assistance orders accounted for 20 percent, and former assistance accounted for 34 percent (table 2).

Collections. Total child support collections were more than $23 billion for fiscal year 2005 (tables 1 and 3), of which $21 billion went to families. This was a 5.2 percent increase in collections from the previous fiscal year. Child support payments are collected through various methods, such as income withholding, unemployment compensation interception, and state or Federal income tax refund offsets.

Collections per Full-Time Equivalent Staff. There were almost 60,000 FTE staff working in the child support program in the states and jurisdictions in fiscal year 2005 (table 1). Child support collected nationally per full-time equivalent staff (FTE) was over $385,000 in fiscal year 2005.

Expenditures and Incentives. In fiscal year 2005, total administrative expenditures were $5.4 billion, a 0.6 percent increase from fiscal year 2004 (table 1). The Federal share of expenditures was $3.5 billion and the state share was $1.8 billion. The Federal government reimburses states for 66 percent of the majority of allowable expenditures and 90 percent for laboratory paternity costs.²

Estimated incentive payments for fiscal year 2005 are over $365 million. Actual incentives to be earned for fiscal year 2005 is $454 million. Individual state incentive levels will be determined after data reliability audits are completed. (See the appendix for an example of how an incentive payment is determined.)

Collections Due and Distributed. The total amount of current support due for fiscal year 2005 was over $29 billion (table 5). About $17.4 billion, or 60 percent, of that amount was collected and distributed (table 5). The total amount of arrearages reported for all previous fiscal years was $107 billion (table 5), and over $7 billion was collected and distributed (table 5). There were 11.1 million cases with arrears due in fiscal year 2005 and 6.6 million of these cases had collections (table 6). Hence, 60 percent of obligors owing arrears made some payment toward their arrears in fiscal year 2005. In addition, there were $1.4 billion in interstate collections forwarded to other states in that year (table 7).

Other Statistics. In fiscal year 2005, program increases were noted for total cases in which a collection was made. At 8.3 million cases, this is a 2.1 percent increase over the number of paying cases for fiscal year 2004 (table 4).

There were 12.0 million cases with an order established in fiscal year 2005. This is a 2.1 percent increase over the number of cases with orders reported in the previous fiscal year (table 2).

The total number of children in CSE cases totaled almost 17.2 million in fiscal year 2005. This represents a slight decrease from the 17.3 million reported for fiscal year 2004 (table 2).

Cost-effectiveness represents the amount of child support collected for every $1.00 expended on the program. The CSPIA cost-effectiveness ratio was $4.58³ for fiscal year 2005 (table 10).

The attached charts and tables provide further details on collections, expenditures, caseload, paternities, orders established, and other program statistics such as tribal child support tables for fiscal year 2005. In some cases, current achievements are compared with those of previous years. In addition, new tribal tables have been provided which show achievements in the tribal child support program for fiscal years 2003-2005. Overall, these charts and tables reveal steady progress in program performance.

Summary Tables

Tribal Tables

CSE Program Charts and Graphs, FY 2005

Cases
Figure 1 Total Caseload for Five Fiscal Years
Figure 2 IV-D Cases With and Without Orders Established for Five Fiscal Years
Figure 3 Number of IV-D Cases for Which a Collection Was Made for Five Fiscal Years

Paternities Acknowledged
Figure 4 IV-D and Statewide Paternities Established or Acknowledged for Five Fiscal Years

Collections
Figure 5 Total Distributed Collections by Current, Former, Never, and Medicaid Cases, FY 2005
Figure 6 Distribution of Total Collections, FY 2005
Figure 7 Total Collections Received by Method of Collections, FY 2005
Figure 8 Total Distributed Collections by TANF/Foster Care and Non-TANF Collections for Five Fiscal Years
Figure 9 Interstate Collections for Five Fiscal Years

Interstate
Figure 10 Interstate Cases: Cases Sent to and Received from Another State for Five Fiscal Years

Expenditures
Figure 11 Total Expenditures for Five Fiscal Years
Figure 12 Total ADP Expenditures for Five Fiscal Years Number of Children
Figure 13 Number of Children in the IV-D Program for Five Fiscal Years

Figure 1: Total Caseload for Five Fiscal Years

After decreasing between 2001 and 2004, the child support caseload increased slightly between 2004 and 2005.

Figure 2: IV-D Cases With and Without Orders Established for Five Fiscal Years

The number of child support cases with support orders rose to 12.0 million in FY 2005. Cases without orders have decreased every year since FY 2001.

Figure 3: Number of IV-D Cases for Which a Collection Was Made for Five Fiscal Years

The number of cases with collections have increased each year since FY 2001.

Figure 4: IV-D and Statewide Paternities Established or Acknowledged for Five Fiscal Years
(Includes in-hospital and other paternities acknowledged. State paternity acknowledgements include an unknown number of acknowledgements for children in the IV-D caseload.)

Over a million and a half paternities are established each year; mostly through acknowledgement programs.

Figure 5: Total Distributed Collections by Current, Former, Never, and Medicaid Cases, FY 2005

Over eighty-five percent of child support collections went to former and never assistance families in FY 2005.

Figure 6: Distribution of Total Collections, FY 2005

Almost $21 billion in child support collections were distributed to families in FY 2005.

Figure 7: Total Collections Received by Method of Collections, FY 2005

Wage withholding continues to be the most effective method for collecting child support.

Figure 8: Total Distributed Collections by TANF/Foster Care and Non-TANF Collections for Five Fiscal Years

Non-TANF collections have increased by over $4 billion since FY 2001; TANF/FC collections have decreased, reflecting the decrease in the TANF/FC caseload.

Figure 9: Interstate Collections for Five Fiscal Years

Interstate collections increased by almost $232 million over a five year period.

Figure 10: Interstate Cases: Cases Sent to and Received from Another State for Five Fiscal Years

States sent over one million cases to another state in FY 2005.

Figure 11: Total Expenditures for Five Fiscal Years

Total administrative expenditures amounted to $5.4 billion in FY 2005, up only 0.6 percent over FY 2004.

Figure 12: Total ADP Expenditures for Five Fiscal Years Number of Children

Automated Data Processing (ADP) expenditures are down 48 percent from FY 2001.

Figure 13: Number of Children in the IV-D Program for Five Fiscal Years
(Includes children 18 years of age and under.)

The number of children in the child support program has declined by 1.7 million over the last five fiscal years.