DHHS Memo Encourages Child Support Agencies to Apply For Funding Waiver

DHHS may have a solution for employers to help parents make child support payments.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement at the Department of Health and Human Services’ administration for Children and Families published a memo encouraging state and tribal child support agencies to consider applying for a funding and regulatory waiver to help create employment services for noncustodial parents struggling to make child support payments due to unemployment or underemployment.

The memo notifies child support agencies of a long-standing statutory authority, which provides child support enforcement agencies the ability to fund otherwise non-allowable program activities, including noncustodial parent employment programs.

Scott Lekan, Commissioner of the Office of Child Support Enforcement says, “Allowing noncustodial parents who are behind or noncompliant with their child support obligations to participate in work activities is a results-based and cost-effective approach to obtaining regular child support payments.”

Without an approved noncustodial parent employment waiver by OCSE, state and tribal child support agencies have very limited authority to conduct such activities with noncustodial parents who are unable to pay child support.