Causing Child Support Problems Essay -- Social Work

When the economy is bad, providing for a family can be extremely difficult for a single-parent household. It becomes more difficult when a non-custodial parent stops making court-ordered child support payments that the family depends on. One would think that a government funded program that claims to provide the same variety of services to both welfare and non-welfare recipients would be beneficial in retaining the support from the non-residential parent. However, this is not true in all child support cases. Single-family households, who do not receive their child support, are living in poverty because child support specialists are overwhelmed with welfare cases that they make a priority. In the case of the child support specialist, it is all about the return of investment for the government. Because of the increased percentage of welfare cases, it is the understaffed child support specialist’s position to focus primarily on collecting money for the federal government, which i n many cases leaves non-welfare recipients without help. Single-family households are suffering in a world of poverty because of overwhelmed child support specialists who focus primarily on their welfare cases due to the growing child support policies, high volume of divorce rates, poor economic conditions and teen pregnancies. With the policies changing frequently, it can be difficult for child support specialists to stay informed of the laws and the procedures that are required by them to perform their job duties. Also with so many responsibilities, it is difficult for specialists to complete their duties in the limited time given per case. With so many changes in the federal and state policies, I wonder if the child support specialists are staying informe... ...rt Effective Programs to Reduce the Number of Child Support Enforcement Cases.† Policies Studies Journal 35.3 (2007): 546-547. Social Sciences Full Text. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. Cornanor, William. Law and Econimics of Child Support Payments . N.p.: Elgar Publishing, 2004. ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. Web. 9 Dec. 2011. â€Å"Divorce Rate.† Divorce Rate. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. Laakso, Janice H. â€Å"Child Support Policy: Some Critical Issues and the Implications for Social Work.† Social Work 45.4 (2000): 367-370. ProQuest Research Library Prep. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. Lamb, Michael. Role of the Father in Child Development. 4th ed. N.p.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004. ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. United States. Child Support Enforcement. Handbook on Child Support Enforcement. Washing D.C: n.p., 2008. U.S. Department of Human and Health Services. Web. 5 Apr. 2012.