Suspension of Payment for Formerly Incarcerated Parents Extended

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

California Child Support Services is reminding Californians that effective January 1, 2024, Assembly Bill 1148 (AB 1148) extended the time period before a formerly incarcerated parent must resume making their child support payments. Rather than resuming payments the first day of the first month after their release, parents paying child support will resume making their ordered payments on the first day of the tenth month after their release, or once they find employment, whichever comes first.

“Often, a formerly incarcerated parent who was just released doesn’t have a stable job or home to return to, and immediately resuming child support payments creates a significant financial burden for them,” said Kristen Erickson-Donadee, Director of California Child Support Services. “This new extended grace period provides formerly incarcerated parents more time to successfully re-enter society, helping them avoid going further into child support debt and ultimately benefiting their children.”

BACKGROUND:

In December of 2021, California Child Support Services issued a report titled Family Code 4007.5: An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Administrative Adjustment Process. The report made recommendations for improvements to the child support program, including addressing the difficulty that formerly incarcerated parents have finding stable employment. Prior to the signing of AB 1148, Family Code 4007.5(b) required that child support payments be resumed on the first day of the first full month after release from jail/prison. Labor data shows that the unemployment rate amongst formerly incarcerated individuals is nearly five times higher than the general population in the United States, and it can take an average of six months for a formerly incarcerated person to find their first job after being released.

BIGGER PICTURE:

The adoption of this legislation is part of a much larger movement led by the Newsom Administration to restructure child support to benefit families and do away with a rigid system of punitive measures and enforcement. AB 1148 is just one of many legislative changes in California designed to update the child support program to better support parents caring for their children, now and for the future.