Studying New Approaches to Child Support and Employment

You might care about this because the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is planning a new study. This study is called the "Evaluation of the Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration," or NextGen for short. OCSE wants to collect information to see how programs that help noncustodial parents find jobs and earn more money are working. The main goal of these programs is to help parents make their child support payments more regularly. In August 2024, OCSE gave grants and waivers to 10 child support agencies across different states and tribal nations. These agencies will provide services like job placement and other support. The NextGen project will last five years. The first part is for planning, then full implementation will follow. The study will look at how the programs are set up, what services are offered, and how they affect parents' employment and child support payments. They will collect data from various sources, including an information system for participants and interviews with staff and parents. This document is particularly interesting because it details a federal effort to understand how child support agencies can directly help parents become more financially stable. By evaluating these programs in different settings like large counties, states, and tribal communities, the study aims to find out what works best. This information will be very helpful for child support agencies everywhere. It will give them practical ideas and strategies to design their own employment programs. The study will also show how these programs can result in more consistent child support payments, which helps children and families. It represents a step toward blending employment assistance with child support enforcement to achieve better outcomes for everyone involved. People who work in child support agencies, both at state and local levels, will find this document highly relevant. It offers insights into how to build or improve their own programs that help parents find work. Noncustodial parents who are looking for employment support might also be interested in the types of services being tested. Researchers focused on social programs, employment, and family welfare will find the evaluation's design and goals useful for their work. Government officials and policymakers interested in the effectiveness of public assistance programs and economic self-sufficiency initiatives for families will also want to review this information.