UWSC Brown Bag Series: Evaluation Findings from the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED)

We are very excited to announce that Lisa Klein Vogel —  former UWSC Project Director, current CSPED Project Director, and Researcher at the Institute for Poverty – will be presenting at our monthly brown bag on Tuesday, April 9th. Lisa will provide an overview of the CSPED demonstration project and share key takeaways from the evaluation which sought to examine the effectiveness of a policy alternative aimed at increasing the reliable payment of child support. Many staff at UWSC, including members from our talented interviewing core, helped make this study a success and we are looking forward to hearing more about it!

Evaluation Findings from the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED)

Lisa Klein Vogel; CSPED Project Director; Researcher, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Maria Cancian; CSPED Principal Investigator; Dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

Daniel Meyer; CSPED Principal Investigator; Professor of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Abstract

Most children in the United States spend at least some time living apart from one of their parents. The poverty gap between one- and two-parent families has contributed to calls to strengthen child support policy in order to reduce poverty and increase the income of single-parent families. However, many noncustodial parents struggle to meet their child support obligations. Unfortunately, research on noncustodial parents who are behind in paying child support is quite limited, and we know relatively little about their earnings, barriers to employment, or the complexity of their relationships with their former partners or their children. To address these gaps, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) within the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED).

This presentation will describe the design and evaluation of CSPED programs, and will discuss key findings from the evaluation based on two of the four CSPED evaluation reports – one describing baseline characteristics of CSPED participants, and one describing impacts of the CSPED programs. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of key takeaways from the evaluation.