Effective Paternity Establishment Practices. Technical Report

摘要

The report describes effective State and local paternity establishment practices, barriers to a successful paternity establishment program, and perceptions of the program's cost/benefit. The Congress, concerned by the increasing costs of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, amended the Social Security Act in 1975, 1984 and 1988 to create and then to strengthen the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program. The 1988 amendments required State CSE programs, for the first time, to meet a specific paternity establishment percentage. The authors interviewed 77 managers, supervisors and legal personnel at 13 effective practice sites about barriers and key improvements to the paternity establishment process. Effective practices were defined as procedures which improve the number of paternities established, case decision accuracy and/or case management efficiency. Effective Practices Summary prescribes seven practices to improve paternity establishment in their Child Support Enforcement programs.