When the father of Anissa Florie’s four-year-old son learned that his child support payments were getting intercepted by the government and not going to their son, he pretty much stopped paying.
Every year, this happens to hundreds of thousands of mothers and children in poverty in California. Why? Federal rules require that safety net aid for families in poverty—like cash support for CalWORKS—get repaid through parents’ child support payments. The result? A huge chunk of child support payments—totaling hundreds of millions of dollars—to children in poverty never make it to them. Instead, they go into government coffers.
California is on the cusp of transformational change to the child support program thanks to budgetary action and bills signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. These reforms were propelled by the Truth and Justice in Child Support Coalition. The Financial Justice Project is a proud member of this coalition.
California will stop the practice of intercepting child support payments for families receiving public benefits, either currently or in the past. The Budget Trailer Bill signed by Governor Gavin Newsom directs full child support pass-through for families that formerly received CalWORKS benefits, beginning July 1, 2023. Just as important, the Trailer Bill also makes clear the intent of full family pass-through of child support by 2025 for families currently receiving CalWORKS benefits.
These two policy reforms together will put approximately $350 million each year in the pockets of low-income parents and children. California is making an unprecedented investment in the wealth and well-being of low-income children and families in our State’s child support system. The reform shows states around the country that funding the social safety net on the backs of struggling families is unjust, counterproductive, and ineffective.
In 2019 San Francisco piloted this reform—passing through all of parents’ payments through to their children. Our thinking was that if parents knew all of their payments would go to their children—rather than be intercepted by the government—that parents would pay more and more often. An Urban Institute evaluation found that the reform resulted in parents making larger and more consistent payments, putting more money into the pockets of low-income children and families. When Colorado enacted this reform, parents similarly paid more often.
We are also delighted that Governor Newsom signed California State Senator Sydney Kamlager’s bill, Senate Bill 1055, that will protect low-income parents from driver’s license suspensions because of child support debt. License suspensions are not an effective method of collecting child support debt from low-income parents. In fact, research shows that they increase the chance of a parent losing a job or not finding a job because of transportation barriers. Reduced employment in turn hinders a parent from paying child support, the opposite of what the program wants to do.
Our thanks go out to all of our partners, including the Truth and Justice in Child Support Coalition, the San Francisco Department of Child Support Services, California State Senator Nancy Skinner and other legislative leaders, and Governor Gavin Newsom.
Our safety net should not have a price tag. It should be there to catch anyone who needs it, not only those that can pay for it.
Yours in Financial Justice,
Anne and Michelle
