Child Support Services to Give More Money to Families
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA – The State of California is continuing to make changes to improve equity in its child support system. Yesterday, Assembly Bill 207 (AB 207), signed by Governor Newsom in 2022, began to be implemented.
WHAT THIS MEANS:
Collections that are received for government-assigned debt due to participation in the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program (CalWORKs) will be passed through to those families who no longer receive CalWORKs. This does not mean the parents paying child support to these families are paying more, but instead California is making child support a better source of income to assist vulnerable families by waiving the government practice of “paying back” the aid to the state.
“Passing through the money previously owed to government to the family once cash aid is no longer being received helps ease the burden on some of the most deeply impacted parents in our caseload,” said David Kilgore, Director of the California Department of Child Support Services. “By allowing debt to be paid off while passing more money directly to families, child support is effectively helping both paying and receiving parents and their kids. I am glad to see changes like this improving the child support program in California.”
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
BACKGROUND:
Before March 2020, intercepts of Federal tax refunds first paid back any funds due to the government for any CalWORKs payments to the family, and then went to the support recipient. Federal law requires this intercept if the taxpayer has any past due child support. With many Californians losing employment due to the pandemic, Governor Newsom moved swiftly to take Executive Action to ensure any Federal stimulus funds went to pay the families first and recoup for CalWORKs payments last.
The Legislature voted to make this permanent in 2021 and since then, each legislative session has brought more changes to the child support program, taking into account the vast demographic and income shifts among parents, and the changes in how Californians define their families.
That same month, the Legislature voted to expand the amount of child support that is passed through to families who are currently receiving CalWORKs benefits from the first $50 each month to $100 for families with one child and $200 for families with two or more children. Child Support Services implemented this change beginning in January 2022, greatly increasing the support paid to CalWORKs families.
BIGGER PICTURE:
Under the Newsom Administration, the state has taken action to update child support statutes to better serve the current needs of children and families, ending practices that have long created inequitable results for California parents. California is making changes to improve equity, implementing programs that assist rather than punish parents, creating efficiencies and improving outcomes that together serve as a model for the nation.
For more information, visit the Child Support Services website.