Do cost-recovery child support orders impact child welfare outcomes?
RESEARCH FROM THE FIELD
RESEARCH REPORT SUMMARY
Do cost-recovery child support orders impact child welfare outcomes?
Berger, L. M., Cancian, M., Kim, H. J., Ko, A., & Pac, J. (2024). The impact of cost-recovery child support orders on foster care trajectories. Institute for Research on Poverty.
What can we learn from this study?
Child support can be an essential income source for children and families, often covering concrete items that require cash, such as rental assistance, household goods, childcare, and transportation. It is important for those working with children and families to understand how one parent-regulating system (child welfare, Title IV-E) intersects with another (child support, Title IV-D), and how that crossover may impact parents’ ability to care for their children and keep them safe. This study examines the relationship between these two systems, exploring how child support cost-recovery orders impact outcomes for families involved in child welfare, including foster care trajectories.
Study details
- Population: 13,455 mothers with at least one child placed who is age 14 or younger (at time of removal), and placed into foster care during the time of the study
- Data sources: Wisconsin Administrative Data Core; child welfare system data; child support system data
- Methodology: Two-stage instrumental variables strategy
- Dates: July 2005 to June 2016, through June 2019.
What are the critical findings?
- Children reunite with their mother more quickly when there’s no cost-recovery order or when a father-to-mother order is in place.
- Cost-recovery child support orders for custodial mothers or non-custodial fathers nearly doubled the time children spent in out-of-home care, with the average duration increasing from 15 months to 28-30 months for children exiting foster care between 36 and 60 months.
Number of months spent in out-of-home care
- Cost-recovery orders significantly decreased reunification chances. Mother-to-government orders decreased the likelihood of reunification from 48% to 7% within 12 months, from 61% to 35% within 36 months, and from 66% to 43% within 60 months. Father-to-government orders also decreased reunification chances from 48% to 10% within 12 months, from 61% to 36% within 36 months, and 66% to 41% within 60 months.
Percent chance of reunification
- Parents with cost-recovery orders were more likely to have their parental rights terminated. For mother-to-government orders, changes of termination increased from 6% to 10% for removals within 36 months of entry to foster care and from 10% to 23% within 60 months. Father-to-government orders also increased termination chances from 6% to 8% within 36 months and 10% to 19% within 60 months of entry.
Percent chance of termination of parental rights
Why is this important for our work?
Children and families involved in the child welfare system often face significant challenges to permanency when parents are ordered to pay cost-recovery child support, as this financial burden can restrict access to essential resources to meet concrete needs for a child. The findings in this study highlight the profound negative impact of these orders on families, underscoring the importance of adhering to federal recommendations calling for the elimination of cost-recovery child support orders, except in extremely rare cases. Eliminating these practices would not only shorten the duration of children’s time in out-of-home care but also increase reunification chances and reduce the likelihood of parental rights termination.
To learn more, see: How does the payment of child support impact time to permanency for children in foster care? and Why is it imperative to minimize children’s time away from family?
This summary synthesizes the findings from a single research study. For additional information, access the article directly or email KMResources@casey.org.