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n Child Support

Key takeaways Corrections and child support can work together to achieve their shared goals of helping parents support their children and avoid recidivism. By doing so, these agencies can support incarcerated parents and help them take steps to reconnect with their families. As highlight- ed above, there are many ways corrections and child support can work collaboratively to share information. Below is a checklist of five things corrections can do to support this effort: 5 Ways to support corrections and child support working together: – Learn how the child support modernization rule is implemented within your state by connecting with your state or local child support office. The following link contains the contact information for child support offices by state: https://www.acf. hhs.gov/css/map/state-and-tribal-child-support- agency-contacts. – Identify parents at your facility that have a child support order.

2 National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). “Child Support and Incarceration.” March 4, 2019. Available at http://www.ncsl.org/research/ human-services/child-support-and-incarceration.aspx. 3 Maldonado, Solangel, 2006. “Deadbeat or Deadbroke: Redefining Child Support for Poor Fathers.” UC Davis Law Review 39: 991–1023. 4 Miller, D. P., & Mincy, R. B. 2012. “Falling further behind? Child Support Arrears and Fathers’ Labor Force Participation.” Social Service Review , 86(4), 604–635. 5 Maruschak, Laura M., Jennifer Bronson and Mariel Alper (2021). “Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children.” NCJ 252645. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. 6 Bannon, A., M. Nagrecha, and R. Diller. “Criminal Justice Debt: ABarrier to Reentry.” NewYork, NY: Brennan Center for Justice at NewYork University School of Law, 2010. Available at https://www.criminallegalnews.org/media/ publications/brennan_center_for_justice_reentry_report_2010.pdf. Accessed March 30, 2020. 7 Berg, Mark T., and Beth M. Huebner. “Reentry and the ties that bind: An examination of social ties, employment, and recidivism.” Justice Quarterly 28.2 (2011): 382-410. 8 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement (DHHS OCSE). “Child Support Portal; State Plans for Final Rule Implementation.” Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement, 2019. Available at https://fpls. acf.hhs.gov/stateplan/reports.html.

G. Sofia Martinez, Ph.D. is a Social Science Analyst in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). At ASPE she is responsible for policy analysis and research on reentry from incarceration, child support and advancing equity in human services. Emily Hopkins, MSW, is a Social Science Analyst in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). At ASPE she is responsible for policy analysis and research on early childhood, fatherhood and child support. Jillian Stein, Ph.D. is a senior researcher at Mathematica, where she evaluates policies and programs designed for people impacted by the justice system. Marykate Zukiewicz, a senior researcher at Mathematica, has more than a decade of experience leading and supporting research evaluations and collaborative partnerships focused on learning and strategy. Her cross-disciplinary work spans the areas of equity, justice, education and family support.

– Share information about child support modifications with parents in your facility. – Work with your child support office to establish a way to share incarceration data. – Help child support offices access and communicate with parents in your facility.

Endnotes 1 This article was adapted from a brief/study funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The study involved searches of publicly available information and conversations with the following states and territories that are implementing promising strategies related to child support modifications for incarcerated parents: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. (Aharpour, Delara, Lindsay Ochoa, Jill Stein, and Marykate Zukiewicz (2020). “State Strategies for Improving Child Support Outcomes for Incarcerated Parents.” ASPE Research Brief. Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.)

34 — March/April 2022 Corrections Today