Child support should go to families, not the government.
Imagine a father working full-time at a low-wage job, doing his best to stay afloat while consistently paying child support for his daughter. Even with rising costs for everyday essentials, he prioritizes those payments because he loves his daughter and knows she relies on that financial support.
Now imagine his surprise when he learns that the money he’s sending isn’t reaching her at all. Instead, it’s being redirected by the state to reimburse a cash assistance program her mother gets while she cares for their daughter. The father assumed he was helping support his daughter—but the support never made it to her.
This scenario plays out more than a million times a year in families across the country. Why?
Because of a decades-old policy called state assignment, which allows the government to keep child support payments when a parent receives temporary cash assistance.
A System That Hurts the Families It’s Supposed to Help
State assignment was created in 1975, based on the fear that noncustodial parents—usually fathers—would abandon their families and leave the government footing the bill. The original goal was to recoup government spending. But in practice, this often hurts the very families that need the support most—especially those living at or near the poverty line.
When the government keeps child support:
Families remain trapped in poverty.
Children go without essential resources.
Parents lose trust in the system.
Taxpayers foot the bill for a more complicated, costly bureaucracy.
Child support systems have been forced to adapt around this policy by creating complicated processes to route payments based on a family’s current or past use of public assistance. These administrative layers increase the cost and complexity of the system—without improving outcomes for the children it’s meant to serve.
So, What Is State Assignment?
In plain terms, state assignment is when a parent who receives public cash assistance (even briefly) is required to ‘‘assign’’ their rights to child support payments to the state. That means when the other parent makes a payment, it doesn’t go to the child or the custodial parent—it goes to the government, up to the amount of assistance the family once received. This can go on for years, even long after the assistance has ended.
Families First: A Smarter Approach
Thankfully, some states are charting a new path. They’ve changed their laws and found ways to pass through 100% of child support payments to families, regardless of whether the custodial parent once received public assistance. These states have found that when parents know their payments are going directly to their children, they’re more likely to pay and stay engaged. See Pass-Through-Impacts-on-TCA-Families.pdf; Child Support Passthrough.
This makes sense. The child support program works best when it is facilitating support for children, not funding government budgets. It also is an important step in making families self-sufficient—with no dependency on cash assistance from the government
The Center for Child Support Policy (CCSP) believes it’s time for every state—and the federal government—to follow suit. Children need and deserve to come first.
The Path Forward
The National Child Support Engagement Association (NCSEA), which represents child support professionals from nearly every state, spent more than a year studying this issue. Their conclusion was clear: it’s time to end state assignment, so long as families can continue receiving the services and support they need.
Repealing state assignment is one of the clearest, most effective changes we can make to improve outcomes for children, reduce administrative waste, and restore trust in the child support system.
Join the Movement
State assignment is an outdated and inefficient policy. It creates barriers for families and adds unnecessary costs to the system. It’s time to bring child support policy in line with what families actually need—support that goes directly to the children it’s intended for.
Want to help make that happen?
Visit www.childsupportpolicy.org to learn more and connect with our team. Together, we can make sure every child support dollar truly supports a child.
About the Center for Child Support Policy
The Center for Child Support Policy (CCSP) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing child support laws and practices that put children and families first. We advocate for common-sense, evidence-based reforms that promote economic stability, parental engagement, and fairness—because every child deserves support.